Overweight?
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Hello,
Our 1 year olf boy is weighing 12.4kg right now and we aren't sure if he is overweight or not. Trying to work out the optimal amount of food he should be having to support a healthy lifestyle..
What weight do you recommend a basenji being and how much should he be eating also? Is our dog overweight?
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Quick Conversion: 12.4 kg =~ 27.3 lbs
Personally, I think the bigger concern is giving our dogs healthy foods and judging weight by how the dog looks (from the top). Muscle weighs more than fat, so... if your dog is lean and muscular they could weigh as much or more as a dog that eats too many biscuits (cookies, treats, etc.). And, as I say that, I have had my "doodle" on a diet for over a year now. She's not obese, or even "plump", but she isn't thin either. Just something else to worry about...
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That is a very interesting point. He doesn't look overweight just not as skinny as what I see some to be on Instagram. He's on a super healthy diet, so we cant make sense of it. That being said, he exercises everyday for over an hour so it actually could be muscle, would you believe I never thought of that.. ha
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I go by appearance more than actual weight. Different dogs have different body structure, so some at their ideal weight will be heavier than others. Horse people have an expression, "the eye of the master maketh the horse". I think it applies to dogs as well. I have seen people almost starve their dogs to get that racy appearance, which IMO should only be seen in an elite athlete that is working hard every day. Go with what your eye tells you, not the scales.
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22 to 24 for females and 24 to 26 for males is what the standard call for.
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Basenjis need to be trim and elegant for their own health. An over-weight dog is not always a healthy dog, weight puts unnecessary strain on the organs of dogs, just like it does on humans.
27 lbs sounds overweight to me. Even a large framed dog shouldn't go much over 25. Feeding him twice a day, balanced meals, identical night and morning, will help you control his weight.
If you weigh out his kibble ration each morning and give him bits of that - if you must five him treats- then the treats are coming from his daily ration and are not 'extras'.
At his age, try and take a pound off and keep him slimmer rather than plump. You are supposed to be able to fit another half Basenji into the same skin. The ribs shouldn't be well covered !
