Being a perfect family dog, Golden Retriever knows how to please everyone. The appealing eyes of these breeds bribe their owners for treats that result in obesity. So, to ensure a healthy lifespan, you should manage the weight of your Golden Retriever.
Golden Retriever’s love for food is undeniable. So, to manage the weight of your Golden Retriever, you should focus on the amount of food you give, quality of food, nutritional content, and time. Besides this, adequate exercise, health care, and disease treatment also contribute to the ideal body weight of your pet.
After you bring a pet home, it becomes a part of the family. And owing to their friendly attribute, Golden Retrievers are the best companion for kids, elders, and adults. Thus, to spend a longer time with your pet, managing its weight is essential.
I will discuss some of the ways to manage the weight of your Golden Retriever in detail further in the article. But before heading towards them, let me give brief information about your Retriever’s ideal weight.
Do you think your pet has an ideal weight?
What Is A Healthy Weight Of A Golden Retriever?
Since every breed is different, their ideal weight may vary accordingly. So, instead of looking at a definite number, you should focus on the health of your dog. If you want to know whether your Golden Retriever has a healthy weight or not, observe them.
A Golden Retriever with a healthy weight must have an hourglass figure with a defined waist and hips. Further, a noticeable and little tummy should bulge in between your pet’s rib and hind legs. Besides this, you should be able to feel the unseen rib cage of your pal by touching either side of its chest.
Moreover, the weight of a 22.5 inches tall male Golden Retriever should be about 65-75 pounds. And a 20.5 inches tall female should weigh around 55-65 pounds. However, I can’t assure the weight of your pet around this range means good health. Yet, it confirms that the perfect size of your pal with proper growth.
What is the weight of your pet?
Does the weight of your pal tally with its age?
Is Your Golden Retriever Puppy Growing A Healthy Weight?
Although Golden Retriever is friendly, parenting a younger version is a full-time job. And lack of care and nurturing at this early age may result in complicated health issues in the future. So, keeping an eye on the weight change of your puppy with the growth is necessary.
Usually, puppies are in a continuous growth phase, so weight fluctuation in this stage is natural. All you need to care about is that the change in their weight should always hit a similar weight target.
However, here is a guide to check whether your pal is gaining healthy weight or not:
| Age of Golden Retriever | Ideal Weight of Golden Retriever |
| 8 weeks | 10 pounds |
| 4 months | 30 pounds |
| 8 months | 5O pounds |
| 9-12 months | 60-65 pounds |
| 18 months | 65 pounds |
Besides this, your puppy must grow 5-10% bigger every week. And it needs to reach its matured weight and height when it is 1.5 years old.
Moreover, if your puppy’s weight falls under this criterion, you are doing a great job as a parent. But when your Golden Retriever puppy is far behind or above this criterion, you need to make changes to manage its weight.
Do you know how to manage your pal’s weight?
How Can You Manage The Weight Of Your Golden Retriever?
Parenting a Golden Retriever is a beautiful experience. You can cuddle, play, exercise, and eat with your furry companion. Further, these intelligent dog breeds recognize the stress in the environment and enlighten everyone’s mood.
Thus, if you are cautious enough, you can add more years to the life expectancy of your pal. And the study of obese dogs also states that if you manage the weight of your Golden Retriever, you can add two more years to its lifespan. Imagine the memories you can make with your pet at this time, isn’t it exciting.
So, here are some ways to manage the weight of your Golden Retriever:
Balanced Diet To Manage A Golden Retriever’s Weight
To live a long and active life Golden Retrievers needs several nutrition-like fats, protein, minerals, vitamins, omega-acid, etc. So, ensure your pet gets all the essential nutrition by giving them high-qualitative food.
Besides this, your pet might need food supplements, herbal supplements, and omega-fatty acids at different phases of life. Therefore, to manage your Golden Retriever’s weight, ensure a balanced diet.
Focus On Small Meals
Golden Retrievers loves mood. So, they cannot resist their urge to eat whenever they see food. And if you prepare a large portion of meals many times a day, your pet for sure becomes obese.
Thus, to solve this problem, you should do frequent small meals. You can give a small portion of food two to three times a day to enlighten your Golden Retriever’s mood and manage its weight.
Always Give Healthy Treats
Usually, Golden Retrievers are always hungry. So, owners choose instant unhealthy food as treats for your Golden Retriever. And this spontaneous food option spoils your pet and deteriorates their health.
Therefore, you must always reward your pet with healthy natural snacks for a healthy life and a beautiful skin coat. All of these snacks are fibrous foods that fill your pet’s stomach. And thus, it helps to manage the health and weight of your Golden Retriever.
