Help! My Fat Dog Won't Run

[3Woofs]

Hi Guys,

I have a 3 yr old beagle (Bella) and a 6 month old staffordshire bull terrier(Missy).

Since getting the pup, Bella has put on a huge ammount of weight... she weighs 18.5kg!!

They get walked every day but it doesn't seem to make a difference to Bella's weight.

I try to throw the ball for them for an hour a day but Bella just won't chase the ball or any other toy... much happier to just sit and wait for Missy to bring it back. They rough play all day but it seems that's not enough.

She was 13.8kg this time last year and i'd say is getting more exercise now than before.

Bella gets fed such a small amount of food compared to Missy but seems to be putting on more and more weight and has the table top back happening.

I can't let her off lead outside of the yard as she just takes off.

Any suggestions on how to get her interested in chasing toys?

[Nekhbet]

you need to look at what she is eating. It is not right for a dog on minimal food to gain weight. She could have a metabolic problem or someone could have started throwing food over the fence.

Her diet should be a premium diet kibble (I find Royal Canin medium breed light knocks the weight off fast but I would only be feeding up to 1 metric cup of kibble a day in 2 meals) and decrease as you need to. Walk, do not run. Its uncomfortable to run carrying that much weight so start taking her for short walks morning and afternoon.

Carrots are a great calorie free filler for fat dogs with appetites too/

[Rysup]

What is she eating? Break it down for us? What you might think is little, may in fact not be.

[GoldD]

Sorry but the name of this thread cracks me up !

I agree with what has been said. What exaclty is he eating and what does your vet say. Have all medical reasons been investigated?

[~*Shell*~]

Do you watch the two of them eat? Is it possible that your beagle is stealing your staffy's food?

That much weight in a year isn't normal for a dog that size. I would also suggest seeing a vet if you're really worried about it. She could have a medical reason to be putting on weight.

[3Woofs]

hmmm ok.... maybe what I thought was a little amount wasn't so little after all.

She was on Advance but is now eating Royal Canine puppy because she went burzerk trying to get to the staffy's food.

She get's 2 cups split between 2 meals, 2 chicken necks every second day and a large bone on the weekend.

I watch them eat because she will eat all her food and then the staffy's it not supervised.

I actually didn't realise she has put on that much weight until last week when I took her for her vaccinations and weighed her. The vet said she is healthy at the moment but won't be for long unless I get the weight off.

I don't give any treats except small pieces of dried liver during training and she almost mauls me to get to the treat like she is starving to death.

I was going to start jogging to help her lose weight but is it a better idea to just walk further??

Here is a not very clear pic of her, but you can see how fat she is.

[Staffyluv]

I would be getting a vet check, there are lots of things that can make a dog put on weight and be tired (thyroid problem comes to mind).

If she is that overweight, it would be very uncomfortable for her to run.

Have a look at what she is eating - is it good quality, maybe she is getting a bit too much or eating the pups dinner like already suggested.

Personally the vet would be my first stop to rule out any health issues.

ETA - starving hungry and putting on weight with normal amounts of food is what my old stafford was like before they diagnosed a thyroid issue.

Edited August 28, 2008 by Staffyluv

[sas]

How we got weight off Leila was to feed her Mashed Veggies (as much as you want to, Zero Calories) only with no carrot and a high ratio of pumpkin for 2 days then BARF for the 3rd day and then back to veggies for 2 days and the cycle continues.

They can turn their noses up but they only get fed what you put down, soon they love the veggies!

Found some where for her to exercise off lead safely and the weight dropped off.

Edited August 28, 2008 by sas

[puggy_puggy]

OMG you are killing your dog.

I would be feeding her only one chicken neck a day and a few tablespoons of food processed veggies untill the weight comes off. This might seem cruel but it is crueler her being so obese.

Puppy kibble has much more energy and calories then adult kibble. Stop feeding her this!!!!!

Feed your dogs seperately.

Use fruit and veggies as treats.

Of course she is not going to be able to run as she is to fat. Walk her at a steady pace for at least half an hour every day.

[piper]

hmmm ok.... maybe what I thought was a little amount wasn't so little after all.

She was on Advance but is now eating Royal Canine puppy because she went burzerk trying to get to the staffy's food.

She get's 2 cups split between 2 meals, 2 chicken necks every second day and a large bone on the weekend.

For comparison, my adult beagle gets about 3/4 cup of Origen kibble on days being fed kibble. Some days to this I add natural yoghurt, sardines, egg or tuna but if I do add these then I remove a small amount of kiblle so it is closer to half a cup. Sh gets a kibble based meal probably 3 days a week and the rest gets raw meaty bones. I also have 2 border collies, 1 who could eat non stop and not gain weight and the other puts it on more easily. So the beagle and the BC that gains weight will get a chicken carcass split between them while the other girl gets a whole 1. Or they could get a lambs heart each or a half a liver, small piece of roo bone, small piece of lamb neck or small beef bone.

I stopped feelin guily about how litle it looks as neither Piper or Jessi are lacking in any way - they have healthy coats, are active and are a good weight with just a slight covering over the ribs.

As someone else pointed out, puppy food is higher calorie so 2 cups of that is probably equal to 2 1/2 to 3 cups of adult kibble in energy content.

[Dackel]

Hi,

My Dachshund jst has to look at food and he gains weight. No Dog will feel compfortable running if he is fat. Consistend increase in walking will help.

I would have a Vet check him out first

Also, I have a dachshund who needs to loose weight and decided not tlo give him any more dry food (Orije0n as he just stacked the weight on, even on the smallest amount. I feed him all raw ( meaty bones chichen wings Muscle meat offal, Fish, rabbbit, duck, and steamed veg, brown rice fruit etc now and he has lost 200g already.

