Learn how to score your dog’s body condition and discover healthy dog diets that can make weight management a breeze!                         Â
Keeping your dog at a healthy weight is one of the most important things you can do to ensure a long, active, and happy life. Excess weight and obesity can cause joint problems, heart and respiratory issues, diabetes, reduced immunity, decreased energy and quality of life, and a shorter lifespan. Fortunately, it’s easy to manage your dog’s weight. Today, learn about body condition to help you keep an eye on things and get some great pointers about healthy dog diets that are tasty and nutritious.
Body Condition Scores Can Help You Track Your Dog’s Weight
A body condition score is a numerical assessment of your dog indicating whether they’re underweight, at a healthy weight, or overweight. It’s a simple way to assess and track weight because you don’t need any special tools. Rather, you can score your dog based on how they look and feel. The scale goes from 1 to 9, with the numbers meaning:
- 1-2: Too thin
- 3: Thin
- 4-5: Ideal
- 6-7: Overweight
- 8-9: Obese
How to Assess Your Dog’s Body Condition
One: Stand Above and Look Down at Your Dog
- Underweight: You can see rib and hip bones prominently, there’s little to no fat, and there’s muscle loss.
- Ideal: You can see their body narrow at the waist.
- Overweight: You can’t see the ribs and waist because of excess fat.
Two: Examine Your Dog from the Side
- Underweight: The stomach tucks up sharply from the ribs toward the hind legs, and the ribs are prominent.
- Ideal: The stomach tucks up from the ribs toward the hind legs, but you can’t see the bones of the ribs prominently.
- Overweight: The stomach is flat or sagging.
Three: Feel Their Ribs, Spine, and Hips
- Underweight: You can feel the ribs, spine, and hip bones because there’s little to no fat covering them.
- Ideal: You can feel a thin layer of fat covering the ribs, spine, and hip bones.
- Overweight: You can’t feel the ribs, spine, and hip bones because of a thick layer of fat.
Healthy Dog Diets from NutriSource Simplify Weight Management
Feeding the right diet is one of the most important things you can do to keep your dog at a healthy weight. Choice recipes from NutriSource are packed with everything your pup needs to thrive. The wet and dry recipes feature animal protein as the first ingredient and have L-carnitine, taurine, omega-3 fatty acids, and omega-6 fatty acids to support the heart, skin & coat, and cells. The recipes start with high-quality ingredients and include Bioplex trace minerals to improve nutrient absorption. Designed for efficient nutrition, Choice recipes enable you to feed less while still keeping your dog satisfied and healthy, making weight management easier than ever!
Learn more about healthy dog diets and Choice recipes from NutriSource!
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