TABLE 1.

Results of the semi‐structured face‐to‐face interviews

Subgroup and factors	Mentioned
How and when
Use of BCS to determine if a dog is overweight	14
Use of BCS to discuss overweight	8
Discussion of overweight by wet nurse	5
Use of body weight to discuss overweight	13
Discusses health benefits and risks of overweight	12
Discusses overweight every consultation	4
Discusses overweight at annual health check	10
Records body weight and body condition each consultation	12
Lack of time	10
Fear of offending clients	15
Afraid of customer loss	7
Overweight owner	12
Resistant owner	15
Indifference of the owner	15
Defensive owner	14
Owner sees vet as salesman of pet food	6
Lack of skills	8
Vet does not have enough knowledge about overweight	7
Vet does not have enough knowledge about nutrition	6
Feeling responsible
Creating awareness and discussion about overweight is my responsibility	11
I am responsible for discussing overweight as it is part of preventative veterinary medicine	10
Feeling compassion	7
Others
Unawareness of their dog's overweight by the owner	15
Lack of motivation by the vet, as the vet had negative experiences in the past	7
Frustration by the vet	7
Unmotivated owner	13
Owners do not want to stop giving treats	7
Owners do not want to feed less food	4
Owners do not want to switch diet	4
Financial constraints of the owner prevents proper treatment plan	9
Family situation of the owner prevents proper treatment plan	7
Lack of follow‐up	9
Lack of support for the owner by family, friends	2
Dog is always hungry during weight loss program	4

Data of 15 semi‐structured face‐to‐face interviews with veterinarians regarding overweight in dogs. The answers to the questions were divided in subgroups and factors and the numbers of respondents that mentioned this subgroup and/or factor are given.