Download Free Tails is a free dog weight tracker. Two photos find their goal weight. Then it sets their calories a day and the weeks it takes.
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In a 2022 survey, vets scored 59% of dogs as overweight. Association for Pet Obesity Prevention
23.4 lb
“I follow the chart on the bag and he still gains.”
So nobody sees it until the vet’s scale does. Three small things add it up.
25.9 lb
Its feeding chart is a starting point. Many dogs at home need less.
A cup isn’t always a cup. In one study, pet parents’ scoops ran from 48% under to 152% over. Coe et al., 2019
One dental chew and a spoon of peanut butter are more than a third of a 30 lb dog’s day on a weight loss plan.
Two photos and the food bag are all Tails needs to make their plan.
“How much should he even weigh?”
Tails reads their shape on the 9-point scale vets use and suggests a goal. Your vet’s number works too.
You felt her ribs only with a press, which agrees with her photos.
24.2 lb
22.0 lb
Luna, a sample dog
“How many calories does he actually need?”
Tails reads the label and works out their calories and cups a day.
How much she eats
Bag size
15 lb
One bag lasts
5 weeks
So she eats about
2 cups per day
Luna, a sample dog
“How long is this going to take?”
Their weight loss plan runs at 1–2% of their weight a week, the rate AAHA’s guidelines give for losing weight.
1.9 cups per day
Her plan
Luna, a sample dog
“He lost a pound, and then it just stopped.”
Step on the scale holding them. Tails shows what’s gone, what’s left and when they’ll get there.
Luna is down 0.8 lb
23.4 lb today, a healthy 0.4 lb per week.
1.4 lb to go
Luna, a sample dog
“The diet food costs how much?”
If a store has the same bag for $2 or more less, you’ll see it before their next bag.
Save on her food
$3.60 less per bag
Luna, a sample dog
In Purina’s 14-year study, Labradors fed 25% less lived a median 1.8 years longer.
These studies follow groups of dogs. They point the way, but they can’t promise extra years to any one dog.
Tails reads the two photos and how the ribs feel as a score on WSAVA’s 9-point body condition scale, where vets call 4 to 5 ideal. AAHA’s 2021 guidelines count each point above 5 as about 10% over ideal weight, so a dog scored 6 at 24.2 lb gets a goal of 22.0 lb. At 4 or 5 Tails keeps today’s weight. For a score of 1 to 3 it suggests no goal and asks you to see your vet first.
AAHA’s weight management guidelines give 1–2% of a dog’s weight a week as the rate for losing weight. Tails counts the days from today at 2% a week for the first date and at 1% for the last.
Lean dogs live nearly 2 years longer
48 Labrador Retrievers, fed in pairs from 8 weeks old
The dog fed 25% less in each pair stayed leaner. As a group they lived a median 13.0 years, against 11.2.
One breed in one research colony, and Purina paid for it.
Kealy et al., 200250,787 neutered dogs of 12 breeds, from about 900 North American vet hospitals
Dogs their vets scored as overweight in middle age had shorter lives in every breed, by up to 2.5 years.
It reads past records, so it shows a link, not a cause.
Salt et al., 201919 dogs on a weight-loss diet, some with supervised exercise
The dogs that exercised kept more lean muscle as they lost weight.
Small and not randomized, so a pointer rather than a rule.
Vitger et al., 2016“Found her waist!”
Start their plan today. Tails is free on iOS and Android.
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Luna is at her goal
She lost 2.2 lb in 8 weeks, about 0.3 lb per week.
To keep her at 22.0 lb
Luna, a sample dog
Short answers before you start.
Use a bathroom scale. If they won’t stand on it, weigh yourself holding them, then alone. Tails works out the difference. Your own weight stays on your phone.
Tails suggests every two weeks while they work toward a goal, and once a month after that. Their plan shows the date of the next weigh-in.
Take two photos, one from above and one from the side, and say how their ribs feel. Tails estimates their score on the 9-point body condition scale vets use and suggests a goal. You can use your vet’s number instead. The photos stay private to your account.
Yes. Tails plans a loss of 1–2% of their weight a week, the rate AAHA’s weight management guidelines give for dogs losing weight. The goal shows the weeks that takes, counted from today.
No. Tails never diagnoses. For a score of 1 to 3 it suggests no goal and asks you to talk to your vet first.
Yes. Tails shows kilograms or pounds to the tenth, following your phone’s region.
Yes. Tails is free on iOS and Android, weigh-ins and goals included.