Mates fat dogs

[BathBubblez]

A year or so ago I noticed that my friends dog was quite fat. It’s a Dobermann so obviously meant to be slim. I didn’t mention it at the time. A few months ago I saw him again and he was beyond fat, he was hugely obese … he had the body shape of an overweight mastiff … literally round. He struggled to sit down and was so fat he had started getting skin infections around his Willy from peeing as his fat was now literally overhanging his Willy. There was a dog food bowl in the kitchen full of dog food which he was ignoring. She said she was worried about him as he wasn’t eating … turns out she normally keeps that bowl full at all times so he can help himself. I said “he probably isn’t eating as he’s being fed too much? I’m not being funny but he’s massively overweight!” She replied “yeah he is getting a bit tubby I suppose” … a bit tubby? The dog is practically a circle!

anyway she bought another puppy. A cockerpoo type thing this time and I’ve popped in to see them every few weeks. The puppy was becoming overweight quite rapidly and is now has the body shape of a Rottweiler.

The dobie has lost a little bit of weight but only because the cockerpoo is eating his food!!

I told her yesterday “Dobies don’t like long do they, especially if they’re overweight” (it was in context, we were discussing breed health issues) and she replied “no, that’s why I’m glad he’s lost all that weight”

He’s still fat! And now the puppy is too!

YANBU - keep on at her about the fatness of the dogs
YABU - keep out of it

Yanbu probably going to get heart disease or something

Are they getting enough physical exercise?

Like humans, weight is 80% what you eat and 20% exercise. She’s is over feeding them.
Surprised the vet has not told her this. You can only tell her. After that it’s up to her.

I would keep telling her and I don’t think I could be friends with her for much longer if she continues to grossly over feed her dogs. It’s as cruel as starving them. That poor Doberman. She has zero knowledge of dogs, clearly.

Yes the dogs are fat. Presumably the vet has told her so, so she won't listen to you no matter how much you keep going on at her.

If you want to preserve your friendship, and you might not if this bothers you too much, then you've said your piece once, no benefit in repeating.

Allowing your dog to be obese is to neglect it's welfare. She is behaving cruelly and if she persistantly refuses to address it she could be guilty of animal cruelty.

I would keep on about it personally. Can you approach the RSPCA to se if they would have a word? If she was beating the dog, leaving them outside in a weathers, or starving them I hope you wouldn't turn a blind eye.

A simple rule of thumb with dogs is that you should be able to feel but not see, their ribs. Maybe encourage your friend to sign up to a feeding regime where a measure is provided. Food shouldn’t be left out all day. Dogs should eat their food within 20 mins then no food until the next meal.

It might sound over the top but I would personally struggle to be friends with someone like this. It’s abuse, the same as if it was the other way and they were starving. They must be so uncomfortable.

However I understand it’s not practical to end a friendship over a dog so I would just stop going round her house so that you don’t see the dogs.

but you’re definitely not being unreasonable and I wouldn’t be able to not bring it up when I saw them! It sounds more like she doesn’t know better so maybe education is the way forward!

That's awful! Does she take the dogs for their annual vaccinations/check up as surely the vet would make it clear that they're very overweight which causes health issues and give her a weight loss / exercise program?
Perhaps ask her what the vet said last time they were checked over.

Maybe you could support her by reading the food label and working out how much her dog should be fed each day, measuring this out and showing her what a daily allowance would be. Dog should have meal times rather than food left in the bowel all day.

I couldn’t be friends with someone who knowingly neglected their animals so if she refused to change after this advice then I’d tell her you were stepping back from the friendship as she is an animal abuser. That might shock her into caring!

*bowl

YANBU but there's probably not much you can do about it.

Letting your dog become overweight is just as abusive as starving them.

My grandad used to own dogs-had done all his life
anyway,he got a jack Russel and whatever he ate,so did the dog
he took her to her annual vet check and the vet told him that she was fat-and over feeding a dog is as cruel as under feeding it
he was mortified and felt so guilty-and she wasn’t impressed about having to go on a diet
he drummed it into me all my life about feeding a dog the right amount of food/treats
fast forward a few years and my ds bought a dog-we sat down and with advice,worked out the right amount of food/treats and exercise he should be having
he has one very healthy dog

part of the problem with my (non abusive) grandad was he didn’t see her getting fat-he lived with her and thought the odd sausage wouldn’t do any harm-it was just never the one sausage though

i have a friend who feeds her dog nothing but McDonald’s milkshakes,burgers,treats and crap dog food which is left out 24/7 (which he doesn’t eat as there’s another treat waiting for him-she freely admits to feeding him human sweets and cakes)
we had him for a week and he ate good quality food,no treats and was on a walk twice a day-he seemed happy enough but she sees it as ‘upsetting’ him if she doesn’t feed him crap
ive tried and failed with her-a d it’s heartbreaking as he’s a lovely dog,who’s not got that much longer to live due to his diet and lack of exercise

If she can't see with her own eyes that her dogs are grossly obese, she's either mad or thick. Possibly both.

I would keep mentioning it and if it meant the end of the friendship, so be it. THe dogs are suffering and she's a shitty, neglectful owner.

Lots of owners dont even take their pets to the vet so she might not have been told this, who knows?

I think people are living in fantasy land if they thinnk the RSPCA are going to come out for overweight animals, Ive reported animals before and they havent responded for conditions of severe neglect.

At our vets they used to do a poster about how many calories each treat had in it and the equivalent for a human, so a small sausage might be the equivalent of a cheeseburger given to a human (cant remember the exact details)

I agree with pp , sit down with her and using a food guide either from the food pack of breed specific websites to work out how much food and exercise each dog should get.
Also as she us unlikely to stick to just dig food ask her yo write down each treat the dog get then tot up the calories .

Are there any obedience classes nearby she could go to? Not so much for the trains but the structured exercise that would be involved.

Finally are there any fog shows you can both ho uo so she can see how her fogs should look and move in real life.

As foor leaving food out all the time unless it's only dry food just think of all the flies eggs the poor dogs have eatten . Blurgh!

@BathBubblez Has the pup been to the vet's for registering for microchipping, vaccinations and so forth? If not yet then surely that's planned for soon? I would ask, if you can do it tactfully, as surely the vet will mention the pup's weight if it is too much.

Aside from that I would suggest that she asks the vet for guidance on feeding her older dog just so that she's certain in her own mind that she's getting it right. She obviously isn't but she won't appreciate being told that she's harming her dogs' health by overfeeding and she may stop listening to you about it.

Please excuse all my typos !

And I have no idea where fog shows are held !

I couldn't sustain a friendship with someone who was cruel to animals.

This
I wrote a very angry tirade about your "friend"
@BathBubblez but the Mumsnet fairies decided for me that they weren't going to post it, which in hindsight I am glad about.

So instead I am going to thank you OP for caring about her poor dogs. Please try to follow through on the good advice that you have been given, and ignore the pps who say there is nothing else you can do about it if she won't listen to you.

You can do more, but it will be hard for you as you are obviously a very kind person who cares about your friend as well as her dogs, and taking this further will almost certainly mean the end of that friendship.