Healthy weight maintenance

Obesity in dogs is a growing issue and industry experts now report that around 50% of pets are overweight or obese. Obesity is more common in certain breeds of dog, the risks also increases with age, and gender plays a part too with females being more likely to be overweight, although animals of both sexes when neutered are more prone to weight issues.

The key to managing your dog’s weight is the balance between how much they eat and the energy they use up. And that’s where you come in. Maintaining your dog’s ideal weight is about the type and amount of food you give as well as your dog’s lifestyle and exercise levels.

To help you keep a closer eye on both your dog's diet and their exercise, PEDIGREE^® have developed a free mobile app called PEDIGREE^® Tracks which helps you create a tailored menu for your dog and track their daily exercise levels.

The WALTHAM™ S.H.A.P.E. guide for dogs

Did you know by just looking at your dog and feeling their shape is an easy way to tell if your dog is a healthy weight or not?

Lots of methods exist for working out body composition and body fat mass in companion animals. In a clinical setting, the most widely accepted and practical method of body condition evaluation is condition scoring using visual assessment and palpation.

S.H.A.P.E. ™ (Size, Health And Physical Evaluation) is a body composition measuring system designed by WALTHAM™ that asks a series of questions. A person will carry out a number of examinations on a dog ultimately leading through a flow chart to a score that corresponds to a description of the pet.