Tool 02
Is my dog the right weight?
An expected adult weight range, from a breed, a size tier or a range you type in, scaled along the canine growth curve for puppies and cross-checked against body condition for adults, because the same number on the scales means different things on different frames.
Your dog
Life stage
Body condition, felt by hand
Scored 5/9, ideal. Ribs are easily felt with a thin layer of fat over them. Looking from above there is a visible waist behind the ribs, and from the side a clear abdominal tuck. This is the target on the WSAVA scale.
How to read the result
The healthy range used here is 26-40 kg, either from the breed, size tier or the figures typed in. This is a frame estimate, not a rule.
The percentage figure is your dog against the midpoint of that range. Anything from about 88% to 112% is comfortably normal; well above that is a clinical concern rather than a cosmetic one.
Body condition is the tiebreaker, and it beats the scales whenever the two disagree. A heavily muscled dog can read as overweight on the scale and be perfectly lean; a lightly built dog can sit inside the range and still be carrying too much fat. Trust your hands over the number.
Nothing here diagnoses anything. It tells you whether the trend deserves a conversation with your vet, and how fast a change can safely happen if it does.
Healthy range for this size, Greyhound
26-40kg
Your dog is at 45% of the 33 kg midpoint, 18 kg below.
Verdict
Under the target range
Body condition
5/9 · Ideal
What that means
Underweight dogs are rarely underfed by accident. Parasites, dental pain, and a range of illnesses can show up first as a dog that eats but does not hold weight. Book a vet check before simply increasing the food.
Your inputs stay on this device, so the page reopens where you left it.
The next weeks, at a safe pace
- Week 215.45 kg
- Week 415.90 kg
- Week 616.35 kg
- Week 816.80 kg
- Week 1017.25 kg
- Week 1217.70 kg
- Week 1418.15 kg
- Week 1618.60 kg
Roughly 80 weeks in total at about 1.5% of body weight per week. Weigh weekly, and have your vet confirm the plan and rule out illness before you start.
When weight change is a symptom
- Weight falling while appetite is normal or increased, worth ruling out with a vet.
- Weight falling with increased thirst and urination, kidney disease and diabetes can both look like this.
- Sudden refusal to eat for more than 24 hours, at any weight. Some dogs deteriorate quickly once they stop eating.
- A dog that has lost a noticeable share of body weight over a few months without a diet change.
- Weight gain with reduced activity and stiffness getting up, often joint pain rather than laziness.
Weigh your dog properly
- 1Use scales suited to the sizeKitchen scales work for small puppies under 5 kg. For a larger dog, weigh yourself, then yourself holding the dog, and subtract, or ask to use the scale at a vet practice.
- 2Weigh at a similar time of dayBefore the main meal, on the same scales, on a hard floor. A full stomach is easily a few hundred grams of noise on a small dog.
- 3Score the body condition tooFeel the ribs, look down for a waist, look sideways for an abdominal tuck. Two dogs at the same weight can sit at opposite ends of the 1 to 9 scale.
- 4Write it down every monthA single figure means little; a trend means a great deal. A dog that has lost or gained a noticeable share of body weight over a few months deserves a vet visit even if it looks fine.
Five mistakes to avoid
Judging every dog against one number
Adult size varies enormously between a toy breed and a giant breed. Set a size tier, breed or expected adult range first, then read the result against that.
Reading weight without body condition
Weight is a number; condition is what that number means on this particular frame. A muscular dog and an overweight dog can weigh exactly the same.
Judging a puppy against adult numbers
Puppies are supposed to be lighter than they will end up. This tool scales the expected adult range along the growth curve so a young puppy is compared fairly for its age.
Treating unplanned loss as good news
Unplanned weight loss is a symptom, not a success. If the food has not changed and the weight has, the next step is a vet, not a bigger bowl.
Restricting food sharply to lose weight fast
Rapid restriction tends to cost muscle rather than fat, and can be hard on a dog. About 1 to 2% of body weight per week is the ceiling, not something to aim past.
Questions people actually ask
What is a healthy weight for a dog?
There is no single healthy weight for dogs; a Chihuahua and a Great Dane can both be perfectly lean at wildly different numbers on the scale. What matters is where a dog sits against its own expected adult range and, just as importantly, what your hands find when you feel the ribs and look at the waist.
How do I know if my dog is overweight without scales?
Feel along the ribcage: the ribs should be easy to find under a thin layer of fat, similar to the back of your hand. Look down from above for a waist behind the ribs, and from the side for a belly that tucks up towards the hind legs. If the ribs are hard to find and the waist has disappeared, the dog is carrying too much weight.
Is my puppy the right weight?
A growing puppy should be compared with the growth curve for its expected adult size, not with adult numbers. Small breeds mature by around 9 to 10 months, medium breeds by about 12 months, large breeds by 15 to 18 months, and giant breeds can keep filling out until 18 to 24 months. This tool scales the expected adult range along that curve so a puppy is judged fairly for its age.
How much weight can a dog safely lose per week?
About 1 to 2% of body weight a week is the generally recommended ceiling. For a 20 kg dog that is roughly 200 to 400 g a week. Faster loss risks muscle wasting rather than fat loss, and any deliberate weight-loss plan should be agreed with your vet, who can also rule out an underlying condition first.
My dog is losing weight without a diet change, should I worry?
Yes. Unplanned weight loss can be an early sign of illness, including dental pain, parasites, kidney disease, diabetes or cancer. Book a vet visit rather than simply increasing the food, especially if the loss continues over a few weeks.
Do neutered dogs need to weigh less?
No, the healthy target weight is the same, but the calories needed to hold it typically drop after neutering while appetite often does not fall to match. That gap is why many dogs gain weight in the months after the operation, so it is worth reducing the daily portion around the time of surgery.
How often should I weigh my dog?
Monthly for a healthy adult, weekly during a deliberate weight change, and every couple of weeks for a growing puppy. Use the same scales at a similar time of day, and write the figure down: a single number tells you little, but a trend over a few months tells you a great deal.
Sources
Editorial note
Written for an international audience: metric throughout, no country-specific brands, shops or veterinary services. Size and breed ranges are typical adult figures, not standards to breed towards. This checker is education, not diagnosis, a dog whose weight is changing on its own needs a vet, not a recalculation.
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