Obesity is the most common nutritional disorder in companion dogs, causing chronic pain, reduced mobility, and shortened lifespan. Understanding its causes and addressing them is a key welfare priority.
Canine obesity is a welfare problem created by owners with the best intentions. Dogs who beg, look hungry, or seem food-motivated easily manipulate human feeding behaviour — and owners who respond by overfeeding are causing harm while feeling kind. The welfare consequences of obesity are chronic and cumulative: persistent low-grade pain from arthritis worsened by excess weight, breathlessness from respiratory restriction, heat intolerance that limits exercise, and metabolic disease. Obese dogs have shorter lifespans and spend a higher proportion of their lives in discomfort. The solution requires owner education about appropriate portion sizes, the use of body condition scoring, calorie-appropriate food choices, and treating exercise — not food — as the primary reward and bonding activity.