Overweight dog- feeding advice

sandiep

Tripe is also really good for dogs (but it does stink!) and also Colley (sp?) cheap fish.

Both are quick and easy and cheap, you can buy them in the small frozen packs in the cheap frozen food shops, bung in microwave and nuke for a minute or two.

And surprisingly, dogs love 'em.

olias

NoAngel wrote: »

well he growls at and attacks other dogs, so we keep him on his lead when there are other people about and let him run off his lead when sure nobody else is about, usually for 20 mins or so a day. My OH is deaf in one ear and finds it hard to let him off when on his own as he finds it difficult to hear if there are other people nearby, wheras I can be more alert. He could probably do with not being on his lead s much, but wih no road or dog sense, he's safer on it!

If that is the case then get an extender lead. The longest ones are 26 feet, giving him 52 feet to run around in while still being able to reign him in if you spot another dog. Our terrier has one (has to, as she runs away otherwise:rolleyes: ) and she loves it and is very happy as she can run around without any problems.

We walk 2-4 miles a day which means about an hour to an hour and a half running around. I personally don't think 20 minutes is enough exercise for a dog.

By the way, we feed our Lab Chudleys lite whenever he is getting a bit porky and this helps shift the weight,

Olias

olias

Sorry, forgot to add - get a cord lead as the tape ones tend to get tangled easily in my experience.

Olias

UKTigerlily

I wouldn't worry about him not going off lead, yeah it's nice to but mine can never be off lead as she doesn't like other Dogs, but her weight is spot on & she's lean, whenever we go to the Vets they comment on how good she is. It's nice if they can, but not essential if walked enough as yours certainly seems to be!

We can't give medical advice here, but i'm wondering if you wet his food? (Moisten it?) I know with Cats if on dry they drink loads, my Dog doesn't but hers is moistened, so that could be why, or it could be something more sinister so the Vet check is important. Hopefully it's just down to the food though, so fingers crossed!

Well done for getting so much weight off of him, I bet he already feels loads better! I agree feeding guides on the packs normally over estimate, for example on boxes of Whiskas cat food I think it says 4 pouches a day which is double what mine needs, however with the Dog it's spot on. It's a guide though & a place to start & can be adjusted accordingly.

Always feed for his ideal not current weight though. Also, for food look at cost per meal not per bag. You could have a 15kg bag of Bakers for £10 & a 15kg bag of premium for £15 & think Bakers is cheaper (This is hypothetical, I have no idea on the costs of Bakers) but you will likely feed more of the cheaper brand per meal as it's not as filling for them or nutritious, so the £15 bag could well work out cheaper. For example, if I fed my Dog on James Wellbeloved, she'd have 210g a day - 40g for each wet pouch of their own brand. Fed on Orijen she has 175g a day so it lasts longer as she's fed less iyswim.

Chappie is great for dodgy tums but not a great food, but if you want to feed it & the Dog enjoys it, it beats Bakers! Pedigree & Bakers have the worst rep but anything beats Bakers! Think about what you can afford & how easily available the food is, for example I use Orijen dried & natures:menu wet, but can't get Orijen in a shop only online so that could be a problem (For any brand that's online only)

I know many people use Wagg for example which you can get easily in Asda & at £10 for 17kg is a bargin & Dogs do great on it in general, so it doesn't have to be expensive! I think you're doing all the right things bar the Bakers but that also is personal choice & even if you did keep to that he's already losing weight on it which is good, so it can be done!

All I can suggest is a Vet check to rule out any medical problems & if you do change diet just do it slowly by mixing it in with what he has now & follow all the advice given, you've already helped him to shed the pounds so i'm wondering if he was gien loads of treats & such by the old Owners & maybe with you he's eating the right amounts already? Sounds like you & he are on the right track tho!

MrsTinks

Just to send pretty much all the advice I feed Arden Grange and can wholeheartedly recommend that - again James Wellbeloved is as popular but MUCH more expensive I've found and I've not yet tried burns. You'll probably also fine the poop quality will be a lot better on these Kira (our dog) tended to have normal days and then not very firm days and when you have to pick it up it's.... well yucky to say the least! :rotfl: Her coat has also improved lots and she's far less hyper - not lost her energy just not OTT like she can be if fed anything with colourants
If you give treats then give natural ones or ones they have to burn some calories to get - like a frozen kong They have to really work at them to get the food out and it keeps Kira occupied for ages
Exercise is great and whilst off leash obviously burns more then don't feel too bad if you have to lead walk - better safe than letting him off and he ends up hurt
You're doing great if he's already lost 1.5kg so carry on and the rest will come off gradually I am sure

UKTigerlily

olias wrote: »

If that is the case then get an extender lead. The longest ones are 26 feet, giving him 52 feet to run around in while still being able to reign him in if you spot another dog. Our terrier has one (has to, as she runs away otherwise:rolleyes: ) and she loves it and is very happy as she can run around without any problems.

We walk 2-4 miles a day which means about an hour to an hour and a half running around. I personally don't think 20 minutes is enough exercise for a dog.

By the way, we feed our Lab Chudleys lite whenever he is getting a bit porky and this helps shift the weight,

Olias

The OP walks him 3x a day, I think the 20 minutes is his off lead time only but might be wrong? I'd think with 3 walks a day it'd be more like at least an hour of walks?

WolfSong2000

we acquired an overweight lab and often "bulked up" his food with vegetables, such as carrots so he didn't feel as if he was being starved. Worked quite well for him as he was arthritic and couldn't handle a lot of exercise .

Hintza

NoAngel wrote: »

Hintza- his coat is shiny and looks in good condition- what would you recommend I need to look for? I think I should take a trip to the vet for some blood tests though, just to check.

Greedy to the point of obsessiveness, lethargic, poor coat possibly thining with bald patches and a great thirst. Harder to notice on a dog you don't know that well. You can get her tested but from you say I'm not sure if this is the problem.

As sandiep says the amount on dog food bags is normally far too much for the average dog. Our Border Terrier is on about 1 - 1.5 handfuls of Beta a day which is plenty for her. Don't knowe how long you hace had the dog bit getting a kilo off already sounds like good going. If you can up her excercise rate then I think you will see the weight fall off.

http://www.canine-cushings.co.uk/

Waterfalls

Tips for sucessful weight loss. (if all healthy otherwise)
find a low call food. 'light' diets can only be 4% less fat than a normal food, which isnt ideal and usually best for when the weight has been removed and used as a maintance diet
-feed for the weight the dog should be
-weigh the amount required once daily (so no sneaky extra biscuits are added by accident)
- feed in small frequant meals e.g 3-4 times daily. this leaves less time between each meal so less likely to beg for food, and the body digests small meals better
-NO treats or scraps. they're not needed. its the act of giving the treat rather than the treat itself that they like, so the 'treat' can be given out of their daily allowence
- lots of walks and bare in mind that muscle weight more than fat. so take a photo of what they look like now and put it on the fridge as a reminder
-make sure they get weight every 2 weeks to start with to make sure theydont loose weight too quickly to start with, them monthly checks when loss is stabilised
- aim for 1-2% loss per week

olias

WolfSong2000 wrote: »

we acquired an overweight lab and often "bulked up" his food with vegetables, such as carrots so he didn't feel as if he was being starved. Worked quite well for him as he was arthritic and couldn't handle a lot of exercise .

Our Lab loves raw carrots and raw broccoli and it beats the cr*p treats that you can buy!

Olias