Your How do you measure a dog’s weight? Tips and Tricks

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Checking for Signs of Unhealthy Weight

  • This will be much easier if the dog knows the commands sit and stay. Showing the dog a treat may help, but only if it reacts by staying still and focusing on you, not by getting excited. ⧼thumbs_response⧽ Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
  • You can look up “conformation charts” of your dogs breed online. These often include s that show signs of underweight or overweight dogs of that breed. These charts are standards for dog show competitions, so most of the other information is not relevant to health. ⧼thumbs_response⧽ Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
  • If your dog is underweight, do not force your dog to eat food. Just put food out all the time so they can eat when they feel like it. Talk to your veterinarian if your dog doesnt seem to eat enough on his own. ⧼thumbs_response⧽ Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

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    Use our guide to measure your dog using a soft tape measure. If you find your dog is putting on weight then consider feeding them less. You can reduce their daily meals or treats to keep their calories in balance.

    It is important to keep track of your dog’s weight changes during times when their exercise is restricted. You can usually do this easily when you have access to the scales at a veterinary practice but what about when you’re stuck indoors?

    Chest: Place the tapemeasure on the dog’s shoulder blades and measure right around the chest at thedeepest point. This is usually following the line from the shoulder bladesdownwards just behind the front legs.

    To measure your dog correctly always use a soft tape measure and always measure your dog when they are standing. The tape measure should not be so tight that it distorts your dog’s body shape, and you should be able to snuggly fit one finger underneath the measure. Always measure your dog the same way each time to make sure the measurements are correct.

    Waist: Placethe tape measure around the narrowest part of the dog’s waist just in front oftheir hind legs.

    What If You Don’t Know The Breed?

    How big will my mixed-breed puppy get? Well, this is more complicated if you have a mixed breed or don’t know the breed makeup of your dog. In the latter case, you can always consider doing a dog DNA test to determine his breed makeup (you’ll want to do a DNA test ASAP since results can take a few weeks).

    Also, if you adopt a puppy from a shelter, they may be able to give you some idea of the suspected breed makeup.

    How to weigh your dog

    That’s nearly 2 extra years of life… just for keeping your dog at her ideal weight.