Weighing up your dog HOW can you tell if your dog is overweight? The most practical method is to feel his ribcage. You should be able to feel his ribs easily.

It is also useful to know the correct weight range for your breed. A book I can recommend here is Sherley's Dog book, which gives a comprehensive list of dogs and the weight ranges. Bathroom scales are really useful. First stand on them by yourself and then after noting your weight, lift your dog up and note the total weight. The difference between the two is the weight of your dog. As an aside it is as well to know the weight of your dog for when you need to treat him for worms. Relatively young dogs, which are not particularly active, are likely to become too heavy. You can increase his activity rate or reduce his food intake. An older dog obviously slows down with advancing years. This in turn can lead to him putting on too much weight. Feeding him the same amount as you did when he was young, fit and active will certainly add to his weight. If your older dog is healthy, apart form his weight gain, you should start to reduce his calorie intake. This can be achieved by simply giving him less food. This has the advantage of avoiding having to change his diet, with all the problems that are entailed. Upset stomach, loose bowels or even constipation.

There are many foods now available for the senior dog. They are generally lower in calories, but have more bulk in the form of fibre. This prevents the dog from feeling hungry and its owner feels happy that his 'pooch' is getting enough. If you are feeding a reduced calorie food you will notice that the levels of protein are also lower. Make sure that you feed a high quality ration because they are more likely to include highly digestible proteins. As any easy example, an old pair of leather boots has a very high protein content but the digestibility, and food value is practically nil. The difference between a high quality food compared to a cheaper feed is that the quality food is made to a constant formula and the ingredients don't change according to their market value. There is therefore less strain on the dog's internal organs, which are also growing older. Next week sees the start of National Pet Awareness week and as part of their contribution to pet awareness, Rutland House Veterinary Hospital will once again be organising their now popular annual 'Open Day'.

This year's theme is 'One of the Family' and a wide range of pets, with their owners, and various other representatives, have been invited. They include the police dog handler, a guide-dog puppy walker, an obedience trainer and many, many more. There is a competition corner and a colouring competition, which I have been asked to judge, so could we please have lots of entries.

Refreshments will be served in a marquee on the front lawn and these have been donated by the Friends of Rutland House.

If you require any more information, please ring Mary Davies on St Helens 26149. Invitations to this special day can be collected in person at the Veterinary Hospital in Cowley Hill Lane. If you can't get there give them a quick phone call and Mary will be only too pleased to put one in the post for you. It promises to be an excellent day so get along there with your family and friends. I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.