How do I tell if my dog is overweight?

The easiest home check is body shape, not the scale alone. A healthy dog should have ribs you can feel with light pressure, a visible waist from above, and an abdominal tuck from the side. If the ribs are hard to feel and the waist disappears, the dog may be overweight.

WSAVA uses body condition scoring for exactly this reason: it is a practical way to judge fat stores at a glance. If you are unsure, a vet can score the dog and tell you whether weight loss, a diet change, or just monitoring is the right move.

The bigger issue is that extra weight sneaks up slowly. A dog can look “fine” for months while actually gaining enough to affect joints, stamina, and long-term health.

The useful habit is to compare what you see with what you feel. If the body shape is changing and the ribs are harder to find, it is worth asking the vet before the problem gets bigger.

So the short answer is to check ribs, waist, and tuck, then use a vet body-condition score if you are not sure where your dog falls.

It also helps to look at the dog in side profile and from above after the dog has been standing naturally for a moment. A lot of owners can tell something is off once they stop focusing on the face and look at the body line instead. If the waist disappears, the ribs are buried under a pad of fat, or the dog seems less eager to move, that is usually enough reason to ask the vet for a weight target.