The sun CronicleFighting pet obesity
"According to a study released by Purina last Janu ary, nearly 60 percent of America's cats and dogs are overweight due to overfeeding and lack of exercise."
USA Weekend.COM Pets: How to help your fat dog In a study, 80% of a group of 200 dogs were judged obese by professionals. But 72% of the owners insisted their dog was just the right weight or even underweight.
...Most apt to be overweight:
Cocker spaniels, golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers, pugs, chihuahuas, dachshunds, small terrier breeds, basset hounds. "
Corpulent Canines?Chris Zink, DVM, PhD
" have assessed the weight on hundreds of dogs of a variety of breeds over the past year at seminars all over the country and a conservative estimate is that about 50% of the dogs that I see are overweight; approximately 25% are actually obese. These are not couch potato dogs. These are dogs whose owners expect them to jump in obedience, to run over rough ground in retrieving tests, and to perform in agility."
as Chris Zink has observed in Goldens and Labs if have found to a lessor extent in bassets
"Keeping a dog at working weight is incompatible with showing in conformation. I have never understood why dogs whose breed standard states that they should be shown in "hard working condition" don't win in the conformation ring unless they are FAT. The only thing that I can think of is that we are mistaking fat for muscle. For breeds such as Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers, assume that if your dog is winning in the conformation ring, it is probably about 8 to 15 lb. overweight. When you are finished showing your dog in conformation, take the weight off, for his own good."
And I am not the only one to make these observations
U.S. Animal Nutritionals of Vermont Pet Health
"Some breeds are more susceptible to obesity, like Labrador Retrievers and Basset Hounds, but any dog can develop a weight problem."
Dogs make good diet buddies
"Basset hounds and beagles are prone to obesity, and the study included many of these."
So how many bassets hounds actual have a dercernable waist and abdominal tuck from my observations it is not many. The lack of a clearly defined abominal tuck is the first sign of being overweight on the
Purnia Body Condition Chart
Purina® Study Confirms Link Between Body Fat and Certain Health Conditions
"A score of 6-6.5 is equivalent to 20-25 percent over ideal body weight. "
Given that studies indicate 60% of all dogs are over weight and 25-40% are obese the numbers are even higher for those dogs generally percieved to prone to the condition are even higher. That makes at best most basset hound overwieght and quite likely more than 1/2 obese and this jives with my personnal observations so I am more willing to accept those numbers without hard scientific data.
It is also important to point out that simply being overweight not necesarily obese is a severe health risk to dogs. especial as the dog ages and cronic problem catch up with them Diabetes, osteoarthritis and the like.
[ March 06, 2006, 03:44 AM: Message edited by: Mikey T ]