I just got back from the vet to get my dog his annual shots, and the (city slicker) vet he said that although my 2-year-old male black Lab is well within the "normal" range for his body type at 76 pounds, he's probably about 5 pounds heavier than the ideal.
I realize that all body types are different, but how much does your Lab weigh?
PS--Do you vaccinate your dog for Lepto? This vet really pushed it for my dog's next round of shots, but he's so touchy-feely that I have to take everything he says with a grain of salt.
Do the lepto. You are in MN. A family that is waiting for a choc pup from me just had their 4 y/o Lab die of Lepto last fall. They live in central MN and their then-vet had discouraged them from doing Lepto. I do all mine every year, the pros outweigh the cons the way we travel and where we live.
First: I am ignorant about a lot of things. But my intensions are the best.
When we got our now 6yr. old F Golden the breeder and our local vet suggested strongly to get all vacinations, just to be safe. Made sense so we did that.
When we got our now 3yr. M golden (differant breeder) I had become addicted to reteivers and did whatever research i could think of. It seems that all that junk in the dogs could be related to other health issues, (cancer mainly) I do say COULD be, as there is certianly no smokin gun pointing to the various vacines.
Maybe I am just paranoid!
63# and lots of muscle. I had totalk my vet INTO giving the lepto. It seems it is not common in our immediate area, and I had to explain that we travel quite a bit to areas where it might be.
beautiful morning here in western Wisconsin, just got done running some marks with a friend and three dogs. Lots of birds making noise! awesome. Dogs had a blast.
The question shouldn't be one of how your dog's weight compares to other dogs' or even whatever "normal" is, but whether his body condition is correct. Here's a good guide to that: http://vet.osu.edu/1851.htm
Instead of asking everyone else how much their dogs weight, read Rick's post and check the link again.
Just like people, dogs come in different shapes and sizes. However, they don't carry fat in the same way we do.
If you place your thumbs tip-to-tip on your dog's spine and use your fingertips to feel for ribs, you can immediately access how fat your dog is. If you can't easily identify each rib, your dog is too fat. If you can see every rib through the coat, your dog is too thin.
BLM 7 yrs old with thyroid issues 65 lbs (show breeding)
BLF 8 yrs old 7/8 ths field 68 lbs Lean according to my vet.
YLM 5 1/2 yrs old Field 76 lbs.
BLM 4 1/2 yrs old show 79 lbs.
Rocky (8 yrs) and Teddy (5-6? yrs) are both 80lbs, but it's been a long, lazy winter. They'll drop a 3-5 lbs when we start training again. Chip (2 yrs) is down in GA for the winter, and is somewhere around 70 lbs. I expect him to be around 75lb when mature.
I have a female who is eight years old. In her prime training shape, she would weigh around 70 lbs. solid, which is too heavy, but she was on the big boned side.
We started seeing some lepto cases in C. WA a few years ago. It's always been an issue in W. WA, and my vet was rather sorry when she realized she had let me fall thru the cracks (knowing I ran hunt tests in W.WA). I do mine now.
My girls are all smaller (21-22" tall) and weigh in the 58-62# range in good working weight. Their brothers (1-1.5" taller on avg) are pretty much ~75# at maturity. I just go by the feel of ribs and spine. Anne
My female is built solid of muscle and is only 56 lbs.
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