Overweight Alaskan Malamute Husky !?

[Ophelia89]

Hey everyone,

I am looking for a very specific answer to a very specific question lol. It might seems a little bit funny but I really googled it and I cannot find exatly what I am looking for. So here is my question ;

A few months ago I went to the vet with Loki my Alaskan Malamute Husky. Loki was not the smallest of the litter, nor the biggest. Loki exercises a good 2 hours a day, without leash, in the woods. More precisely, we live on a mountain, so the woods are full of '' hills ' and there are no easy path . SO, last time we saw the vet he was about 85-87 pounds and he was a little bit over 9 months old. My vet is a regular city vet, I mean if you are a little bit familiar with Quebec,Montreal, Canada, you must know how freakin' EXPENSIVE they are and most of them exagerate and bla bla bla... so being not rich we ain't got the super top 5 star vet. But she got a clinic and all and is very popular and not expensive in the area.
MY question is mainly, she said Loki was starting to be OVERWEIGHT !!! I could NOT believe it... she says oh yess look around his chest how round it is seems like Mr got a lil' tire ! Well, turns out that after looking at thousandssssss of pictures over the internet, I just can't find him... big. I mean 9 months old, over weight !? WE might not buy the most expensive food, but we sure don't buy the cheapest. Loki eats about 5 cups of dry food to 7 or 8 depending on the days. He has food at all times, but he can spend sometimes up to 10 hours before he goes for a bite. Sometimes he will go trough 4 cups in a 24hours. I mean, he really doesn't eat that much. With all the play fetch, thug of was, hiking in the woods we do DAILY without a mistake every day since DAY 1, I really have a hard time to believe it.
SO now Loki is a year and a week old. We are going to the vet monday to see his exact weight. This morning I took his measurments and tried to look it up but couldn't find anything.
I would just like to hear opinions... and advice ? Or experiences with your malamute if he was bigger than a usual one.
SO I would think he weighs more than 90 pounds now,
35'' inches Chest circumference
27'' inches hips
20'' inches neck

Here's Loki a couple weeks ago, '' helping us '' cord the firewood

http://imgur.com/a/XkEux

Thank you very much, I know I wrote alot but I just want to make sure I don't over feed him, or you know I want to take good care of my big fury baby to the best of my capacities

[Longblades]

It's pretty hard to tell from a photo if a dog is too fat, harder with a thick coat. Are you familiar with BCS? Take a look here and see where you think he fits in.

http://www.wsava.org/sites/default/f...art%20dogs.pdf

If you can feel ribs when palpated and see a waist when looking down on his back are better ways to gauge.

[Ophelia89]

Here's a better picture. As I can see it, he is Ideal but might have a veryyyyy thin layer of fat. He just turned a year old tho, so we are starting to go down with treats for good behavior and he's chewing less leather bones and such. So I can in all he is ok but we have to keep making sure he doesn't over eat. Thank you for the link by the way. very helpfull. We do feel his ribs when palping but with a slight pressure

[Ophelia89]

http://imgur.com/R15dbhA

[Barkingdog]

If feeding your dog the amount of that suggested on his food that is too much food . Vets tell me to feed my dog less food than suggested on the bag of food b/c the companies are really interested in making more money off us than our pets health . I wasn't able to see your dog pic b/c I got a warning saying it would put my computer out of protected mode .

[Lynne&Co.]

Wow Loki is a beautiful husky It is hard to tell weight from a picture however Loki looks like he's in fantastic shape!

Perhaps your vet is erring on the side of caution to ensure Loki doesn't continue to gain weight? Not all dogs conform to their breed standard either. Some can be oversized / undersized. Hopefully your vet can give you a detailed explanation for their opinion during your next visit. You could always get a second opinion too.

Good luck

[Patchie]

Loki looks fine to me. I agree with you, most vets in the city tend to exaggerate things. They always think of the worst case possible. But if your vet is famous in your place and she's been your vet for a long time, she might be really good.

http://farmersalmanac.com/health/201...-go-on-a-diet/

It might help having a read.