Putting on weight with age and after spaying

When we first adopted our girl around 18 months ago she weighed 17.5 kilos, which was a fairly normal weight for a two year old bitch of her height.

Since then she has put on some muscle due to increased exercise, which you can see on her legs and shoulders, however she also seems to have filled out a bit in general and I am not sure how much of this is normal for a staffie who has fully matured and what may be down to decreased metabolism since she was spayed over a year ago and now weighs 19.5 kilos, so I am thinking a gentle diet may be in order. She has loads of exercise and runs for a couple hours a day but still think she may be getting a little too round in the stomach area even if it feels solid to touch.

Any thoughts on this from experienced staffie owners who have owned a female that was spayed?

These pictures were taken about one month ago on a walk and I think she looks pretty good here but the last one was taken two minutes ago in more relaxed state on her bed. I know it's hard to tell sometimes from pictures because they can look so different at various angles. My general impression though just looking at her is that she has developed a more barrel shaped rib cage over time and the weight has definitely increased.

I sometimes look at my two and if I think they are looking a little more rotund then I cut back on their food (or should I say ask hubby to). I used to run Kita a little lean when she was younger and often people suggested I didn't feed her enough, but she ate like a horse and I exercised her more as she was on her own after spending 3 years with a mate and exercising themselves most of the time on our property. My other girl has come from a rather large parentage, her dad is a big boy (although looking at a photo he doesn't look it). She weighs 21kg and there was a time when I started worrying if she was ever going to stop growing especially after getting spayed last year at 6 months of age. Maybe cut back a little on her food and treats (if she has them) over the next week and see if it makes any difference.

She certainly doesn't look fat! I suppose it comes down to how each individual likes to see their dog. I like to be able to feel my dog's ribs, but not see them.

If you feel that she needs to lose a couple of pounds, then by all means cut down a little on her food (I'd cut down the treats first, though, if she gets a few), but do it gradually so that it's easier to stop when you feel she's at the weight you want her to be.

When I last took her to the vet a few months ago she said Bailey was extremely fit and that with a staffie you should just be able to see their ribs. That was certainly the case before but not quite so clear now. I really just want her to be a healthy weight and have no desire to see her looking overly thin or feeling hungry.

Over the last month or so she seems have enjoyed rather more treats than usual and I think that if we restrict her to just her normal meals for a while it will help keep her weight under control. This morning I took her to the woods and she was running well. She looks solid but seems to have a bigger rib cage than before, though I wonder if this could partly be down to the exercise and being fully mature now.

On another subject she met a superb looking 3 year old male bullie on the beach at the weekend. He was all white except for his ears that had a similar brown tone to Dempsey. He looked extremely powerful and agile but fortunately he was good natured, though Bailey did refuse some of his more amorous advances...

Dogalogs88 wrote:I sometimes look at my two and if I think they are looking a little more rotund then I cut back on their food (or should I say ask hubby to). I used to run Kita a little lean when she was younger and often people suggested I didn't feed her enough, but she ate like a horse and I exercised her more as she was on her own after spending 3 years with a mate and exercising themselves most of the time on our property. My other girl has come from a rather large parentage, her dad is a big boy (although looking at a photo he doesn't look it). She weighs 21kg and there was a time when I started worrying if she was ever going to stop growing especially after getting spayed last year at 6 months of age. Maybe cut back a little on her food and treats (if she has them) over the next week and see if it makes any difference.

21 kilos is a very big girl at 18 months. I do wonder though about the breed standard, which seems overly strict in my view. I see you are from Perth WA where I lived for 9 years while growing up. My mother is still out in WA and now lives in Mandurah.

I have to say that I don't like the current trend for staffs to be 'ripped' or 'fighting fit'. I think it gives the wrong impression to the general public of a dog that is under constant watch. I know others disagree, and they're entitled to their opinion, obviously!

Bandit, my last staff, was extremely fit with very good stamina, strongly built muscles & a glossy coat. I could feel his ribs, but couldn't see them unless he was panting. That's how I, personally, like to see a dog.

I dont think your dog is overweight but she could be fitter, if she was mine personally I would like her to tone up more. I would probably like her to lose 1/2 a kilo of weight and turn it into muscle, however she is not unhealthy looking and it wont harm her to stay like this.

You say she has gotton two kilos heavier, how old was she when you got her?

i know a lot of people dont like a super-fit staff, I just love my animals to be healthy and to be able to reach their maximum potentials. I like staffords especially to be as fit as possible as any extra weight may hinder their already narrow airways and prevent recovery time. Keeping unnecessary weight off of them also allows for the stamina to be increased.

Bailey was just two years old as far as we know when we adopted her almost 18 months ago. The way she has calmed down over the last few months also suggests she has reached an age where she is now past the adolescent phase, so I think 3 years old is an accurate guess. Thinking in comparable human terms I suppose a two year old would be like a teeneager, so you would expect them to broaden out and add a little muscle later on.

In terms of stamina I don't have any concerns there because I know she could run all day long if required and on a typical day when I walk anywhere from 7 - 10 miles across all kinds of landscape she is running free and covering much further distances with quite a bit done at a sprint. There are times when she is chasing a ball for an hour where I will deliberately slow her down for a short while just to make sure she doesn't overdo it.

I think that we will keep her meals as normal and just cut out all the treats for a month to see what kind of affect that has. Lately she seems to have enjoyed quite a few scraps from the table and she never says no.

I had my girl speyed at 3 years old and just as you described my girl put weight on especially around the rib area. She has always been healthy and can run around like a puppy although she has a little stiffness now shes 12.
Her body definatly changed when she was desexed
I dont like my dogs stripped but do like them with a tuck up and muscle tone showing a healthy balanced dog

ashleyk wrote:Lately she seems to have enjoyed quite a few scraps from the table and she never says no.

No, they never say no!

gem wrote:
I dont like my dogs stripped but do like them with a tuck up and muscle tone showing a healthy balanced dog

I love to see a fit looking dog but it makes me feel uneasy when they are so pumped up and ripped that they are like a sprinter on steroids. I am talking about the ones on special diets and possibly being exercised by carrying weighted bags to build additional muscle. Like Carryll says this can send out a bad impression and staffie owners already have enough problems dealing with a poor public perception of the breed. Apart from that I don't really see how it helps the dog.