Golden Retriever adults running in black and white on a white background

A healthy weight starts with healthy habits

A healthy weight is key to your dog's general health and wellbeing. Here are four simple ways to help maintain a healthy weight and shape for your dog.

Healthy weight isn't only measured on a scale

Weighing your dog is not the only way to check if they're overweight. You can find out if your dog is a healthy weight and shape, by asking your vet about Body Condition Scoring.

Healthy Shape

Golden Retriever adult in black and white with Body Conditioning Score illustration

Golden Retriever adult playing in black and white with a red ball with a stop watch illustration behind

Health depends on activity

Activity is key to keeping your dog mentally stimulated and at a healthy weight. The amount of exercise they need will vary based on their age, weight and breed.

Healthy Activity

Healthy portions are smaller than you think

Many pet owners think their dog needs more food than they really do. This means that many dogs are overfed. This contributes to weight gain, which in turn, may lead to other health issues.

Healthy Portioning

Golden Retriever adult in black and white eating from a red bowl

Labrador Retriever puppy in black and white lying down in front of a growth curve illustration

Healthy growth lasts a lifetime

Losing weight is more challenging than maintaining a healthy weight in the first place, so it's important that healthy habits and behaviours are introduced from day one.

Healthy Growth

Body Condition Score

Body Condition Scoring is a tool to help you understand what is an ideal shape for your pet. Your pet’s health is in your hands and we’re here to help with our interactive tool.

Body Condition Score Tool

Think your dog might be overweight or obese?

Your pet's weight has a direct impact on their overall health. Discover how you can help your pet lose weight.

Get your dog back to a healthy weight

“ Success should be viewed less in terms of reaching a 'perfect weight', than in permanently maintaining weight lost. Unless bad habits are permanently changed, long term weight management will fail. ”

— Alexander J. German, Royal Canin Professor of Small Animal Medicine; Head of the Royal Canin Weight Management Clinic, University of Liverpool, UK

The ROYAL CANIN® Weight Management Referral Clinic

The ROYAL CANIN® Weight Management Referral Clinic at the University of Liverpool is an internationally renowned referral service for the management of overweight and obese pets.

The team is a world leader in the field of companion animal obesity biology, and the clinic was the first of its kind in the world. As well as helping patients lose weight, they raise awareness about the growing health concern arising from companion animal obesity, both in the veterinary community and amongst pet owners. They are innovators in the field, constantly striving to increase understanding of this complex disease, and to improve methods of treatment.

They are the only clinic in Europe that offers cutting edge technology, such as dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry DEXA to measure the body fat of patients, and then use this information to provide tailored individual therapy by using the latest purpose-formulated diets and exercise plans. Successful management is all about encouraging pet owners to make positive lifelong changes to how they feed and interact with their pets.

Find out more

Find a veterinarian

If you have concerns about your dog's weight, get in touch with a vet for professional advice.

Find a veterinarian