You might have heard about BMI (body mass index) for humans. A BMI score indicates whether a person is underweight, normal, or overweight (obese).

However, dogs vary greatly in size, so using a BMI method will not help you understand a dog's body condition.

Think of the difference between a Chihuahua and a Great Dane.

However, there is another method that works great with dogs. This method is called Body Condition Scoring, which is usually abbreviated to BCS.

The BCS method originated in 1997 and is commonly used by veterinarians to assess a dog's body condition.

Assessing body condition and weight provides important information about a dog's physical status. The BCS method primarily determines whether a dog is underweight, normal weight (ideal), or overweight. Knowing the dog's BCS will help you determine whether to change its feeding and activity level.

If your dog is overweight or obese, this represents a serious health issue for your dog. Statistically overweight dogs get a reduced life span of up to 2,5 years vs a normal weight dog.

Although this is done all the time by veterinarians, do not worry about this being difficult to do. On the contrary, doing BCS scores by yourself will create awareness about your dog's health status and will have a huge value for your dog's health. Veterinarians would encourage you to do it yourself.

Awareness of your dog's body condition and weight is the first important step in providing excellent care.

A BCS is not a millimetre-exact science but a subjective opinion of body condition with clear guidelines for scoring it. Doing this regularly will provide insights into your dog's weight trend changes and help you adjust your dog's feeding regime and activity level.

The Furry Fitness app will help you complete a BCS for your dog and provide valuable insights into its weight and body condition.

Two scales for body condition scoring have been introduced.

One BCS scale ranges from 1 to 9. On this scale, 1 to 3 represents underweight, 4 and 5 represent ideal weight, 6 to 7 represents overweight, and 8 to 9 represents obesity.

This scale facilitates nuanced assessments of body condition, though it can be challenging for those without training.

The Furry Fitness app uses a more commonly used scale ranging from 1 to 5. On this scale, 1 to 2 represents underweight, 3 represents ideal weight, 4 represents overweight, and 5 represents obesity.

When assessing your dog, you want to have the dog standing.

The assessment consists of you doing the following two things:

The parts you want to assess are the dog's rib cage, belly, and waist.

This assessment will tell you if your dog is overweight, normal (ideal) weight, or underweight. The latter is much less common in dogs

If your dog is overweight or obese, the Furry Fitness app will help you determine the next steps.

Furry Fitness app home screen:

The Furry Fitness app has a weigh-in feature. Please add your dog's weight to the app. PS! A simple trick is to step on a scale and weigh yourself. Next, you pick up the dog, step on the scale again, and enter the total weight of you and your dog. The Furry Fitness app will then calculate your dog's weight.

After doing this, it´s time for your dog´s body condition score assessment.

Start the body condition score wizard in the app and follow the instructions.

You can do a body condition score as often as you want, so don´t worry if you make a mistake during one of the assessments. Updating a body condition score in the app will update the records kept on your dog.

Step one is to do a rib cage check, both physically and visually. Then, select the score you think is right for your dog. You will have a scale from 1 to 5 to select from.

Step two is to do a belly check, both physically and visually. Then, select the score you think is right for your dog. You will have a scale from 1 to 5 to select from.

Step three is to do a waist check, both physically and visually. Then, select the score you think is right for your dog. You will have a scale from 1 to 5 to select from. This is the last check of the body condition score.

We recommend you do this, as you can review these images later, together with your historical body condition scores.

The Furry Fitness app will calculate your dog's body condition score based on your inputs and tell you its status. It will also tell you its ideal weight and, if applicable, how much weight it should lose (or gain).

The Furry Fitness app will use your scoring to determine whether your dog is underweight, at ideal weight, overweight, or obese. These statuses will be used for two different purposes: calculating your dog's energy needs and determining its ideal weight.

A part of the BCS assessment is also to weigh your dog. By completing the BCS scoring and weighing your dog, the Furry Fitness app will tell you what weight your dog should be. The app will tell you how much weight to lose or increase unless your dog has a BCS score of 3.

Your BCS assessment is part of a nutritional assessment, which you can read about here. We strongly recommend that you complete a nutritional assessment to get feedback from the app on your dog's care and energy needs. If your dog is overweight or obese, you can join a weight-loss plan in the app.