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Is there such a thing as a lab that isn't fat in old age?

75 replies

WhoAteMyToast · 08/10/2015 22:30

Just as per title, really.

I think labs show their age more so than other dogs - am I wrong?

OP posts:
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Collaborate · 08/10/2015 22:48

There is. Just reduce food intake, and maintain exercise. They are a breed that will eat almost anything, and are incessantly hungry. so you have to be strong. My 11th old pup is just coming off a diet. Her dad was a chunky show dog, mum slim, but in her bone structure she takes after him. I've now got her feeling like a blanket on the ribs, so I can ease off the diet a bit.

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1woozle · 08/10/2015 22:57

Dlab was 15 when she had to be PTS Sad She was still quite sleek - essential as she had some arthritis and any extra weight added to the stress on her joints. It was a battle though - she could open cupboards and learnt how to operate the wall-mounted dog food dispenser. When she was in her prime she would scale the fence to feast on the neighbour's open compost heap.

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pigsDOfly · 09/10/2015 00:53

Actually have met a couple of slender old labs recently (different owners) and both looked beautiful and healthy.

Something that has puzzled me for a while is why do I see so many overweight chocolate labs.

Are the chocolate variety more prone to weight gain than other colours, that's a serious question btw, because I don't think I've ever seen a slim one.

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stareatthetvscreen · 09/10/2015 00:55

my boy was the perfect weight - he was a choc lab.passed away last yr aged 11.

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stareatthetvscreen · 09/10/2015 00:56

he looked about 5 :)

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pigsDOfly · 09/10/2015 01:08

Sorry to hear that Stare.

I realise that not all chocolate labs are going to be overweight, but I've seen so many that are I've actually began to wonder if they are particularly prone to weight gain.

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tabulahrasa · 09/10/2015 01:18

I can't remember the last time I saw a pet lab of any colour that wasn't overweight - so I'd assume it's just that that's what owners think they're supposed to look like, because even if there was a reason that one colour gained weight easier (which I don't think there is) it would still come off with less food.

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TheDowagerCuntess · 09/10/2015 01:19

We have a 1YO chocolate lab, and I think we're going to have to be very careful with her as time goes by...

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pigsDOfly · 09/10/2015 01:49

I find it heartbreaking to see some of these dog. One particular dog I use to see in the park I thought was very old as she never ran or played, just plodded along beside her owner.

Got chatting to the owner and asked him how old she was, turned out she was four years old.

That's no life for what was such a young dog. She should have been bounding around the park having fun.

As I say heartbreaking. And so easily preventable.

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Noitsnotteatimeyet · 09/10/2015 08:11

There are lots of lovely slim labs in one area where I walk but sadly they are the exception

I think the reason why you see so many fat chocolate labs is that most of them are from show lines rather than working lines so they do tend to be stockier to start with

It really doesn't help that the highest rated lab at crufts a couple of years ago was frankly obese with rolls of flab around his shoulders Sad

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Collaborate · 09/10/2015 08:32

It really doesn't help that the highest rated lab at crufts a couple of years ago was frankly obese with rolls of flab around his shoulders

That's sad.

Tried to find a picture through google to no avail. Do you have a link?

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tabulahrasa · 09/10/2015 09:21

Loch mor Romeo is who I think No is talking about.

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Cheerfulmarybrown · 09/10/2015 09:28

17 year old lab weighed 25 kilos when put to sleep. She weighted 25 kilos since she was 2.

10 year old lab weighs 23 kilos has done since he was 18 months.

Both were/are working lines and exercised regularly and consistently through their lives. 10 year old is still competing in trials.

So no labs do not need to be fat in old age

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daisydotandgertie · 09/10/2015 14:00

Labs shouldn't be fat at any age!

The two 'types' of lab - trialling and show - do have very, very different conformation though, and as almost all chocolate labs come from show stock rather than working as a colour they tend to be far more solidly built. There are very, very few successful trialling chocolate labs, so their progeny is unlikely to hit the pet dog market and to make it even less likely, few trialling labs carry the chocolate gene so just won't produce them.

