Trimming Down Fat Dogs

[Ravyk]

My MIL is going away and I have her two dogs for two weeks. Both are overweight and could do shedding a few kilos. I'm going to keep a record of them here.

First is Ben:

Breed: Papillion X Foxie[?]

Age: 6

Weight: 9.2kg

Second is Lena:

Breed: Shih Tzu X Mini Poodle

Age: 2.5

Weight: 9.8kg

Daily Diet Each Previous: 1 can of tinned MyDog, 1/2 cup dry kibble plus continuous supply of dry kibble throughout the day, chicken neck.

Daily Diet Each Now: 150g of diced raw roo and pumpkin, 1 large or 2 small chicken necks

Any suggestions or anything? Does anyone know how the best way the weigh them on bathroom scales accurately is? Currently I am just holding them and subtracting my weight from it.

Edited March 2, 2010 by Ravyk

[mish13]

We have been going through the same thing with our Jack Russell, he was on dog roll and dry food plus bones. He now gets half a cup of biscuits grated carrot and pumpkin. I also put a tiny bit of cooked chicken on top for flavour.

He has lost weight, not sure how much but his waist goes in now instead of out. He is also happy to walk now and doesnt stop me every few steps.

Good luck

[puggy_puggy]

Daily Diet Each Now: 150g of diced raw roo and pumpkin, 1 large or 2 small chicken necks

If you really want to get the weight off I would suggest half a chicken neck and some veggies slops for the fatties.

My adult pugs, that are of healthy weight, get approx 100 to 150 grams of food each a day.

Edited March 1, 2010 by puggy_puggy

[becky thatcher]

Your dogs are very cute. Best of luck with their weight loss.

Have they upped their walks too?

[Elsha_UK_AU]

Awww they are lovely! Does your Mother In Law know you are putting them on a diet? Will she continue it when she comes home? I am just thinking that if you are changing their diet and going to this trouble, it would not be good if she puts them back onto the previous diet the minute she gets home.

Good Luck

Susan

[whippets]

Feed them half of what they normally get fed.

[Ravyk]

If you really want to get the weight off I would suggest half a chicken neck and some veggies slops for the fatties.

My adult pugs, that are of healthy weight, get approx 100 to 150 grams of food each a day.

They wont touch just veggies, silly mutts. I want them to have full bellies so they don't try mauling my ankles off but at the same time not have too much fatty stuff hence the 50% lean roo and 50% pumpkin as a filler. They have lost weight since I saw them last which is good [both were over 10kgs last time!!]

How much do your pugs weigh?

Your dogs are very cute. Best of luck with their weight loss.

Have they upped their walks too?

Yes, plus they have our dogs to run with while down here. They are quite active anyway, it's just they are WAAAY overfed.

Awww they are lovely! Does your Mother In Law know you are putting them on a diet? Will she continue it when she comes home? I am just thinking that if you are changing their diet and going to this trouble, it would not be good if she puts them back onto the previous diet the minute she gets home.

She knows, and I have mentioned I am happy to bag up and freeze meals for them and send up to her. Honestly it's not too much trouble, my two are being fed the same. Whether she will accept it and follow my instructions is another question all together.

Feed them half of what they normally get fed.

They are getting at least, if not more than half what they normally would be fed. I calculated it on the 2% body weight amount of raw, for what I think they should weigh [which is around 7kgs]. I'll see how they go, and may drop the amount down further.

[Ravyk]

DAY TWO

Lena ate her breakfast with gusto and left a bit over...which Spot quickly demolished.

Ben on the other hand, was being fussy and wouldn't eat, so his food is back in the fridge. I had three dogs all in a line clamouring to eat his food!

Will take them for a walk a bit later.

ETA. No walk entailed as OH sprained his ankle and I didn't feel up to taking four dogs walking. Big lounge room play session ensued instead.

Dinner was an easy matter, both wolfed down their chicken neck.

Edited March 3, 2010 by Ravyk

[Ravyk]

DAY THREE

As per usual Lena ate with gusto...nothing left this morning. Ben turned his nose up again, but when he saw me about to pick up his food, he decided against going hungry until dinner again, and ate it.

About to wrangle four dogs on leash and go to the post office.

ETA. Back from approx 3k walk with the four dogs. They're all relaxing on the cool concrete now

Edited March 3, 2010 by Ravyk

[laffi]

Go you Ravyk!!!!! Very impressive

Do you have a scale to monitor their weights/or can you pop into a vet (they usually have one in the hallway). I would be quite interested to see how their weights are changing

Keep us updated!

[twodoggies2001]

Daily Diet Each Now: 150g of diced raw roo and pumpkin, 1 large or 2 small chicken necks

If you really want to get the weight off I would suggest half a chicken neck and some veggies slops for the fatties.

My adult pugs, that are of healthy weight, get approx 100 to 150 grams of food each a day.

Half a chicken neck and veggies is not an ideal diet. The dogs need more MEAT. The necks are mainly bone. They need a variety of meats, including chicken, beef, and other low fat varieties such as kangaroo, rabbit, goat and venison. Probably the easiest to come by is the roo. These meats can be supplemented with raw veggies run through a food processor.

[puggy_puggy]

If you really want to get the weight off I would suggest half a chicken neck and some veggies slops for the fatties.

My adult pugs, that are of healthy weight, get approx 100 to 150 grams of food each a day.

They wont touch just veggies, silly mutts. I want them to have full bellies so they don't try mauling my ankles off but at the same time not have too much fatty stuff hence the 50% lean roo and 50% pumpkin as a filler. They have lost weight since I saw them last which is good [both were over 10kgs last time!!]

