Commenting on chubby shelties

Caro

Caro

Moderator
Would you comment if someone you knew had a fat sheltie?

I think I've put my foot into it a couple of times doing this. At the oval tonight I ran into a sheltie owner I'd met a few times (the sister of a colleague at the dog club). She mentioned her small 18mth old female weighed 9.5 kg and I think my eyes popped out of my head and I mentioned how much mine weighed. I also told a friend her young sheltie was getting too chubby for agility.

Now I'm thinking people may be too sensitive to want to hear their sheltie is overweight.
 
Honestly, I would want to know. But without seeing them, you can't really comment. My 8 monther is 27 pounds, but is still bones and skin and a little hair. No weight issues at all. That being said, my 9 yr old IS over weight. I know this, we're working on it.. but there's not much more we can do except exercise her. She's 15 inches and weighs 27lbs as well. You can still feel her ribs but she got a little extra there. Eats 1 cup a day and that's it.. no treats nothing... It's just I'm not actively training her in Agility... we might see if Ruutu's instructor will let me bring her every other time or something. I don't have the ability to just throw her outside and run and since she's reactive walks are bad unless in mornings or nights.

But, back on topic, IF you can clearly see the dog is overweight, I have no issues with you telling me, but without seeing the dog, if you just hear the weight, I might have an issue. If you hear an 8 month sheltie weighs 27 pounds you (and I) would easily say that dog is over weight. But he's also 18" and all muscle.
 
Perhaps, if the dog were egregiously overweight, but then, if that's the case, the owner will already be aware of it. It would be like telling someone that his elephant has a big nose.

Take a look at some of the owners and you can't possible believe that a dog's being overweight is really that much of an issue. :smile2:
 
Caro said:
Would you comment if someone you knew had a fat sheltie?

I think I've put my foot into it a couple of times doing this. At the oval tonight I ran into a sheltie owner I'd met a few times (the sister of a colleague at the dog club). She mentioned her small 18mth old female weighed 9.5 kg and I think my eyes popped out of my head and I mentioned how much mine weighed. I also told a friend her young sheltie was getting too chubby for agility.

Now I'm thinking people may be too sensitive to want to hear their sheltie is overweight.
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I have seen this and well sorry YOU are the one at fault :wink2:

Better to encourage her to do agility then while she is there point out how being a little thinner might help her. By being blunt, you were correct but in doing so called her baby ugly. So mom went into protect mode. By contrast if you encourage her to start, you can then pull her that way rather than push. Difference between criticizing her pup and encouraging her pup.

This is true of people in general. Oh and by the way I suffer from bluntness AND engineers disease (well and being a guy) so I don't apply this insight I just have observed it :biggrin2:
 
I think it depends how you say it - you need to not sound judgemental but rather concerned and that may be hard to pull off unless you know the person well. A friend of my daughters once walked into our house and the first words out her mouth were - "That sheltie is FAT!" Ouch!

She was right of course, Kali was fat (31 pounds when she should have weighed 24), but what she didn't know was that the "fat" sheltie was on a strict diet. Absolutely no treats, her week's food very carefully preweighed ( down to the kibble). We had just learned that our 2 year old sheltie had hypothyroidism and had just began daily thyroid pills and strict food control. (Thank goodness she was more highly toy and praise motivated than food motivated). 2 months later she would have found a very slimmed down puppy weighing in at 25 pounds where she remained the rest of the time we had her. She got used to visits to the doggie scale at the vet and would walk over and step up soon as we walked in the door - it was one of the few things she actually ever got food treats for.

Can't prove it but I think leaner pets live longer and have fewer joint issues - so for me watching their weight is an essential part of pet ownership. Now if only I had someone who would watch mine for me :lol:
 
As with everything else, its all in the delivery of the statement. When I first brought Beau home he only weighed 11 pounds, you could see his ribs and the rib cage. Obviously, without telling you his height, he was malnourished and underweight. My first job as his momma was to make sure he got good quality food in his belly. About a year after I brought him home his weight climbed to 21 lbs, I took him in for his yearly physical and asked his wonderful vet about his weight. And she said,"Beau has filled out nicely, I just wouldn't let him gain anymore weight" And to this date, Beau' weight hovers around 21-22 pounds and this depends on how he stands on the calibration of their scale.


I say this because as with everything else there is always one person who believes themselves to be a know it all(Please know, I'm not accusing you of being this way)and feel that they are an expert in all things dogs.(I'm not saying I'm and expert in all things dog, but, I am an expert when it comes to my dog) I have a woman at our dog park who came up to me one day and said my dog is fat. I told her flat out that my dog sees his vet and she said he's fine and walked away. The next time she saw me and Beau she once again came up to us and again, preceded to tell me Beau was fat. I told her to stop saying that because its' not true. again, I walked away. She did this several more times, exasperated by her ignorance, I finally said, "Shut up" well I said "Shut up with a few colorful expletives and walked away.

Beau gets plenty of exercise. We go to the park in the morning and walk for several blocks afterward. He comes home, eats breakfast and then we go for an hour and a half walk mid morning, and he gets another walk in the afternoon. Beau gets plenty of exercise, so, I guess what I'm trying to say is how you tell someone depends on not only your motive but, the method and delivery that you state your opinion.
 
Yes, I would and I have. My mother's chihuahua is overweight and has luxating patella. Every time I see her, I tell her that her dog needs to lose weight because the extra pounds are going to make her knee condition worse, but it goes in one ear & out the other.

I went to the vet once and there was another sheltie there who was clearly overweight. I told the owner and she just laughed it off and said it was all fluff. I felt the dog, it was not fluff! Another time I ran into someone with an overweight sheltie. I pet the sheltie and said "my you are a chubby little fellow." I said it jokingly to not offend the owner. The owner actually told me they have been trying to help the dog lose weight, but nothing worked. I suggested a thyroid test and they said they would test her. Who knows, maybe I helped this owner discover her dog has an under active thryoid.

I've seen my trainers tell some students that they're dogs should lose a few pounds for agility. Also goes in one ear and out the other.

I see nothing wrong in telling the owners, as long as it is in a friendly manner and won't cause a confrontation. You could really be helping the dog out, but I can see how some owners might take offense. Imagine someone telling you, your child is fat? Not everyone believes in the health consequences of being overweight.
 
Several folks have mentioned that SN needs a "Like" emoticon. What we really need is a "bite my tongue" emoticon.​
 
I think I would only comment to someone I knew well. I recently had an experience in my therapy dog group that reminded me that when it comes to their dogs, people not only have thin skins, but the also misconstrue every innocent remark at every possible opportunity. :rolleyes2:
 
take4roll10 said:
Another time I ran into someone with an overweight sheltie. I pet the sheltie and said "my you are a chubby little fellow." I said it jokingly to not offend the owner. The owner actually told me they have been trying to help the dog lose weight, but nothing worked. I suggested a thyroid test and they said they would test her. Who knows, maybe I helped this owner discover her dog has an under active thryoid.
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I think that's an appropriate way of expressing a concern about weight. I've done similar for a lady I was riding for when the pony was clearly overweight (there were ridges of fat along the spine). I saw it as improving the owner's knowledge (she heard from a "friend" to pour vegetable oil on their sweet feed in the middle of a lazy summer on a lush pasture:confused2:) and also helping the fitness/health of the pony. But I knew the owner and had been riding for her for a couple of years.

A friend mentioned that her dad said her corgi was "fat", so we had a conversation about fit and health. Her corgi, despite the breed's reputation of being just as much of an air fern as Shelties, is actually in pretty good fitness. I think the crazy keeps it in shape.:lol:
 
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