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i have sibes ..i do know bout thick coats.... you should still be able to feel ribs and backbone even through coat.
.....im not saying you are...but coat is used as another excuse alot

I think for dogs that are very, very obese its almost a sign of cruelty, think they call it 'killing with kindness' considering the human is in full charge of how much food goes into that dog and how much exercise it gets.

If you mean dogs that are a little chubby, I think its as others have said, they are all different and some dogs will be 'chunkier' than others, however I feel that sometimes vets are putting so much emphasis on keeping them lean that what happens if they get ill? Is their body going to have to have muscle wastage because they just dont have the weight to lose?

The vets round here seem to think dobes should be like greyhounds and they shouldnt be.

It is hard when you have a dog that is always hungry, whether because of medication or just character, but you do have to be 'cruel to be kind'. The dog that I posted about earlier is epileptic and on phenobarbitol which makes dogs hungry but I have still almost halved his food while he is on the lead for a shoulder problem. Admittedly mine are agility dogs so it would definitely be cruel to let them accumulate any extra fat but I still hate to see pet dogs carrying too heavy a load!

You can't possibly go by weight either. I have five border collies/working sheepdogs of varying shapes and sizes and they also vary in weight from 14kgs to 28 kgs but they are all slim enough to do agility.

Its a major hate with me, overweight Dogs, hate seeing it. I would say at least 70% of dogs boarded are overweight. Its easy to keep a dog in good condition, and apart from a couple medical reasons, there isnt any for the dog to be otherwise! Being spayed/neutered isnt an excuse either. I have one dog who is barrel ribbed due to steroids etc, his ribs/spine are all easily felt though.

I agree its an excuse but a lot of people find themselves in the situation of a dog which is under stimulated (exercise) and hungry if fed limited food, the dog then becomes destructive/steals food/chews/gets in cupboards ect.
Really they should increase the exercise and the food.

Adam

I agree, a lot of people think that a couple of 15 min walks is enough for a young adult dog, unless its for medical reasons then I would think most dogs would need more? Then feed a 'normal' amount of food...

I must admit I like my dogs lean with working them even the dogs I do not work are not fat I have seen to many over weight dogs that can hardly get up it puts so much strain on the legs and heart I love my dogs and like to keep them as healthy as possible so they can move about with ease and run and play I recently got a rescue Jack Russel that was over weight she was happy and plodded around since then she has lost quite a lot of her weight and now she gallops round playing jumps on the settee with ease and is just as gorgeous

You can feel her ribs fine through her coat & when she is in full coat my vet says she is the ideal weight, lean but not thin & as I said you can just see the shadow of her ribs in the sunlight as the breed standard says. My trouble is the vet thinks she is too thin when she is out of coat & wants me to feed her more but I know if I do when she puts her coat back on she will look & be overweight & I'll have to diet her.

cos most vets dont have a clue when it comes to body-weight(well all but one that ive worked with)... you stick to your guns

My pet hate as well, i don't go on weight and neither does my vet, he goes on feel if you can feel their ribs then he's quiet happy