How Do You Tell If Your Husky Is Overweight?

[Jay]

So Yukon is 8 months old, and he weighs about 45lbs.  The problem is he is about half as tall as Nikko is, and he weighs 55lbs.  I think Nikko looks too skinny but from others that’s just his body type, very lanky. 

My friend and I disagree; I think Yukon is fine, he thinks he is too fat.  You can’t feel his ribs or bones at all, and looks very stocky.  I feed them both the same amount of food, but Yukon still goes crazy at meal times and acts like I never feed him.  Nikko on the other hand eats his food slowly and does not go all nuts when I put their bowls down.

 

Also, I have been feeding Yukon 4 times a day because he has stomach issues and always throws up when his stomach is empty.  He gets the same amount, just split into 4 meals. 

 

I posted the best pic I could find to compare their sizes.  What do you think?  And how can you tell if they are overweight?

[mydiamond]

I once heard somewhere that not being able to feel the ribs or spine means the dog is slightly overweight, but I'm not sure... anyways, I found this on e-how:

 

Take the weight of a larger breed of dog at the age of 14 weeks and multiply that weight by 2, and then add another half of the 14-week-old weight to estimate the ideal adult weight. For example, if your larger dog weighs 20 lbs. at 14 weeks old, the calculation would be 20 x 2 +10 for an estimated ideal adult weight of 50 lbs.

that might not be much of a help though... guess the best solution is to ring a vet..

[Dunc]

When there fat 

 

Soz from what I gave seen it varies massively

[CARRINGTON]

I do not know on this, however, I would like to see what others have to say in case Balto ever gets chunky

[Stormy]

Shadow is "chunky" as you would call it he is on less food than Skye but only a little less, Skye is still growing and is tall and slim she is on around 650 grams of food per day atm and i think she is a perfect size, i would say Shadow is chunky though but he still has a "shape"

 

I think yours look fine to me but compared to say the show huskies i saw at the weekend i would say my Shadow is fatter than normal

[Smokey]

I agree with being able to feel a rib (the last one). If you have a picture in a stack and one from the top, there should be sort of an hour glass shape from the top and then (I know huskies have thick coats so it's hard to see this) but you may see a rib from the side. 

 

Cute picture. How do you keep your carpet so clean! c:

[HuskyMom09]

You want to be able to palpate ribs, there should be a decent padding over them but still be able to feel them.  From the top your husky should have a waist line 'hour glass' shape and from the side there should be a tuck up from the ribs back toward the leg.  If your husky does not have these landmarks they are overweight.  As for  the excited for food- remember dogs are opportunistic feeders and some are more food driven than others.  Our kennel goes insane at dinner time, you'd think we've never fed them a day in their lives.

[Andy]

You want to be able to palpate ribs, there should be a decent padding over them but still be able to feel them.  From the top your husky should have a waist line 'hour glass' shape and from the side there should be a tuck up from the ribs back toward the leg.  If your husky does not have these landmarks they are overweight.  As for  the excited for food- remember dogs are opportunistic feeders and some are more food driven than others.  Our kennel goes insane at dinner time, you'd think we've never fed them a day in their lives.

that pic is awesome

 

Was just going to say if you look from the side the front of the chest to the back legs the underside should have an "s" shape

and if you look from the top down you have broad shoulders a thinner waist and the hips flare out. perfect wieght regardless of size.

I you can see the ribs too thin

if there is no waist too heavy

[Keeonah]

I have always been told that the correct weight for a siberian husky is 20 kgs. Mine are all hovering around that sort of weight with the exception of the 3 pups that are just slightly under

 

Gary.

[LittleLuka]

Doesn't look overweight to me but then again i have a skinny husky so i think anything remotely like him looks underweight. he only weighs 43 lbs.

[Stormy]

20 Shadow is 30!

[LittleLuka]

I have always been told that the correct weight for a siberian husky is 20 kgs. Mine are all hovering around that sort of weight with the exception of the 3 pups that are just slightly under

 

Gary.

 

i don't see how that is necessarily true as males and females are different sizes. i read online that:

 

the males of the breed are ideally between 21 and 23.5 inches (53 and 60 cm) tall at the withers and weighing between 45 and 60 pounds (20 and 27 kg). Females are smaller, growing to between 20 to 22 inches (51 to 56 cm) tall at the withers and weighing between 35 to 50 pounds (16 to 23 kg)

[Jay]

I agree with being able to feel a rib (the last one). If you have a picture in a stack and one from the top, there should be sort of an hour glass shape from the top and then (I know huskies have thick coats so it's hard to see this) but you may see a rib from the side. 

