Food-Obsessed Dogs and Weight: What 13,890 US Owners Reported
Dogs rated more food-motivated were more often overweight, and Labrador-type breeds scored highest. Owners also missed overweight that vets recorded.
Written by thecanineledger
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If your dog’s appetite suddenly increases, or it gains weight without eating more, book a vet appointment. Some illnesses can cause this.
Our note: This advice is ours. The paper is about food motivation and gives no owner advice.
In a US survey covering 13,890 dogs, those their owners rated as more food-motivated were more often overweight (Gartner et al., American Journal of Veterinary Research 2025). Sporting breeds, mostly Labradors and Golden Retrievers, scored highest.
While that fits the image of the always-hungry Labrador, the link didn’t hold up in the smaller group of dogs whose weight a vet had recorded.
→ Is My Dog Overweight? Body Condition Scoring Without Guesswork
1. The study
The dogs. Owners in the Dog Aging Project, a large US study of pet dogs, filled in a questionnaire about their dog’s appetite and how they manage its food.
The scores. Each dog got a food motivation score, and each owner got a score for how tightly they control food, treats and exercise for weight.
The vet check. For 200 dogs, the researchers also took a body condition score from the vet records.
Funding. The Dog Aging Project is funded by a US government ageing research grant, and some authors had further government research funding. The authors have nothing to disclose.
2. What it found
Food motivation. Each extra point on the food motivation score raised the odds of being overweight by about 2%.
Breeds. Sporting breeds scored about 10 points higher than mixed breeds, and hounds about 5 points higher.
More dogs at home. Dogs in homes with more than one dog scored slightly higher.
Strict owners. Owners of overweight dogs controlled food more tightly. The paper reports this as an association, so it may mean owners tighten control once a dog is already overweight.
Our note: The authors don’t say so, but owners may tighten food control after a dog is already overweight, rather than the other way round.
→ Why Dog Weight-Loss Plans Fail: The Barriers Beyond the Food Bowl
3. Owners and vets disagreed
One in four. In the 200 dogs with a vet score, owners and vets disagreed about a quarter of the time. Most often, the owner said not overweight and the vet said overweight.
Not confirmed. In those 200 dogs, food motivation wasn’t linked with the vet’s overweight rating.
Why owners miss it. The authors suggest owners may not know what excess fat looks like, or may be reluctant to accept it.
4. What the study can’t tell you
A yes-or-no question. Owners only answered whether their dog was overweight. The authors say this probably under-counts overweight dogs.
A small vet group. Only 200 dogs had a vet score, and only 61% of the records checked had a recent one.
Small slips. The paper analyses 13,890 dogs, but its table’s weight groups add up to 14,356.
Our note: The paper mentions a gene linked to appetite in some retrievers. We don’t cover it.
5. What we could not verify
| Commonly said | What we found |
|---|---|
| “Greedy dogs get fat” | Partly. Owner ratings linked appetite with overweight, but not in the dogs with a vet score. |
| “Owners know when their dog is overweight” | Not always. Owners and vets disagreed about a quarter of the time. |
| “Strict feeding causes weight problems” | Not shown. Owners of overweight dogs managed food more tightly, which may be a response. |
Sources
- Gartner K, Hoffman JM, McNulty KE, Zheng Z, Ruple A, Creevy KE, Dog Aging Project Consortium. Food motivation and owner feeding management practices are associated with overweight among Dog Aging Project participants. Am J Vet Res 2025. ⚠️ survey, owner questionnaires for 13,890 US dogs, vet scores for 200. US government-funded
Always confirm with your vet before acting on anything on this page.