How much do your pugs weigh?

Give them some time to understand what the veggie slops are and that they really are yummy. Alot of the rescues turn their noses up at the veggie slops for a day or so but end up loving it.

My female is, nearly 7 years old, 6.5kg and male, nearly 9 years old, is 8.8kg.

[Ravyk]

First weigh in [dodgy scales]

Lena: 9.3kg [500g loss]

Ben: 8.9kg [300g loss]

Ben is back to his irritating ways of turning his nose up at breakfast [roo and pumpkin] and then complaining that dinner is small. He'll learn soon enough. I've also cut their meal sizes down to 100g rather than 150g.

Half a chicken neck and veggies is not an ideal diet. The dogs need more MEAT. The necks are mainly bone. They need a variety of meats, including chicken, beef, and other low fat varieties such as kangaroo, rabbit, goat and venison. Probably the easiest to come by is the roo. These meats can be supplemented with raw veggies run through a food processor.

Of course it isn't an ideal diet but the dogs aren't at an ideal weight, they need to lose the weight and the diet puggy puggy has suggested works very well to shed weight off dogs-I've seen it done before but as I have already made up portions I will be sticking to roo and pumpkin. They don't need a variety of meat really, and these to mcfatties are certainly not getting lamb or beef as it is too fatty-all they're getting is lean roo and necks for their teeth.

Sorry if I seem a bit bitchy, but you are coming across like I [and puggy puggy] don't really know what we are talking about/doing, please just bear in mind how what you write can come across sounding like.

Edited March 5, 2010 by Ravyk

[Koemi]

Oh my goodness Rav, Ben looks SOOOO much like Bambi, but the wrong colour! He's gorgeous! Please post him to me.

[westiemum]

Great stuff Ravyk. There is no such thing as an ideal weight loss diet for dogs IMO - so what you are doing is absolutely fine and most importantly working. Well done.

The most important thing is to strip the weight off - Weight loss dry food failed dismally for my fatty westie - until finally I gave it all up and with vet approval put him on a diet of very lean meat like roo (80-100 gms) and bulked up the veggies so he wasn't too hungry - he too turned his nose up at the veggies initially - but he soon learnt they were better than completely starving - and now he wolfs them down.

In fact his diet worked so well the vet now puts other fatties on 'Mac's Diet'.

[Ravyk]

I washed them today, so I could see their bodies through the wet hair. They are starting to develop waists! Not so tubby now...I can start to feel their ribs again-although I do have feel quite hard. Their coats need clipping too.

LOL Koemi, I don't think MIL would approve of me sending her dogs away!!

[Ravyk]

Great stuff Ravyk. There is no such thing as an ideal weight loss diet for dogs IMO - so what you are doing is absolutely fine and most importantly working. Well done.

The most important thing is to strip the weight off - Weight loss dry food failed dismally for my fatty westie - until finally I gave it all up and with vet approval put him on a diet of very lean meat like roo (80-100 gms) and bulked up the veggies so he wasn't too hungry - he too turned his nose up at the veggies initially - but he soon learnt they were better than completely starving - and now he wolfs them down.

In fact his diet worked so well the vet now puts other fatties on 'Mac's Diet'.

Thats awesome westiemum!

Ben is still a little fussy with the veggies. When he ate breakfast this morning, I obviously hadn't mashed the carrots very well, and there was little bits of carrot left in in his bowl. ;) He also kindly reminded me it was dinner time

[Koemi]

LOL Koemi, I don't think MIL would approve of me sending her dogs away!!

Their coats need clipping too.

Hmmmm.... not even for a free clip?

[puggy_puggy]

With the fatties that come here I usually rotate their meat/bone around whatever is on offer but always stick to little servings that include the veggie slops. Chicken necks make up alot of their meals but if I have rabbit, kangaroo, fish etc they will get that for some meals as well.

I can usually get the fatties to lose at least 2kg a month.

[twodoggies2001]

First weigh in [dodgy scales]

Lena: 9.3kg [500g loss]

Ben: 8.9kg [300g loss]

Ben is back to his irritating ways of turning his nose up at breakfast [roo and pumpkin] and then complaining that dinner is small. He'll learn soon enough. I've also cut their meal sizes down to 100g rather than 150g.

Half a chicken neck and veggies is not an ideal diet. The dogs need more MEAT. The necks are mainly bone. They need a variety of meats, including chicken, beef, and other low fat varieties such as kangaroo, rabbit, goat and venison. Probably the easiest to come by is the roo. These meats can be supplemented with raw veggies run through a food processor.

Of course it isn't an ideal diet but the dogs aren't at an ideal weight, they need to lose the weight and the diet puggy puggy has suggested works very well to shed weight off dogs-I've seen it done before but as I have already made up portions I will be sticking to roo and pumpkin. They don't need a variety of meat really, and these to mcfatties are certainly not getting lamb or beef as it is too fatty-all they're getting is lean roo and necks for their teeth.

Sorry if I seem a bit bitchy, but you are coming across like I [and puggy puggy] don't really know what we are talking about/doing, please just bear in mind how what you write can come across sounding like.

I never inferred that you or Puggy Puggy don't know whqt you are talking about. I merely stated that chicken necks is not an ideal, or may I add for that matter a balanced diet. In the long term a dog will subsist on that feeding but will not thrive. I did suggest giving them more meat, and as you yourself state now you do feed roo.

Also, I wouldn't have thought you were coming across as being bitchy, you said that, not me,. so perhaps you are of the mind that you have come across a trifle strong. Your friend Puggy Puggy did not mention feeding meat, so I took the opportunity to voice my opinion.