Is he the correct weight?

[Kaizer]

My dog is around 130-140lbs and i was curious if he was overweight or if he was just big. He loves to run and play and is very fast but has little stamina. Could this be because he has little stamina by itself or could his weight be causing this ? Here are some pictures to show him

[targonrotts]

first question...did you actually weigh him yet?
130-140 is a big span for a dog. not quite like us, a few pounds make a big difference. typically a rottweiler weighing this much can be a bit on the heavy side.

it's not too easy to tell from the picture alone...he does seem a few pounds heavy, but the real test comes from actually going over him and see if you can see a waist on him when viewed from atop, when viewed from the side does he have a bit of a tuck up, and can you feel the last 2 ribs easily?

ask your vet to body score him.

lack of stamina can be due to not being in shape-not just weight but by endurance. as well as it can be just a mellow temperament. or too much weight on his joints. you can work on this by starting with walks and increasing them as he handles it well, feeding him leaner and find what games he likes. just get a vet to health ok him first before doing anything heavy.

he looks cute, though!

[brunie's mom]

The picture is not all that good...but to me he looks overweight. You can see the rolls on his back, around his neck. How tall is he?

If he is standard size...then he is overweight at 130-140 lbs. Take him into your vet office and have him weighed...he does not need an appointment for that.

What do you feed? how much are you feeding per day? How much exercise is he getting per day?

Gina

[Kaizer]

He eats Purina 2 scoops dry and a half of wet food (beef chunks) twice a day and he gets as much as much as he wants which means i exercise with him until he quits and starts panting heavy . It might be as simple as we are overfeeding him or were not feeding him healthy enough.

After establishing he is overweight what is the best way to go about managing this ? Cutting back on food . More exercise ? Or both ?

[Zumie05]

Yeah, he looks a bit chunky . What you want to look for is a nice waist line when looking down at your dog from a top view. There should be an indent in the waist right after the ribs and before the legs.

Also, when you pet along his ribs you should be able to feel them pretty easily. If you have to dig your fingers into his skin to feel them that is another sign of being a little over weight.

Very cute boy though.

[srzoe]

Originally Posted by Kaizer

My dog is around 130-140lbs and i was curious if he was overweight or if he was just big. He loves to run and play and is very fast but has little stamina. Could this be because he has little stamina by itself or could his weight be causing this ? Here are some pictures to show him

I would say he is overweight. A good rule of thumb is take a flat hand and rub it along the ribs- you should be able to feel the ribs. I think you will find his stamina increase greatly if he losses weight. He will also have a much lower chance for skeletal issues as well as other health concerns as he grows older.

[brunie's mom]

Originally Posted by Kaizer

He eats Purina 2 scoops dry and a half of wet food (beef chunks) twice a day and he gets as much as much as he wants which means i exercise with him until he quits and starts panting heavy . It might be as simple as we are overfeeding him or were not feeding him healthy enough.

After establishing he is overweight what is the best way to go about managing this ? Cutting back on food . More exercise ? Or both ?

Yes...both..cutting back on the amount you are feeding, and more exercise.
What's a scoop at your house? Is it a one 8 ounce measuring cup? He would probably be fine on 1 1/2 cups of food per meal, and just add a tablespoon of canned meat per meal. Purina is a poor quality grain based food. He would do far better on a meat based food, and you could stop feeding canned food all together.

Do some reading of past threads here on what foods are often recommended. You will have to feed far less of a quality food, and have less poop to clean up...and the dog will be healthier.

Gina

[Shelby427]

yes, he looks overweight and if he's really 130lbs - 140lbs, then yes, you need to get like 25lbs off of him. You should see a nice tuck, you should be able to feel his ribs easily. Purina is a crap food, lots of better choices out there - do a search.

Yes, he needs more exercise and less food. His joints are carrying a lot right now.

Also, read up on the breed standard. Then you'll know what a rottie is supposed to look like.

[poohbearsmom]

Originally Posted by Kaizer

He eats Purina 2 scoops dry and a half of wet food (beef chunks) twice a day and he gets as much as much as he wants which means i exercise with him until he quits and starts panting heavy . It might be as simple as we are overfeeding him or were not feeding him healthy enough.

After establishing he is overweight what is the best way to go about managing this ? Cutting back on food . More exercise ? Or both ?

My grown males eat 2.5 - 3 Cups a day total. More often, the lesser of the two amounts. I feed by "eye". If I'm dropping weight on a dog, I will cut back about 1/3 of their food intake, and up the exercise. The leaner my dogs are, the more stamina they have, as it's easier on their skeletons and heart to move less weight (just like us).

I like my dogs fairly lean, I like to see a definite waistline, and be able to easily feel rib as I'm stroking their sides. For dogs I am working, they show one rib clearly.

Kaiser looks like he could eat a few less doughnuts. Targon gave very good advice.

[Ayoka]

I have the same comments as other re food but regarding stamina...like humans bulding stamina means you need to do lower intensity for long times - that's not what fetch is!

The best photos for looking at body condition are a side view and a direct over the top (birdseye) view. I have taken some pictures of negelect cases at our local shelter and those are the pictures that really show where a dog does and does not carry weight. I should add that there's no way an adult could take these pictures without a chair and kneeling down.

[hcelsa]

He looks chubby to me...but it's hard to tell from a picture. It's best for you to learn how to check his condition yourself, and focus on that rather than the actual pounds on the scale.

Dogs vary in height, bone structure, and muscularity, so there is no one correct weight for a dog of any given breed. The best way to determine whether a dog is overweight is to test 3 different parts of the body: the neck, the ribs, and the hips.
*To check the neck, press your thumb and index finger deep into the side of the neck just ahead of the shoulder, and pinch them together. If your fingers are more than 1/2" apart, the dog is overweight. (Note: this is where old dogs tend to carry most of their excess fat, and they may actually be thin in other locations.)
*To check the ribs, stand with your dog beside you, facing his butt. Place your thumb on the middle of his spine half way down the back and spread your fingers out over his last few ribs. Then run your fingers up and down along his skin. You should be able to feel the bumps of his ribs without pressing in.
*To check the hips, run your hand over your dog's croup. You should be able to feel the bumps of his two pelvic bones without pressing down.

[Ayoka]

Originally Posted by hcelsa

*To check the neck, press your thumb and index finger deep into the side of the neck just ahead of the shoulder, and pinch them together. If your fingers are more than 1/2" apart, the dog is overweight. (Note: this is where old dogs tend to carry most of their excess fat, and they may actually be thin in other locations.)
*To check the ribs, stand with your dog beside you, facing his butt. Place your thumb on the middle of his spine half way down the back and spread your fingers out over his last few ribs. Then run your fingers up and down along his skin. You should be able to feel the bumps of his ribs without pressing in.
*To check the hips, run your hand over your dog's croup. You should be able to feel the bumps of his two pelvic bones without pressing down.

This is great, I think I saw it on the Chris Zink website...it's so true that dogs carry wiegth differently and that a dog with a heavier front may be seen as a big strong dog when in fact he may be overweight. It's sneaky but when petting other dogs I check the ribs and the hip bones out. A lot of dogs have the ribs but the hips are less obvious.