We have 2 dogs (also two cats) - one is a mixed breed mutt (Trixee) who is MY BABY! - she is 15 years old, and super-skinny. She didn't used to be; but she is an elderly dog and no matter what/how much she eats (& she DOES eat!) she can't put on weight. I know it's only a matter of time for her... 15 is a good long age for a dog, but OMG I am soooo going to be a basket case when it's time for her to go to doggy heaven.
Anyway. Our OTHER baby... Jester, is a Tibetan Spaniel. He is 3 years old. The Tibetan Spaniel breed should weigh around 11-15 pounds. Jester is 26 pounds.
He gets exercise, loves to run & play, especially running up/down the stairs, plus a good walk almost every day. He's very active! We feed him VERY LITTLE. I mean VERY little. We feed him "Little Bites" dog food. We used to feed him twice a day, but since we've been trying to help him get slimmer, he only gets fed once per day, at dinner time. Breakfast is usually just a nice Breath Buster biscuit, broken up into tiny pieces, so you know... he THINKS he's "getting something in his bowl" while Trixee eats her special Science Diet Z/D food (which she has been on for about 4 years now.) Because otherwise he is planted firmly at HER bowl, just waiting for a sneaky moment...
Of course, he does sneak in a bite or two of Trixee's food if she walks away for a minute - but nothing major (he can get about one piece of her food in his mouth at a time). We NEVER give any of our pets any people food - EVER. No scraps, etc.
The vet says Jester is fine - overweight! - but fine. I've read/heard of dogs that need thyroid meds. How do you know if your dog needs thyroid meds? I just can't understand why he is so chubby (he looks like a football on legs, LOL) since we barely feed him and he does get adequate exercise.
This is what a Tibetan Spaniel normally looks like...
so you can see they're not a very big dog at all.
This is Jester (with his daddy!) as a puppy (soooo cute!!!) - only a couple months old -
I wish I had a current pic of him but all I have is puppy pics & he wasn't overweight at all as a pup.
Any insight, advice, suggestions, etc??