Petra and Felix

[Leema]

If you're feeding dry food, it's easy to cut back. I'd immediate cut her dry food in half, and substitute the other half with veggies if you feel the need.

[Bully]

My first thought was a thyroid problem, until you mentioned that you are feeding them both the puppy food That's what is putting on the weight! Puppy food has a much higher calorie content. Feed the 2 dogs separately - the puppy on the puppy food and the beagle on adult food.

[Nevafollo]

yeah i agree with others...i think the puppy food would be causing her to stack on the kilos she needs to be on adult food

[westiemum]

Hi,

Had a similar problem with my westie - cut back his dry food over and over until he was getting very little but it didn't help (and no he wasn't getting anything else) - and he was miserable. So under vet supervision I cut out all dry food and put him a raw barf diet - heavy on the veggies to start with - a chicken neck (one!) snack in the morning and a small meal at night. Then gradually upped the exercise. The weight fell off. Then once he was back to his low normal weight I added more protein back into his diet gradually until he started to put it on again and then I cut him back again until he was maintaining. I hate those so called low calorie dry foods - yuck!! But as everyone knows I'm biased!! Each to their own.

BTW there have been a number of great threads on weight loss/fat dogs - suggest you do a search - they are well worth reading

Good luck.

Hope that helps

Cheers,

Westiemum :p

[Teebs]

hmmm ok.... maybe what I thought was a little amount wasn't so little after all.

She was on Advance but is now eating Royal Canine puppy because she went burzerk trying to get to the staffy's food.

She get's 2 cups split between 2 meals, 2 chicken necks every second day and a large bone on the weekend.

Ok, first of all, get her OFF puppy food.

my 25kg, 5 year old Bull Terrier eats: 1 cup of dry food a day, and a little mince mixed in it - sometimes he gets some bones with it or in stead of it or some eggs and vegies. lately i have been adding hot water to it because it is sooo bloody cold in the mornings here

My 16kg, 3 year old Staffy gets 2 cups of food and the rest the same as above.

Both dogs are fed Nutrience Holistic.

when i am training them they dont get breakie, they get fed from my treat pouch, they are not begging dogs, and i can easily miss a meal without a word from them. They know begging gets them nothing and can handle a missed feed, dont snatch food from my hand if offered.

Change the food to adult food, and get the dog to the vet for a check up to make sure there is nothing going on other than being over fed

I would also not make the dog start to jog, get some weight off her, and start off walking and build it up

[Teebs]

bring your dog to me, i can get her skinny i have a thing against fat dogs..

Edited August 28, 2008 by Terrorbull

[Golden Rules]

you need to look at what she is eating. It is not right for a dog on minimal food to gain weight. She could have a metabolic problem or someone could have started throwing food over the fence.

Her diet should be a premium diet kibble (I find Royal Canin medium breed light knocks the weight off fast but I would only be feeding up to 1 metric cup of kibble a day in 2 meals) and decrease as you need to. Walk, do not run. Its uncomfortable to run carrying that much weight so start taking her for short walks morning and afternoon.

Carrots are a great calorie free filler for fat dogs with appetites too/

How we got weight off Leila was to feed her Mashed Veggies (as much as you want to, Zero Calories) only with no carrot and a high ratio of pumpkin for 2 days then BARF for the 3rd day and then back to veggies for 2 days and the cycle continues.

They can turn their noses up but they only get fed what you put down, soon they love the veggies!

Found some where for her to exercise off lead safely and the weight dropped off.

Absolutely yes! Have her thyroid checked and giver her mashed veges (pumpkin and any other left over veges) in leu of one meal a day, and a small cup of 'lite' kibble for her other meal - or a cup of kangaroo meat (low to no fat and very good for getting weight off).

OMG you are killing your dog.

I would be feeding her only one chicken neck a day and a few tablespoons of food processed veggies untill the weight comes off. This might seem cruel but it is crueler her being so obese.

Puppy kibble has much more energy and calories then adult kibble. Stop feeding her this!!!!!

Feed your dogs seperately.

Use fruit and veggies as treats.

Of course she is not going to be able to run as she is to fat. Walk her at a steady pace for at least half an hour every day.

Well, one chicken neck a day is likely to have a dog scrounging and stealing food wherever it can - besides the fact it's just not enough for any dog regardless of diet plus the fact that a beagle loves all food anyway. I know what it's like to have a dog that is highly food oriented.

Correct food, and the correct amount of food each day will see the dog healthy in due course along with some gentle exercise eg plenty of walking (NOT running).

You shouldn't be looking at a quick fix here - it wouldn't have been a short amount of time that the dog put on weight.

Take your time, do it properly and your dog will thank you with good health.

[huski]

My beagle puts on weight easily too - they love eating but don't need any where near as much food as you think!

I feed Daisy on adult Royal Canin, she gets 3/4 of a cup in the morning and sometimes a bone (chicken wing, neck etc) at night... and that's it! Two cups a day plus bones especially when its puppy food is way too much.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Don't run with a fat dog, particularly not in warm weather!! You need to start walking with the dog yourself, on the lead, and keep increasing the distances over time.

Just give a tiny amount of meat and a huge amount of veggies for dinner. Maybe a sardine or two in the morning.

I've just had to diet one of my dogs severely, she's lost 4 kilos in 4 weeks. She actually collapsed, she's old, possibly due to a stroke and it's been hell having to lift up a 20 kilo dog and carry her in and out to do her business, hold her up while she's doing it etc. I've only had her a few months after rescuing her in an overweight state from the pound.

Put some effort in and don't ever let your dogs get fat, read the fat contents on each pack - you might get a shock, I found a biscuit that had over 20% fat in it the other day!!