Exercise With Your Golden Retriever
If you want to manage the weight of your Golden Retriever, it is essential to balance its calorie intake and use. And exercises and training are the best options to utilize the excess calories and energy of your pet. Besides this, exercise one hour once a day to promote the proper development of bones and joints for a qualitative life.
Apart from this, your pet gets calmer and relax after training. So, it helps in the manage the behavior of your pet. Furthermore, walking, hiking, jogging, swimming, playing, fetching, etc., gives you more time with your pal to strengthen your bond.
And training sessions like bite inhibition training, barking control training, training to calm your pal, potty training, etc., maintains a peaceful environment in your house. In addition, diabetic assistance training, on the other hand, can save lives.
Keep A Check On Your Golden Retriever’s Weight
You should regularly monitor the weight of your Golden Retriever. Although fluctuation in your pet’s weight seems natural, it should be in a similar weight target. Further, when the weight exceeds the target increase, the time and intensity of the training.
But when the weight of your Golden Retriever falls below the target, increase the fats and proteins in your pet’s diet.
Make Gradual Changes Diet
The requirement of type and amount of nutrition varies with the age of your pet. Usually, younger and ill dogs need more nutritional meals for growth and repair. But senior dogs require lesser food.
Besides this, you should consider the lifestyle of your pet when you prepare its meal. Always remember dogs that perform intense physical exercise requires more nutrition.
Seek Advice From The Vet
The Vet gives the best advice and suggestion for the weight management of your Golden Retriever. Besides this, the Vet also diagnosis the disease and prescribes medicines for the treatment of the disease. Further, to eliminate some health issues, your Golden Retriever needs to take shots.
Hence, regularly visiting the Vet for a health checkup can ensure the healthy life of your pal. Moreover, an early prognosis undoubtedly results in ineffective treatment. So, you should consult with the Vet immediately when you notice signs of health issues like barking, biting, grunting, pawing, hiding, appetite loss, etc.
Diet Plan To Manage The Weight Of Your Golden Retriever
Making a diet plan can ensure adequate nutrition in the meal of your Golden Retriever. Do you have a diet plan for your pet? Don’t worry! If you don’t have a diet plan. I am disclosing the diet plan that I made for my Golden Retriever. And I hope it was helpful for your pet too.
| Stages of Golden Retriever | Number of meals (cups) | Time of meal | Nutritional content | Calorie requirement |
| Puppy Golden Retriever (up to 4 months old) | Four times | 6:000 am- 7:OO am
10:00 am-11:00 am 3:00 pm- 4:00 pm and 8:00 pm- 9:00 pm |
High fats and proteins, low in fibers, vitamins | 1300-1700 |
| Adolescent Golden Retriever (4-12 months) | Thrice | 7 am, 1 pm, and 9 pm | Fats, proteins, a high number of fibers, vitamins, minerals, omega acids | 1100-1400 |
| Adult Golden Retriever (1-2 years old) | Twice | 8:00 am- 9:00am
and 6:00 pm- 7:00pm |
Lesser fibers or proteins, a higher number of fibers, omega acids, food supplements. | 1000-1200 |
| Senior Golden Retriever (more than 2 years old) | Once | 12:00 pm- 1:00 pm | Lesser fibers, fats and protein, food supplements, herbal supplements, omega acids | 900 |
Do you think this diet plan will work for your pet?
What Influences The Weight Of Your Golden Retriever?
Besides food and exercises, there are some other factors on which your Golden Retriever’s weight depends. Although controlling a few of them is impossible, you need to know these factors while you manage the weight of your Golden Retriever.
Thus, the influencing factors are:
Genetics
The size of a Golden Retriever relies on the breed type. And the average height and weight of every breed are different. Usually, American Golden Retrievers are lankier with lesser muscles than English Golden Retrievers.
And if you want to know the ideal size of different breeds, read the article- What Are The Types Of Golden Retrievers? Do You Know Them?
Furthermore, the offspring do not differ much from their parents. Hence, puppies born from obese parents inherit their genes. So, such puppies are more susceptible to obesity and other health issues like heart disease, diabetes, thyroid disorders, hip dysplasia, etc.
Gender
Although male and female Golden Retrievers appears similar, their physical activities and hormonal level differ a lot. So, male dogs are more active and have a higher level of energy. Thus, these dogs grow about two inches taller and 10-15 pounds heavier than female Golden Retriever.
