Pets can serve as social catalysts and help people meet others during walks, hikes, dog parks, or pet store visits. Plus, they may reduce anxiety.
Your veterinarian can examine your pet’s weight and teach you how to assess his/her body condition, making recommendations explicitly tailored to his/her needs.
Pick Up Small Dogs Properly
Pet parents sometimes need to lift small dogs for various activities or unexpected circumstances, whether placing them into their car or getting them onto an airplane. But raising an animal correctly is often difficult on your back and even dangerous for its well-being if done incorrectly.
People often pick up their pets improperly, resulting in unnecessary stress and discomfort for themselves and their pets. A TikTok video featuring an expert pet handler shows viewers how to pick up small dogs or cats to prevent injury or unnecessary suffering.
As soon as your pet feels secure in your presence, begin the next step by kneeling or squatting near it. This ensures maximum comfort for both animal and owner while helping prevent being thrown around by their collar or leash. When ready, gently pick it up – when picking up small dogs, use one hand (preferably your dominant hand) beneath their front legs to support their upper body while using another to tuck their back legs or backside into your arm so they feel secure.
Another solution is using a “ribcage lift.” For this technique, place one hand around and over the dog’s far side ribcage before switching hands with your near side hand on their front leg to lift and secure their torso.
Pulling on a dog by its collar while lifting is also crucial, particularly if the animal is struggling or resisting being lifted. Doing this may cut off its air supply and cause lasting damage to its larynx, trachea, or throat; additionally, it’s likely to make your pet fear being lifted in the future.
Before picking up your pet, try practicing by giving a verbal cue like “let’s go” or “up.” This gives them time to anticipate being picked up and may reduce resistance or aggression from occurring.
Get Help if Your Dog is Heavy
As with humans, too much body fat is detrimental to dogs as well. According to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention’s survey results, over half of dogs surveyed them are overweight; therefore, if your pup has become too large it would be wiser for you to help him or her reach an ideal weight by consulting with your veterinarian who can identify one based on breed standards and age requirements.
Veterinarians use Body Condition Scoring (BCS) to evaluate your dog’s weight. This involves feeling their ribs, hip/backbones, and chest area for signs of excessive fat build-up or bulges in healthy dogs; you should be able to handle these areas with only light pressure; any greater force should indicate too much fat covering those areas.
Your vet can also help you to determine how many calories your dog should be consuming each day and the proper exercise routines to burn those off, increasing metabolism. There may also be other contributing factors, such as cancerous tumors, which cause weight gain due to sheer size alone, or conditions like Cushing’s disease-causing, excess fluid build-up, which leads to weight gain that cannot be explained otherwise.
If your dog’s breathing becomes labored, this could be a telltale sign they’re struggling to receive enough oxygen through their lungs due to extra weight on their frame. As this can lead to serious health problems, they must see a vet immediately.
Your best strategy to help your dog lose weight may include giving smaller meals more frequently throughout the day, limiting treats given, and giving plenty of daily exercise that will burn those extra calories. Weighing them weekly will enable you to assess whether their diet and exercise plan are working to aid their weight loss.
Lifting Heavy Dogs with Care
Getting large dogs around can be challenging for injured, elderly, or otherwise unable to stand on their pets; finding ways to transport them can be even more challenging. Front leg injuries have the most significant impact, as they bear most of the dog’s weight; thus, a front lifting harness can distribute this weight more evenly, helping both pet parents and injured animals.
Avoid lifting from the belly area to avoid straining your back and potentially injuring your pet, opting to lift from under their neck/chest area and their rump region – and have another person help raise him or her!
Transport stretchers provide the safest means of transporting injured or elderly large dogs who cannot stand unaided, such as severely injured or elderly dogs who can no longer stand on their own, safely from car or vet to car or vet. They’re designed to bear their total weight without straining legs and joints while allowing multiple people to support underneath and support from underneath as needed. A rear support leash may also provide ample support, ensuring you can still pee and poop without constraint while at the same time giving plenty of help from underneath while still allowing freedom from behind and behind.
Lifting Heavy Dogs in a Special Circumstance
Lifting a dog should ideally be done with another person; if that isn’t possible, it is still important to exercise extreme care and use good form when lifting heavy pet dogs alone. Anyone unfamiliar with raising canines should never attempt to pick up more than 40-pound animals on their own, as this could result in serious injury for both parties involved.
If a pregnant dog has a distended belly, it is essential to lift from under the neck/chest and scoop under the rump instead of around the abdomen. When raising dogs who have back injuries, ensure it remain level from the neck/chest to its tail end.
Dogs with arthritis can use special slings or rear-end leashes to assist with lifting. Available at pet supply stores and some veterinary clinics, these items make the lifting process safer and easier for you and your pup.