The show type of lab is broad, with a wide head, shorter legs and a far chunkier feel; trialling labs are fine, long legged, often with a narrow head - they are fast and springy. In my view, a show bred lab is not really fit for purpose; they struggle to jump over a five bar gate and couldn't work all day. The show judg's eyes are very, very different to mine and sadly the breed societies are the ones who set the breed standard.

Therefore, most chocolates around and about are show bred and genetically broader, heavier and bigger. Having said that, they still shouldn't be fat!

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ChairRider4 · 09/10/2015 15:38

Amount of people that stop me say my boy underweight .Vet says he is ideal weight

He is from show lines so is more stocky as such bone wise but is very active and could clear a 5 bar gate if chooses but luckily he not over food orientated

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RandomMess · 09/10/2015 15:49

That show lab is very broad/stocky etc. still a very different look to the overweight labs I've seen around.

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sparechange · 09/10/2015 15:52

Yes of course there is! But there aren't many owners who start reducing food as they slow down in old age.
My girl is 20kg and in great shape (although she is a youngster) and I have people stop me in the park telling me she is underweight. My vet, on the other hand, says it is refreshing to see a lab who is an appropriate weight.

I saw a thread a few weeks ago where someone said their lab was 40kg. 40! People have just forgotten what they should look like and thing that size is normal. Poor dog Sad

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babyblackbird · 09/10/2015 16:28

Totally agree with pp. my working black lab is 15 months and 20kg and vet is perfectly happy with his weight but people constantly tell me he needs feeding up. Dog sitter even was aghast that I asked her to weigh his food out.

It doesn't help that he is constantly on the scrounge for food as people then use that as an argument that he is hungry and should be fed more when actually he is just greedy not hungry !!

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Chattymummyhere · 09/10/2015 19:08

Most breeds these days are overweight, people have lost sight on what healthy looks like the same can be said for us humans.

More exercise/food control will keep a dog where it should be weight wise.

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ChairRider4 · 09/10/2015 21:19

Ah my boy is 34 kg does not look but he overshot so is well above average height for his breed
So 40 kg if they are above breed height may not be that big

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sparechange · 09/10/2015 22:43

I will eat my hat if you can show me a picture of a 40kg lab who is a healthy weight. And by that I mean has a waist and the last rib visible.
Granted my girl is very fine and from working lines but isn't short. Even a chunky boy with more bone and height isn't going to be twice her weight and still in good shape

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RandomMess · 09/10/2015 22:48

Vet insists our dog is a healthy weight (not a lab) her ribs are VERY visible, she's been fed by random strangers who I am convinced think she is starved/neglected!! Yes we have lost sight that they're supposed to be lean and active.

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Noitsnotteatimeyet · 10/10/2015 08:35

daisy when did the two types start diverging so much? We had a gorgeous lab when I was a child - her grandmother had been best of breed at crufts and she also had masses of field champions in her pedigree. She was lean and leggy and never put an ounce of weight on - we got her at 4 months as she was a failed gundog and she was so highly strung she couldn't get fat...

And the split between working and show dogs is even more obvious in golden retrievers- the huge, lumbering cream ones look like a completely different breed to the working type Confused

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sparechange · 10/10/2015 08:42

noits
Very recently... The timing of Crufts was specifically to let dogs recover from the shooting season and put weight and condition back on befor getting into th show ring.

Like so many other breeds, labs have been wrecked by the show breeders. As Daisy said, show labs aren't fit for purpose. It is a joke that these dogs are assessed for their ability to be active working dogs when most of them can barely waddle their way around the show ring.
If you want to see what other damage the KC breed clubs have done, Google the way pugs, basset hounds and Bulldogs used to look. And now look at the grotesque things they've become.
Why we have a propensity for short, fat and wheezing, I will never understand, especially with all the horrible health conditions that come with it.

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