However, the growth rate of female dogs is faster. Hence, they reach maturity faster.
Spaying Or Neutering
Spaying or neutering is a birth control procedure in Golden Retrievers. Since this process is an artificial method of preventing reproduction, it has both merits and demerits. And while weight gain is a disadvantage, the prominent advantage of birth control is the management of aggressive behavior of your Golden Retriever.
In addition, the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study on 3000 spayed or neutered dogs state that there 50-100% chances of excessive weight gain after birth control. However, it doesn’t mean that all dogs under birth control will be obese. If you are conscious enough of food intake and exercises, you can for sure manage the weight of your Golden Retriever.
Lifestyle
Owing to the friendly attribute, Golden Retriever fits in the usual lifestyle of humans. These breeds require intense physical training and exercises for the proper development of the bones and joints. Besides this, these dogs can’t rely on every human food for nutrition.
So, for a longer and healthier lifespan of your Golden Retriever, you need to balance the calorie intake and calories used through a healthy lifestyle.
Do you know some foods that you should never give your Golden Retriever at any cost?
Harmful Foods For Your Golden Retriever
The metabolism, digestion, and organ function differ a lot from humans. And food beneficial for humans can be harmful to your dogs. Thus, never give your pet the following things to eat:
- Green tomatoes
- Walnuts and macadamia nuts
- Moldy foods
- Raisins and grapes
- Sodas and alcoholic drinks
- Chocolates
- Onions and garlic
- Xylitol
- Mushrooms
- Raw eggs and meat
All these foods obstruct the digestive system of your pet that causes diarrhea, constipation, allergies, bloating, ear infections, and skin problems. Furthermore, some toxic foods like xylitol and sodas lead to toxicity and death of your pet.
What Is The Risks Of An Unmanaged Weight In Your Golden Retriever?
If you fail to manage the weight of your Golden Retriever, it will suffer from obesity or underweight. Both these issues are severe and lead to fatal consequences.
And to know more about these issues, read further:
Underweight Golden Retriever
Since Golden Retriever has immense love for food, underweight is a rare issue in these breeds. But your pet is struggling with different diseases like worm infections, cancer, diabetes, thyroids, etc., it loses its appetite. Hence, your pal may become underweight.
In addition, illness, disease, and poor nutrition during the puppy phase lead to stunted growth and underweight of your pal. Furthermore, your pet’s immune system weakens due to unhealthy food habits. Thus, it invites more health issues that degrade the lifespan of your pet.
Overweight Golden Retriever
Owing to the irresistible charm and pleading attribute, saying no to a Golden Retriever is too hard. So, you reluctantly give your pet snacks and treats to eat after a full meal. Further, this results in obesity of your pal.
Moreover, to know this issue more clearly, the Association for pet prevention conducted a study in 2018 and found that 56% of dogs in the USA are obese. Similarly, the APOP study in 2012 also stated 63% of Golden Retrievers in the USA are obese. And through these facts, you can depict there are higher chances of obesity in these breeds.
However, don’t let your pet fool you with its contagious smile. And always analyze the calorie of the food before giving it to your pet.
Some Weight Lost Foods To Manage The Weight Of Your Golden Retriever
Owing to Golden Retriever’s body structure and love for food, obesity, cancer, and diabetes are their most common health issues. Though obesity results from overeating, you cannot starve your Golden Retriever to manage its weight. Despite swiping the regular food of your pet with some weight-loss food is a more promising idea.
Hence, some best weight loss foods for your dog are:
- Hill’s Science Diet Dry Dog Food Adult Purina Pro Plan Weight Management Adult Dry Dog Food
- Natural Balance Fat Dogs Low-Calorie Dry Dog Food
- NUTRO NATURAL CHOICE Small Bites Adult Dry Dog
- WELLNESS CORE Marrow Roasts Natural Grain-Free Dog Treats
Since Golden Retrievers are needy, they rely on their owner for a better life. So, as a parent, it is your responsibility to make the best decisions for your pal. Just remember that your pal already has to lesser years to live. And your slight ignorance can further decline and degrade their lifespan.
Apart from this, maintenance of weight after your pet attains its ideal weight is equally crucial. Although Golden Retrievers are intelligent, these dogs are still an animal at the end of the day. So, they can hardly distinguish what wrong or right for them. So, you have to decide for them.
I hope this article helped you in managing your Golden Retriever’s weight.
Do your think you can keep your pet fit and healthy?
Will you share your ideas on how you achieve your pal’s ideal weight?
I would love to read your suggestions. So, feel free to write them down in the comment box.
