A major part of keeping your dog happy and healthy is making sure they maintain a healthy weight. It’s all too easy to overfeed or under exercise your dog, which can quickly lead them to put on weight. Too much weight and they could be at risk of health problems like diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and mobility issues. 

But how can you tell if your dog is overweight, and what can you do about it if they are?

PitPat is here to help.

There are loads of handy tools in our app to help you check and manage your dog’s weight, from body condition scoring to weight tracking. Best of all, many of our weight tools are completely free to use – no PitPat or subscription needed.

Visit your vet

The first step in determining if your dog is overweight is a visit to your vets. They will pop your pooch on the scales and do a body condition score. There’s nothing invasive, just a quick look and feel of their body that will indicate whether your dog is carrying the right amount of weight.

Once they’ve completed this, they’ll be able to let you know how your dog is doing and give you a weight loss (or gain) plan if needed. This will contain recommendations about your dog’s diet and exercise regimen to help them get back on track.

Body condition scoring

Once you’ve visited your vet, it can be useful to know how to do a body condition score yourself, so you can keep track in between appointments.

We’ve developed an easy-to-follow guide in our app to help you check your pup’s body condition score. Of course, this doesn’t replace the need for regular vet visits and weigh-ins.

To carry out the body condition score, download the PitPat App and input your dog’s details.

Next head to the ‘weight’ tab and choose the option ‘Set ideal weight’. This option isn’t available for dogs under the age of one – after all, they’ve got plenty of growing still to do!

Follow the options to assess your dog’s body condition. We’ll take you through three easy steps and tell you whether your dog is at the right weight based on what you’ve told us.

Weight tracking

Keeping a history of your dog’s weight is an important tool for any dog owner. It makes it much easier to spot both long term and sudden weight gain or loss.

We’ve made it super easy to keep a record of your dog’s weight in the PitPat app, and what’s more, it’s free even if you don’t have a PitPat yet.

Just head to the app, select the ‘Weight’ tab and choose ‘update current weight’. If you know your dog’s weight already, pop it straight in. If you don’t know your dog’s weight, just grab a set of bathroom scales, and follow the instructions in our ‘weight wizard’.

Once you’ve logged your dog’s weight, you’ll see it appear in their record. Keep logging their weight on a regular basis and you’ll build up a detailed record over time. We’ll even alert you if their weight has fluctuated by more than 10%.

Ideal weight

If you’ve got a weight goal from your vet, you can set an ideal weight in the PitPat app and see your dog’s progress towards it as you log their weight.

Choose the ‘set ideal weight’ option in the weight tab, and add their target weight along with a weekly weight change goal.

You’ll be able to see how they are doing towards their target weight over time – once the colour changes to green, they’re at the right weight!

Track their exercise

Exercise is a major factor contributing to your dog’s weight, alongside their diet. With a PitPat Dog Activity Monitor, you can see exactly how much exercise your dog is getting and how many calories they’ve burned. 

You can use this information to understand whether they are getting the right amount of exercise and the impact it has on their weight, and so you also know when they’ve earned an extra treat.

Portion their food

We all know that diet is one of the biggest factors when it comes to your dog’s weight. That’s why we’ll tell you exactly how much to feed your dog, based on their age, weight, breed, activity levels and more. All you need to do is weigh out their PitPat Food in their PitPat Weighing Bowl and let them tuck in.

PitPat Light Food is a high protein, low calorie recipe that has been specifically formulated by expert nutritionists to help your dog lose weight. It’s packed full of high-quality ingredients like poultry from animals fit for human consumption and New Zealand green-lipped mussels to support healthy joints. Plus, it’s super tasty so even the fussiest eaters will love it.

Add years to your dog’s life

Studies have shown that keeping your dog at a healthy weight could add years to their life so there’s no better time to start monitoring their weight than right now.

To get them to a healthy weight in no time, get started with the PitPat Weight Loss Value Bundle. You’ll get everything you need to take your pup from extra fluffy to fit and healthy in no time, including our PitPat Dog Activity Monitor, a bag of PitPat Light Food, a PitPat Weighing Bowl, and two bags of PitPat Treats, all for just £59.

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