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I know that in the middle is the correct one, but which do you think is healthier for a dog from those two?

I was having this debate with my nan earlier. She kept feeding Archie scraps from the table because she says he's too thin because you can feel his ribs and he looks scrawny since he's had his trip to the groomer's.. as you probably know.

I said that he's better too thin than too fat.

She disagrees. She says thin dogs look sick and it's not healthy. I realize that the correct weight is in between thin and fat but surely, in the long term, a dog is healthier underweight than over? A dog that's overweight can get all kinds of diseases and can hurt its ligaments and such. A dog that's underweight will just look thin and of course will be hungry most of the time. Archie is, in all honesty, "about right" at the moment. The vet said he didn't need to gain or loose any more weight.

I don't want my nan feeding him scraps from the table because not only will it make him fat, she's also encouraging him to beg around the table.

What do you think?

What you should really do is call your vet and ask how much he should weight and then weight him yourself. If it's way under then you know to feed him more and vice versa

If you were too thin you wouldn't survive the winter...

What?

Any way I think neither is better.

Thanks, everyone but.. just to make things clearer, the vet has already told me that Archie doesn't need to gain or loose any more weight, he's about average for his breed.

I know that "just right" is the correct option, I just wanted to get a greater opinion. My nan regards a fat dog to be a happy dog. Her dog is only in average shape because he is quite hyper active anyway. Her previous dogs were all grossly over-weight. She just thinks that Archie is underweight and under-nourished.

He has half a cup of Baker's Complete in the morning and then about one, maybe one and half cups of biscuits in the evening. He gets about one, maybe two hours of exercise per day. The vet told us to work his diet around how much exercise he gets. Obviously, if he's at home all day then he's not going to need too much food.

*ahem*

Personally, I have no vote because "too fat" and "too thin" will mean different things to different people. Parsay, I tell you "I'm small." Small to you may be, oh, what, 100 pounds. Small to me, on the other hand, is 120 pounds (how much I weigh, though I am fat D: ).

You kinda confused me, but I think I know what you mean.

"Which is healthier for a dog, overweight or underweight?" Most of us should know the proper weight for our dog(s). You know what I mean? Otherwise, your dog can get blocked arteries, blood clots, heart problems, diabetes, worms, and so on....