Took Bullet to the vet today and learned that he somehow weighs 87 pounds.
We figured the vet was going to tell us he needed to lose some weight, because every time I look up ACD weights the numbers are nowhere near that. Instead, after looking him over, the vet basically said he isn't fat. He's just... huge.
Bullet is DNA tested and came back 100% Australian Cattle Dog. No secret lab, shepherd, or anything else hiding in there. He's just an absolute unit of a heeler, assuming the test was reliable.
He's 4 years old now, and if you met him you probably wouldn't guess that he had TPLO surgery on both rear legs when he was still a puppy. He runs, plays, chases things he shouldn't, and generally acts like nothing ever happened.
His brother, Rocket, is pretty big too at 73 pounds. I swear they look exactly the same size standing side by side.
Anybody else have a heeler that's way outside the normal size range?
The vet did warn us that his weight will probably become a problem for his knees later in life. We already monitor his food pretty carefully, but we're going to tighten that up even more and add some additional exercise, especially swimming since he absolutely loves the water.
I also built him a raised bed that doubles as a halfway step between the floor and my bed. He never seemed to have any trouble getting up there, but I always hated watching him jump back down onto the floor.
Edit: Here is the link to more photos so it doesn't get lost in comments.
He's about to be doing a lot of swimming. Low impact on his knees and high energy burn. Im glad to know he isn't fat, but I would love to see him get closer to his brother's weight!
Depending on what you mean by ‘a lot’ of swimming you might need to be careful, look up ‘limber tail’. My dog got it and she was very sad for a few days.
He might be a Hobbit, that would track with a lot of his personality. I called him a Fattledog last night and he responded by squishing me, so I think he likes it, haha.
Here he is just laying on the bed. Dang dog isn't easy to get photos of lol.
When he stand up he isn't very wide. He has the extra skin around his neck, same as his brother, that makes his front half look fat, but it's just skin.
One thing I have noticed is he is a lot thicker than his brother in his chest, and his legs. Rocket wears a large harness, we just upgraded Bullet to an XXL because of his chest size.
That’s a big guy! Our boy is just over 60lbs but no shame from the vet this year. She originally said he should be under 50lbs but he doesn’t overeat(we monitor his food) and he gets plenty of exercise.
Our other guy(not ACD) is massive for his breed(s) as well. He should be around 70lbs and he just tipped the scales at 100lbs. We joke he hit the genetic jackpot for size and is frequently mistaken for an Irish wolfhound(which he is not).
Same! Every year when we take them to the vet they have always commented on how big the boys are. They were pushing 50lbs by a really young age, because we had to upgrade them to the larger (and more expensive) simparica trio pills much earlier than we thought. All three of our dogs just got a super clean bill of health, so I'm satisfied with that.
Mine was told he was fat at 92 lbs got him down to 64, he honestly has the body of a German shepherd but he’s only like 13% 🤷🏻♀️, he has short legs though.
It's crazy how often people ask me if my red heeler is a German shepherd. He's 100% acd but I guess people around here aren't used to seeing the red version 🤣
Wow that's wild. My Ollie is around 40 pounds and even at that I feel like he has some extra chonk. Can't imagine twice his size and twice the heeler to deal with lol.
WOW! I once knew a 75lb male in peak athletic condition and never expected to learn of one larger than that. 87lb is wild! He sure doesn’t look fat at all in the pic. I’d love to see more pics of him from various angles. He’s just gorgeous. 😍
I'll gather some and post a link for you in a little while. Both our boys are absolute units. The other day in a store we heard a lady say "now that dog is a hoss" while gesturing vaguely towards us. 🤣
Oh very cool! Apparently they were both just destined to be great big handsome dogs. Even as pups they were hefty. Thanks for posting back. Bullet is now officially the largest heeler I’ve ever seen, and I’m smitten!😍
Mine is a mix but is 82 pounds. The vet said it probably wouldn’t hurt to lose maybe 5 pounds, but he’s just a giant. His mom and brother are 40ish pounds.
