Getting your dog's business condition score (BCS)
If you search body condition score on Google, you will get tons of great charts, pictures and videos explaining how to decide the BCS score for your dog. Still, people end up choosing the wrong score.
In a 9 scale BCS, there is always confusion between consecutive scores like 5 and 6, 6 and 7 etc. Keeping that in mind, we have built this material. So, it helps you eliminates these overlapping options.
The whole process has 2 parts:
-
BCS score as per dog’s weight
-
Adjustment as per the physical examination
In part 1, we get the BCS score of your dog as per her weight, gender and breed. It is as per the breed standards set by American Kennel Club (AKC). However, the AKC breed weight standards are guidelines and most of the time there is confusion in 2 or more overlapping BCS grades. So, we introduce step 2 to eliminate all this confusion.
Once we have 1 or more BCS recommendations as per weight, we do a physical examination to validate the right score.
For step 1, use our below ‘bcs score calculator’ to get the BCS as per weight.
BCS as per breed standard
For adult / fully grown dogs only (not for pregnant & lactating females)
What is your dog's breed?*
Weight of your dog?*
Gender?*
AKC adult weight range
30-32
kgs
BCS as per weight
5
May be BCS
5
You should have two values from the above calculator.
BCS as per weight is the BCS of your dog on a scale of 9 as per her weight compared to the breed weight standards set by American Kennel Club (AKC).
Like the human body, every dog body is different and there might be some grey areas when it comes to deciding on the BCS from weight only.
To accommodate these concerns, we show 'Maybe BCS' which is nothing but a BCS score if your dog weight falls into this grey area.
If you get two different BCS scores, then with the below guidelines you may eliminate the confusion.
Scale of BCS used is 1-9.
BCS#1
Ribs, lumbar vertebrae, pelvic bones, and all bony prominences evident from distance, No fat with evident muscle loss
BCS#2
Ribs, lumbar vertebrae and pelvic bone easily visible with no palpable fat. Some presence of other bony prominence. Minimal muscle mass loss.
BCS#3
ribs easily palpable and may be visible with no palpable fat. Tops of lumbar vertebrae visible. Pelvic bones becoming prominent. Obvious waist & abdominal tuck.
BCS#4
Ribs easily palpable, with minimal fat covering. Waist easily noted, viewed from above. Abdominal tuck evident.
BCS#5
Ribs palpable without excess fat covering, Waist observed behind ribs when viewed from above. Abdomen tucked up when viewed from side
BCS#6
Ribs palpable with slight excess fat covering. Waist from above can be sighted but not prominent. Abdominal tuck apparent.
BCS#7
Ribs palpable with difficulty, heavy fat cover. Noticeable fat deposits over lumbar area and base of tail. Waist absent or barely visible. Abdominal tuck may be present.
BCS#8
Ribs not palpable under very heavy fat cover, or palpable only with significant pressure. Heavy fat deposits over lumbar area and base of tail. Waist absent. No abdominal tuck. Obvious abdominal distention may be present.
BCS#9
Massive fat deposits over thorax, spine and base of tail. Waist and abdominal tuck absent. fat deposits on neck and limbs. Obvious abdominal distention.