 

Cute picture. How do you keep your carpet so clean! c:

Thanks!  Looks are deceiving, I REALLY need to get them shampooed!  It hides the dirt and hair very well, but at the end of the day my socks don't look so white   

 

 

You want to be able to palpate ribs, there should be a decent padding over them but still be able to feel them.  From the top your husky should have a waist line 'hour glass' shape and from the side there should be a tuck up from the ribs back toward the leg.  If your husky does not have these landmarks they are overweight.  As for  the excited for food- remember dogs are opportunistic feeders and some are more food driven than others.  Our kennel goes insane at dinner time, you'd think we've never fed them a day in their lives.

 

That is an awesome graphic!  Very helpful!  Nikko looks just like the ideal picture, but looking down at Yukon, he looks more like the Heavy picture.  He does not have an hourglass figure, its more the same shape.  I will try taking a picture looking down at him.  The problem he is laying down most of the time.  I might just need to exercise him more, but he has never been hyper, perfectly content laying down next to me watching TV! 

[Keanu]

You want to be able to palpate ribs, there should be a decent padding over them but still be able to feel them.  From the top your husky should have a waist line 'hour glass' shape and from the side there should be a tuck up from the ribs back toward the leg.  If your husky does not have these landmarks they are overweight.  As for  the excited for food- remember dogs are opportunistic feeders and some are more food driven than others.  Our kennel goes insane at dinner time, you'd think we've never fed them a day in their lives.

This lab from Crufts looked like between last two. OK OK I am going bananas :DDDDD

[Keanu]

Jason if I had any doubts I would either ask my vet or took standards from American Husky Club (don't take them from the UK cos our huskies differ a bit). On the pic your dogs look fine:)

[Val (Zebedee)]

they have that pic in our vets, very useful.

 

 

Shadow is "chunky" as you would call it he is on less food than Skye but only a little less, Skye is still growing and is tall and slim she is on around 650 grams of food per day atm and i think she is a perfect size, i would say Shadow is chunky though but he still has a "shape"

 

I think yours look fine to me but compared to say the show huskies i saw at the weekend i would say my Shadow is fatter than normal

 

Diesel, on his diet, as big as he is, is on 275gms of kibble a day & isn't losing weight! he's stopped at around 48-49kg but he has definately got shape now & it's not barrel-shaped either! lol

[Jay]

I tried taking a pic of Yukon standing Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jay]

And this is Nikko standing Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LittleLuka]

This is luka if that helps

[LittleLuka]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1363129993.387012.jpg

I tried taking a pic of Yukon standing

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He doesn't really look "heavy" to me though more like in between

[Its_A_Husky_Thing]

I don't think I would worry too much about Yukon. He will probably grow more in height/width then he will gain weight from here on out (grow into his weight). I think Nikko's weight and size is great.

 

Our two, Ammo is 49lbs at 1yr 4months....and Gunner is 60lbs at 1yr 2months. Ammo is a lot smaller built though, where as Gunner has a bigger build. We are kind of thinking that Gunner growing so fast may have been what gave him hip dysplasia...but no one is forsure.

 

All dogs grow differently...I don't think either of ours will gain anymore weight.

[HuskyMom09]

This lab from Crufts looked like between last two. OK OK I am going bananas :DDDDD

 

One of my professional handler friends has a lab client that IMO looks too heavy also, but put your hands on him he is solid muscle and that dog has the most appropriate movement I have seen in the Lab ring in a long time.  He deserves very much so every placement he takes.  You didn't place your hands on the Crufts lab so there is no way to know.  Judging is more than just appearance alone-

[Stormy]

they have that pic in our vets, very useful.

 

 

 

Diesel, on his diet, as big as he is, is on 275gms of kibble a day & isn't losing weight! he's stopped at around 48-49kg but he has definately got shape now & it's not barrel-shaped either! lol

Aww bless him!! Yeah i just cant give Shadow any less as i would literally be starving him lol Im happy with the way he looks he just isn't a skinny mini! He can still run extremely fast etc so i have no worrys