F A T Dog Diet

[BordaBull]

My Breed, Bull Terrier. This thread is going to be helpfull to me. My dog is on mostly raw meat veg and dry combined. Not always the same meat all of the time which is probly a good thing. We have been out of the show scene for the last 18 months due to our daughter arriving 14 weeks before her actual due date. In that time my girl has put on probly 1 to 1 and a half kg of excess baggage. I have been working hard with her to try and drop the weight but it just seems to sit there in the boob area and after her first show back on the weekend I got told by the judge that she is too fat lol.

[Little Miss Moby]

We have tried numerous diets to get my staffords weight down. We walk / run her everyday, she only eats once a day, diet kibble one night, chicken necks the next and occasionally throw in some raw meat. She has always been a big girl and has had the comment 'big bitch' at shows but her head is to die for. She currently weight 20.9! we did get her down to 17.9 and she looked great, not too sure how we did that, she is a bit of a foodie!!!!

[BordaBull]

We have tried numerous diets to get my staffords weight down. We walk / run her everyday, she only eats once a day, diet kibble one night, chicken necks the next and occasionally throw in some raw meat. She has always been a big girl and has had the comment 'big bitch' at shows but her head is to die for. She currently weight 20.9! we did get her down to 17.9 and she looked great, not too sure how we did that, she is a bit of a foodie!!!!

I am pleased to say that our Bully is starting to look better. I have been working her realy hard and cut down the fatty food intake. She is going to look really good for her next show. I am not so upset about being told that she was fat by a judge now as it was probly the best thing for me and my dogs health that she could have done. I am starting to see a big improvment in the amount of energy she has which will be good because I could see she was getting really lazy . Our bt is a real foodie too I would call my bt more of a glutton for food.

Edited November 5, 2009 by BordaBull

[westiemum]

Not quite the same as a staffy but relatively similar weight loss in my (previously) porker westie boy... vet put him on low cal dry food - and he continued to stack it on on prescribed amount, cut it down by half, slowed weight gain but still weight increasing, cut out the dry food, went hard on veggies and meat (Black and Gold frozen mixed veggies, carrots, pumpkin etc and half a roo barf patty ie no more than 80 - 100 gms approx of lean meat) and the weight fell off.

Now have a svelte, trim taut terrific 10 year old westie - vet so impressed he now puts other others porkers on 'Mac's diet' (he's a great vet but a weight nazi - absolutely hates overweight animals - as I've said before, going to the vet is worse than going to weight watchers!! :D )

This thread has said it all - its basically portion control and plenty of bulk veggies. I also have a theory that says the low cal dry food makers don't want you to lose too much weight - otherwise you won't need their food anymore - and I don't think high carbs helps one little bit. I also think the moisture in barf and veg helps enormously - good poos and hydration so good body function.

Hope that helps

Cheers,

Westiemum ;)

Edited November 7, 2009 by westiemum

[BordaBull]

Not quite the same as a staffy but relatively similar weight loss in my (previously) porker westie boy... vet put him on low cal dry food - and he continued to stack it on on prescribed amount, cut it down by half, slowed weight gain but still weight increasing, cut out the dry food, went hard on veggies and meat (Black and Gold frozen mixed veggies, carrots, pumpkin etc and half a roo barf patty ie no more than 80 - 100 gms approx of lean meat) and the weight fell off.

Now have a svelte, trim taut terrific 10 year old westie - vet so impressed he now puts other others porkers on 'Mac's diet' (he's a great vet but a weight nazi - absolutely hates overweight animals - as I've said before, going to the vet is worse than going to weight watchers!! )

This thread has said it all - its basically portion control and plenty of bulk veggies. I also have a theory that says the low cal dry food makers don't want you to lose too much weight - otherwise you won't need their food anymore - and I don't think high carbs helps one little bit. I also think the moisture in barf and veg helps enormously - good poos and hydration so good body function.

Hope that helps

Cheers,

Westiemum

Yes thankyou it does help. I have been doing the 2 day veg 1 day raw meat thing but I have been slipping in a little dry here and there. I will get rid of the dry all together and see how that goes. Although our bully is starting to look better I think that it is mainly due to the extra exercise she has been getting.

[Sandra777]

We have tried numerous diets to get my staffords weight down. We walk / run her everyday, she only eats once a day, diet kibble one night, chicken necks the next and occasionally throw in some raw meat. She has always been a big girl and has had the comment 'big bitch' at shows but her head is to die for. She currently weight 20.9! we did get her down to 17.9 and she looked great, not too sure how we did that, she is a bit of a foodie!!!!

Divide her food into 2 meals, it will help her feel full and help control those pleading eyes

Make her daily ration up of 1/2 the amount recommended on the bag for her weight or desireable weight.

Add a grated carrot or apple or pear (vary it) to one meal.

Add a small handful of low fat meat (not chicken necks - all fat and skin) to the other meal.

No bones for a while - bones have marrow which is a lot of fat.

Make sure the diet food you are feeding is top-notch quality, otherwise you'd be better off feeding her a smaller amount of a better quality non-diet food.

If she really is a ravenous monster get either bran or phyllium husk (sp!) and use that to bulk out her meal, but try to reduce this over time, you want to reduce her need for food by reducing the amount she needs to "feel full" - which won't work if you continue to give her large meals of fibre.

Walk her twice a day (or three times if possible) for 10-15 minutes high intensity walking (trotting by a bike is even better), not wandering along sniffing. Of course you can take her out for as long as you have the time, but make 10-15 minutes of this (consecutive) high intensity.

If she will chase a tennis ball - virtually as much fetch as she'll play (given the heat of course) and run her up hill if possible for some of the game.

ETA: food after exercise at all times, and only when she's completely cool and calm.

Edited November 8, 2009 by Sandra777