Underweight cocker?

[RubyFruitSunday]

Had my cocker spaniel weighed at the vet today during his health check and he is only 12kg. The average for a male is apparently 13-16kg so I'm slightly worried although the vet didn't seem concerned.

Hes not a big eater tbh, he takes his time eating his breakfast and dinner when its put down where all the other dogs I've ever had have pestered at dinner time and then wolfed it down. He does gladly accept treats and begs for human food though.

Has anyone else ever had a smaller than average dog and there has been something wrong? Or am I worrying over nothing?

How old is he?

Generally if he is lively has energy is sleeping well then I would not be too worried. All my dogs are underweight according to the Charts.

However they are busy working breeds and it is hard to keep weight on them.

Young busy spaniels can often be hard to keep weight on them.

However I am no medic but I am sure your vet would highlight if he thought there was anything they were concerned about.

Thank you for reply, it's made me feel better. He is two, and yeah very lively. He has his two walks in the woods AM and PM and tends to come with us wherever we go so he is on the go a lot. He sleeps fine at night and during the day when nothing is going on. I will try not to worry too much then!

I have a 2 year old working cocker and he is the same, I wouldn't worry. If he's eating and sleeping and is generally healthy. Mine never stops moving. Hope that helps a bit.

My spaniels have always been nibblers. Never gobblers unless it's cat shit.

I don't have a cocker but ours struggled to maintain weight at that age. He is now coming up for 4 and his weight is stable.
We changed his food which has helped.
Ours is an active breed also.

Is he actually underweight though? Averages are just averages, there’ll always be outliers.

If he's fit and active I really wouldn't worry.

Much better to be a bit underweight than overweight!

Slim dogs live longer.

I say that as an owner of a very slim 9kg or less tall cavvie . He has easily palpable ribs spine and a bony bum 😂 . He’s heavier than the average male cavvie but also just big !!

He is not fussed about his kibble generally and is very active. I just keep an eye on his weight - recently he’s dropped 509g for no reason so I’m being a bit more diligent to try to see he doesn’t skip meals entirely

Yep, go on shape not weight

This hoofer of a cocker is 9 months and 18.5kg. he's HUGE. He's also skinny, ribs are palpable and has defined waist from above. So got and healthy, just big!

Aw thanks everyone. He is a happy boy but so full of beans, it's a wonder there is any meat on his bones at all.

@GuyFawkesDay what a gorgeous boy!

I think it depends on the size

Ours has always been underweight - vet recommended feeding him 20% more at meals. We do that and he gets to his 'good' weight after a few weeks. We don't let him go under around 14kg or over 15.5kg - that's where he looks slim but ok. Anything under that and he is v thin. He's also a large working cocker though. I think you get a feeling for their right size after a while!

We have a working cocker. Her build is naturally skinny. She’s around 11kg. She eats loads - we actually still spread out her food over three meals so she eats more and can digest it - but she still loses weight easily. She’s very active and does a lot of agility. We started off feeding a very high protein food but now feed slightly higher fat, which she gets on better with. Someone suggested overnight oats and oily fish to us so we’re also going to try that. We’ve also had to try various different foods to get something she likes and sometimes she seems to get bored so we switch - might be worth you trying a different food or adding something to it to tempt your dog e.g small bit of cheese or chicken. We’re not overly worried about ours though. I think there’s a fair bit of variation in spaniels - some are quite stocky and some very lean.