Weight Loss Tips - Border Collie

[peto2710]

Hi,

I was after some tips on weight loss for my border collie. He is 4 years old, and on a diet of pedigree dry and wet food. I used to feed him advance but found he had a upset tummy from it. He has ballooned a bit in his weight to 31 kg, which is way to heavy for a border. I need to get him down to 25kg. He gets plenty of exercise, so I'm not sure what i'm doing wrong. He is fairly inactive during the day when we work, and I am looking at getting a second border to companion him.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[KitKat]

Cut back his food by a 1/4 and see how he goes? Cut back further if needs be...you can also top up his food with some grated carrot if needed.

[noisymina]

Yep. Too much food for the amount of work.

Have you considered moving to a partly (or fully) "natural" diet?

[Flash30Aus]

When my aged BC developed diabetes the vet recommended putting psyllium husks into the feed to increase the time it takes to digest the food. More fibre in the diet means the energy is released over a longer period.

This allows for a feeling of fullness for longer and stops them getting hungry.

I also second the suggestion of feeding a more natural diet of lean meaty bones (at least a few meals per week) which will mean the dog is working harder for the meal, but feeling full due to more chewing.

Hope it helps,

Christie

[piper]

First thing I would do would be lose the tinned food. As my vet has said - they are an expensive drink of water.

How much in total does he get per day? If you feed what the packet says it is almost always too much. My border collie girls get around a cup of dry per day, 1 gets slightly over and the other slightly under. 3 or 4 days per week they get raw meaty bones. My old boys when they were around used to get just over a cup of dry. I think the packet says something like 2.5 cups for a dog of border collie size but even Jazz who is incredibly active would get fat on that amount.