Overweight

[WreckitWhippet]

feed him once a day in the morning.

1 - 1.5 cups of dry and that is a from a proper measuring cup and strictly measured. If you have to pad it out, use some grated carrot or a raw veg mix.

on the days you want to feed him a bone, make it a piece of roo tail, depending on wide the roo tail is he will be fine on 6 inch piece, that will do for a meal for a day.

[AmandaJ]

I was told some time ago that when feeding a balanced diet the volume of the food should equal 10% in cups of the ideal weight of the dog ...ie - a dog whose weight should be 28kg should be fed 2.8 cups of a balanced diet....however - as with people the metabolic rate is different and this needs to be considered. We have a beardie we struggle to get weight off...he is a "steroid puppy" - he was on steroids long term as a pup - short of starving him we can't get the weight off..and believe me we have tried...If you do find something which works - let me know! 35kg for a beardie is excessive...

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

my boston was a bit pudgy so i cut her food in half and bulked it up with beans or pumpkin, she is fed a raw diet

the weight dropped off and she didn't feel hungry because of the veggies which dont add any nutritional value to the diet.

she now looks really trim and healthy and i am slowly upping her food until she seems to put a bit of weight on then i will drop it back a bit which should be the ideal amount to feed her.

i dont think the amounts on the food packets are anywhere near the right amounts...i think they are deliberately more than a dog needs

[sllebasi]

i have a 25 kg staffy that i am trying desperately to get some weight off. she only gets 1 cup of mashed veges and 1/2 a chicken breast (as an example) we also go for two 20 min walks a day.

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

i have a 25 kg staffy that i am trying desperately to get some weight off. she only gets 1 cup of mashed veges and 1/2 a chicken breast (as an example) we also go for two 20 min walks a day.

yep sometimes we have to be really tough so our dogs are healthy, its bloody hard thought isn't it

eta stay strong it is really worth it in the end

Edited November 23, 2010 by Jaxx'sBuddy

[OSoSwift]

For those dogs that are really hard to get weight of it is worth getting them a medical check up and a full blood panel including a Thyroid panel.

[AmandaJ]

For those dogs that are really hard to get weight of it is worth getting them a medical check up and a full blood panel including a Thyroid panel.

Mine has had all those - now he runs when he sees a needle....

[Guest]

Thanks once again for your help, everyone, as from today he gets 1 1/2 cups of dry divided by 2, and raw vegies mixed in, he got through breakfast ok and didn't look starving, so I guess he will survive time will tell.

lablove

[WreckitWhippet]

I wouldn't feed him at night, only in the morning, he'll burn the calories during the day

[dee lee]

I wouldn't feed him at night, only in the morning, he'll burn the calories during the day

I prefer to feed my GR twice a day to minimise the risk of bloat. Being a lab, I'd be concerned he would wolf his one meal down too quickly.

My GR gets 45mins to 1 hours hard exercise (we jog or play fetch) every morning.

Earlier this year, It took me a few months to get the food right, where she wasn't too skinny or putting on too much weight, and now she gets 1 cup of dry food in the morning, 1 at night. One pigs ear during the day.

She weighs about 27kgs and looks fantastic.

I'm sure she would LOOOOVE more food but I'm a bit tough like that.

[woody2shoes]

We've had active trialling labs for 25 years and whilst they are a finer build than their show counterparts, they certainly aren't small!

Our four labs are fit, trim and in athletic condition. To give you an idea, our 8yo male weighs a shade under 30kg and he is fed 1 1/2 cups of dry kibble at night plus approx. 150g of minced chicken carcass. They all get knuckle/rib bones every morning when they are penned, and raw carrot and/or broccoli stalk are a favourite treat!

Their exercise consists of either very vigorous play retrieving in water (we have an irrigation channel at our back gate) once a day for half an hour or so, or an hour long off lead walk depending on my day's schedule.

I hope this helps...I agree with all the others regarding following the pack guide for feeding quantities. I am sure they are just to get you to feed more and subsequently have to buy more! Sadly, it's likely to be at the expense of your dog's health. :p

Good luck. You will be so happy when you can see that waistline again!

w2s

[Mason_Gibbs]

When my lab was fed dry kibble he also got 1,5 cups a day plus some meat or sardines/eggs etc. With labs it looks like you are feeding them so little as they are big dogs but they pick up weight really quickly. My dog is so fit that the vets cannot believe his heart rate but I still feed him next to nothing and he is still not that skinny

[Rottifan]

Very frustrating I know! To add another angle, I learnt that no matter how little you feed a dog or how much you exercise them if your dog is out of alignment (has pinched nerves) and therefore is not able to walk/move full stretch due to it causing them pain to do so they will NOT be able to lose weight. It would be like us going to the gym and only doing half the movement of an exercise, we'd never build up muscle. This is why animals that have had lameness issues end up with visible muscle wastage from not driving back as far as they should with their rear legs or reaching as far forward with their front legs as they should and therefore their muscles are not working to full capacity. Once nerves are released, pain subsides and movement returns and muscle burns fat...bingo. It took me a long time to work this one out - find a good animal chiropractor, after 3 or 4 treatments you should be back on track, ah!

[bonniek]

For those dogs that are really hard to get weight of it is worth getting them a medical check up and a full blood panel including a Thyroid panel.

was thinking the same, we have our boy booked in to the vet tomorrow, as he does carry excess weight and through limiting his food and an increase of exercise, I feel there is an underlying medical problem

[OSoSwift]

Hope all is okay, but I think a very sensible place to start.

I am also very strict on food and dislike overweight dogs and would be devistated if mine became over weight. Today they have been at the beach, Rommi was tethered as she is recovering from a sore knee but Lewis has been swimming and running and chasing a ball. He will get a little extra tonight. Yesterday he didn't so so much so he got just over half his normal ration

[Guest]

OSoSwift, Oscar is ok and I do think he is starting to look a tiny bit thinner, and hopefully will be much thinner when his playmate starts chasing him around the yard again, he is 25 inches tall, so seems to be rather tall I think for a male Lab, but who knows he could have a bit of something else in him, as he was taken to the AWL as a stray, and so they had to put on his info that he was Labrador x. , Abby the Shepherd, has her stitches out on thursday so it will be full on play time after that,and that should help with his exercise as well.

lablove