Today obesity is one of the most common problems affecting many many dogs. The frequency of obesity has increase greatly in recent years, due primarily to poor quality of commercial dog foods, overeating and lack of exercise. Fortunately Dogo Argentinos are a more active breed, however, under certain circumstances you can still end up with a heavy or overweight dogo especially later in life… This is a very important aspect of your dogos life & health because of a largely increased chance of developing cancer, hip dysplasia & heart problems in dogos that are over weight!

So how do you know if your Dogo is overweight? A checkup with your veterinarian is always best, especially since he has your Dogo’s records from his last exam and can compare weight, as well as other clinical indicators. You can, however, perform a similar examination at home.

* Start by running your hands down your Dogo Argentinos sides, over the rib cage. You should be able to feel the ribs under a small layer of fat. You shouldn’t be able to see major definition of ribs. If you do, this would be an indicator of your Dogo being too thin or under-nourished. Next look at your Dogo Argentino from above to see if he has a waist behind the rib cage. If the area behind the rib cage is slightly smaller than the rib cage, the weight is ok. If the area is larger than the ribs, you may want to put your Dogo Argentino on a diet soon. The abdomen or stomach should show a slight tuck after the belly or taper up from the rib cage back to the hind legs. If your Dogo is overweight, he will have no tuck, if he is too thin, the tuck will be extreme, along with a pronounced rib cage. Look at your Dogo Argentino from the side. Specifically look at the spine at the top, and the abdomen or stomach behind the rib cage. You should be able to feel the spine and the tops of the shoulders with only a small amount of fat over them. Too much fat is overweight, too little is undernourished.
If your Dogo Argentino looks healthy and nourished, he probably is. Before you begin a diet for your overweight Dogo, or try to force feed him if he is looking too thin, please consult your with your veterinarian. There could be an underlying medical problem causing either extreme.
No matter what, always feed your Dogo Argentino a natural based dog food diet. Also make sure your Dogo is getting the proper amount of exercise. Adding proper supplements to the diet will help keep your Dogo’s weight perfect and prevent further health problems. PLEASE SEE OUR SUPPLEMENTS PG