Is my Dachshund Overweight?

Question

Ive had many people tell me that my Miniature Dachshund is overweight. She weighs about 15 pounds, she is EXTREMELY active she is constantly in the backyard running around or playing with her toys or my other dogs. When i look at her from above she doesn't have a curve to her waist, its more of a straight line, shes a year old, shes spaid (spelling?). she eats only dog food except for the occasional gummy bear. The only thing i can think of that might make her overweight is that since i have 5 dogs (Great Dane,Chihuahua, Chihuahua pomeranian mix, and ****-zu wired haired terrier mix, and dachshund) and they are all over 7 years except the dachshund so they all free feed. She doesn't sit at the bowl all day long and eat its more like she grabs a few nibbles throughout the day and eats at night. Can someone tell me what i can do to bring her weight down. please don't tell me to stop the free feeding because the other dogs are not overweight and they do the same thing she does. Thanks :)

Update:

I can also feel her ribs, spine, shoulder blades. and when you look at her from the side her ches is much larger than the tummy, from the side she doesnt look overweight but from above you cant see a noticeable hourglass so to speak.

Red · Accepted Answer

I have a mini daschund too. We let him do the same thing. Some daschunds are just more stalky than Others. As long as her tummy dips in underneath, she is most likely healthy. My dog weighs 12 lbs and he's on the super small side and kinda skinny :). As long as she's not an absolute couch potato, which it sounds like would be her worst nightmare, I wouldn't worry at all. Ps. It's spelled shih-tzu not the other way lol. You made my day with that, just letting you know lol :).

Sarah S · Answer

Your dog is overweight assuming she is not a mix. Unfortunately free feeding is not for every dog. While some dogs will only eat what they need, others will keep eating. There are weight control dog foods you can buy, but as long as you are free feeding, she will remain overweight. One option you could try is to free feed for a portion of the day and then pick it up for the remainder of the day. I can't guarantee you this will work, but I think it is worth a try.

Mercedez · Answer

What do you mean when you say free feeding?
What my vet told me is that dogs should have a set up time for feeding, like 5 pm, or 6pm, or just one in the morning and one in the afternoon. They have to eat at that time all the time, and the bowl has to be taken away if they don't eat anymore. Otherwise, if you let the food lying around all day, you wouldn't know if they're sick. By do so doing, if the dog does not eat at that time, then you easily tell that there something wrong with your dog.

Corkey Dawn18 · Answer

You dog does sound like she's overweight. If she is eating all night just start picking up the bowl before you go to bed see if that helps. Plus it might be due to some scar tissue from her being fixed it happens a lot when animals get fixed they gain a lot of weight. I would just start by picking up the food at night it might help.

btdt · Answer

According to this poster, which my vet has hanging up in her exam room, your dog is overweight, because she doesn't have a curve to her waist, as the ideal dogs do.

http://www.pet-health-care-gazette.com/dog%20body%20condition%20chart.jpg

Dachshunds tend to pack on the pounds, which is not good because they are tiny and because it's hard on their backs. Free-feeding does not appear to work for your doxie. Physically separating her from the food seems the most obvious solution

Show Breeders Sell Better Pups · Answer

Free feeding is not for everyone (every dog).

If she is 15lbs, she's overweight. 
Maybe it does work for the other dogs, but it apparently doesn't work for her. 

her weight should reflect this:
http://crunkish.com/qimages/5/miniature_dachshund.jpg


Her weight won't change until you stop free-feeding her. Sorry. You can email me when you are ready to make the change.

ѕησω ωнιтє · Answer

Your dog should have a waist, and if she's more of a straight line, she's overweight. This diagram should help:

http://www.aplaceforpaws.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/dog-weight-scale.jpg

Linz :) · Answer

It is hard to say without seeing, but I doubt she is overweight. My mini is 10 lbs and is a thin little thing (but healthy, of course ;]). She is in the normal range for a mini her age (1yr), but I have seen them MUCH bigger. In fact, one of the puppies in her litter was huge, lol. He has always weighed over 3-4lbs more than her, and it is just his body structure. I'm sure you're dog is fine, but if you are worried about it, you should ask your vet. (:

Trending News

Is my Dachshund Overweight?

8 Answers