Overweight dog

I've seen dogs that are overweight and I sure as heck never thought my dog would be in that category.

Our 4-yr old standard American Eskimo is considered a small to medium-size dog. All of the American Eskimos I've had over the past 30 years have been about the same size. At her annual physical/rabies shot exam last month, she weighed in at 25 lb. The vet told me that she's a bit overweight. She should weigh about 22 lb. She has fluffy white fur and she does not appear to be overweight to me at all, but the vet said that it's deceptive because she's so furry. When he puts his hands through her fur to feel her rib cage, he said he should be able to feel her ribs and he couldn't because of the extra pounds. He said she didn't need to be on a special diet or anything, I just needed to give her a little less in order for her to be at a healthy weight. He gave me a plastic measuring cup and told me to give her a little less than the amounts printed on the dog food bag. I was probably giving her 1 1/2 cups of food daily before this and now I measure it and only give her a cup. We've also backed off of giving her so many treats. I had to take her back to the vet a few weeks later so they could check sutures from a dental procedure and when they weighed her, she'd already lost a couple of pounds.

I never thought my dog's weight would ever be an issue. But once it was brought to my attention, I'm now aware that keeping her at a healthy weight is up to me.

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