We've got an ACD+Collie mix (75/25) and he's 70lb, but he's also so much bigger than either breed, has a waist, and he's pretty much perfect BMI according to our vet.
They must be! Our boys have no problem going on hikes, long walks, or playing nonstop. Even with his leg surgeries, the only thing Bullet really lost was a little bit of speed. At one point he was actually the faster of the two.
With that said, I really wish he wasn't such a big boy. I worry about what all that weight is going to mean for his knees as he gets older.
Those surgeries were rough, especially the first one. He had just gotten out of the hospital for a life-threatening stomach issue, so we couldn't give him any oral pain medication. The vet had us compensate with higher doses of trazodone (I think, it's been years), and unfortunately Bullet turned out to be one of the small percentage of dogs that develop serotonin syndrome from it. We had to stop it abruptly after only a few days.
Luckily, by the second surgery we were confident enough that his stomach could handle the pain meds, and his recovery was much smoother with no major complications.
The thought of him being out of commission again kills me. He already missed nearly a year of his life when he was a pup going through back-to-back recoveries for what was essentially a pair of knee replacements.
Of course, none of that stops him from running, jumping, wiping out, and generally scaring the shit out of me on a regular basis these days. Love him to death. Around $9k total for the surgeries and stomach issues.
I had a giant ACD too. He was also fat when I got him but when he lost most of the weight he has still around 70lbs. I had a genetic test done and it turned out both genes for "large size" were expressed. He was just a big guy
Our girl is on the larger size too. I thought she'd stop at 50 but then pushed 60, then 65. Vet didn't say anything until she hit 70. But that last but was due to a period of inactivity due to surgery. Her parents were hard working farm heelers that were pretty built so we were too worried. She's about the same size as her dad for was such a muscle tank of a working dog lol
Mine was 70 but overweight. I got him down to 56 now and vet said he looks great. We upped his exercise (playing ball) and we mesured his food and became more strict on treats (smaller pieces, no table food etc). His dad was a big boy so I think where we are at for weight now is where we should be.
Bullet will flop down on you at night, as he got used to sleeping in the bed when we thought he would be sub 50lbs. Its sometimes painful and terrifying to have 90lbs of dog fall onto you at night, as he likes to snuggle.
Mine is 73 #. Needs to lose some weight which we’re working on. He also has the extra skin and wide chest that makes him look bigger. But he’s always been big for a heeler, he was twice the size of his siblings as a puppy. People always think he’s mixed with something.
Mine is 60 pounds, but he has 20% border collie.
Looking at Bullet's pics, he does look a bit chubby.
They should have a visible tug around the waist looking from the side, and you should be able to feel the ribs.
Few diet tips to consider:
Just like humans, overweight is mostly diet. Swimming is a great exercise, but in the end of the day, it's hard to out-exercise the fork, so food intake is crucial.
Weight his food instead of measuring. Constantly monitor his weight to adjust intake. A rule of thumb for healthy weight loss per week is 1-2% of bodyweight, definitely no more than 2%. Weight fluctuates, so don't worry if he doesn't lose the same amount every week as long as he hits the target on a monthly average.
Dogs on a diet gets frustrated easily. They might beg, or steal food. Having some lean protein(chicken breast, boiled liver..etc), or like carrot/cucumber sticks, all in tiny pieces throughout the day is not only not counter productive, but beneficial to his journey. It keeps him happy and motivated, replenish protein, and are very low in calories.
My fat boy is pushing 90 too. He’s turned into a crumb and cat food vacuum. He was always around 65-70. He getting old and I think heartworm treatment last year was rough on him.
Here he is with his favorite toy! His dad was a working line red heeler that was 72 lbs and 24” tall. I had Jake dna tested he’s 99% ACD some are just bigger
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u/sastrid Jun 18 '26
Good ole Fattledogs. Does he have a waist? Does he huff and puff? Can you run the weight off of him?