Michelleva Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 My sheltie is 8.5kg and the vet wants her at 7.5kg because she's got joint issues and she wants her kept really lean. That makes a lot of sense to me and she was weighed 5 weeks ago and weighed exactly the same.. I thought she was doing ok, but obviously not. She has been having Pro Plan weight management, plus a chicken wing or a neck here and there. Plus she'll eat a chunk of carrot whenever too. She always acts like she's starving, but thats the dog way I think. So what I'm doing is not working. The vet wants me to put her on a Hills prescription diet food, with nothing else. I don't agree with a 100% processed food diet, so I'm trying to get her diet right so she starts losing some weight. I do walk her, but if I'm honest, nowhere near regularly enough. But from today, we're going everyday, rain hail or shine. I'm also going to get her back into swimming, its good for her joints and great excercise too. Because of her dodgy knee, she can't do big lots of excercise, her joints just aren't good enough for that. But thats the main reason I need to get her on track. So any tips, or things that have worked for you. Its time for tough love, the kids are on notice that I'm the only one allowed to feed her now, no more little treats here and there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Halve her food. Literally. Dont cave in to the desire to feed her more. Then when she's at her goal weight, add a bit more until she's not gaining and not losing. How much exercise does she get? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelleva Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 She runs around the backyard like a loon everyday plus I walk her generally about 30 mins, currently every 3rd day or so, but thats now going to be a daily routine. We need to get this in check, for own health and well being. Is it ok to bulk up her food with a bit of grated carrot? Its about the only veggie she will eat willingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 She runs around the backyard like a loon everyday plus I walk her generally about 30 mins, currently every 3rd day or so, but thats now going to be a daily routine. We need to get this in check, for own health and well being. Is it ok to bulk up her food with a bit of grated carrot? Its about the only veggie she will eat willingly. Carrot is OK. Baked or mashed pumpkin is probably more filling and more fibre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelleva Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 Thanks I can try the pumpkin and see what she does with it. 1kg doesn't sound like a lot of weight, but its 11% of her bodyweight. I think for this week I'm going to stick to the low cal dry food, and a few vegies and see what happens. I do worry about keeping her teeth in good shape too, thats why I like her to have bones to much on. She's currently got some of those dried kangaroo bones, which are supposed to be low fat. She'll happily much on those for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 My guess is that if you walk her for half an hour a day, you won't need to do much to her diet to get her weight down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakway Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 first thing I would is to cut out the the chicken wings and necks. The wings are very fatty the necks are not as bad for their fat content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelleva Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 Thanks, I'll keep you posted. Its funny I don't eat chicken wings myself because I know they just have too much fat in the skin, yet I've been giving them to Georgia her whole life. Taking those out of her diet and increasing her excercise could well do the trick. Hoepfully then there will be no need for doggy weight watchers.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 get her off the pro plan its too full of grains - great for keeping dogs looking like piggies. Personally I would put her onto straight raw or get a better food like Royal Canin mini weight loss plus whatever fresh you like to feed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumtoshelley Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 All tgho my shelley is a golden retriever She too needed to lose weight she weighed 40kgs when I started about 3 months ago she now weighs 33kgs which I'm happy with. I can feel her back bone and hips and her ribs from the side. ALl I did to get her to lose weight was drop her food down and exercise her daily. Shelley is now getting feed twice a day, In the morning she gets 2-3 tablespoons of raw meat be it chicken,turkey,pork,lamb or beef, Then at night she gets about 1 cup of black hawk food. Also once or twice a week the raw meat gets replaced with a raw meaty bone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
best4koda Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Yep, cut the amount down. Perhaps the amount is too high and as suggested lesson the chicken wing. Perhaps buy her a leaner cut of chicken for the meantime if you want some fresh in the diet too. My shepherd dropped alot of weight on the proplan WM but I was pretty tough on him as well. If I didn't see the weight coming off I would drop a bit more food until I could see a change....not quickly then kept it at that until he was back to where he was suppose to be then on a senior kibble once stable. Just remember when you feel those brown eyes on you willing you for treat that you are being kind not cruel for fixing the weight issue....good luck with your weight watchers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest english.ivy Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Can you switch her to roo tails? I'd also get her a low/no grain dry food and add mashed pumpkin every couple of days. My Belgian was getting tubby about a year ago, I switched her to Black Hawk, changed the bones she gets [limited the lamb bones to a not so frequent treat] and added mashed pumpkin every couple of days and didn't have to up her exercise. She's a perfect weight now and has been for eight or so months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelleva Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 I don't know where around here I can get roo tails, but I have heard that they are good. What about chicken/turkey necks? The vet said they too have too much fat, but I can't see how. I will also look into changing the dry food that she has. I thought the brand I bought was pretty good, I'll have to do some more research on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rottifan Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Just a "thought outside the square". I have known dogs to not be able to lose weight no matter how lean a diet is or how much they are excercised....this is because if they are "out of alignment" they wont be able to. When a dog has pinched nerves they feel referral pain down limbs when they move. To avoid pain, rather than show obvious symptoms, they may take shorter steps and take other measure that you dont notice because you see them all the time. If they are not fully stretching out and their muscles are only half working no matter how much exercise you do they wont burn fat (muscles burn fat, its like going to the gym and doing half bicep curls - wont work!). See an animal chiro for a few treatments, ensure all pinched nerves are released, with your dog free of pain movement will be full and muscles will build up and fat will be burnt. Hope this helps, it is a slow process sometimes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelleva Posted August 29, 2011 Author Share Posted August 29, 2011 Thanks for your input Rottifan, very interesting. But I'm happy to report Georgia has lost 200 grams, and I've lost 500 grams.... that was a nice bonus. I'm thinking of changing her over to Barf patties, for a small dog it doesn't seem that expensive per day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason_Gibbs Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 With raw i battle to keep weight on my lab so maybe give it a go. He gets roo or goat ( i have now added lamb in) with pumkin or sweet potato, egg, cheese( u could leave this out) carrots, pears and roo bones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Panzer Attack! Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Our JRT x has been on a weight loss battle for the last month or so, it's hard cos he lives with my ex now, but I've written out his diet plan. He started off at a MASSIVE 12.6kg!!! He's crossed with a corgi so he looks a bit chunky when at ideal weight regardless, but when he was living with me too he was at 10.5kg and was perfect. He's on Pro Pac weight loss food (great great food, is working for him better than Advance) and diced roo, with a roo tail as his entire meal for the day a couple times a week. He's also being walked 3 times a week for half an hour and given an off-lead walk twice a week. A month in and he's down to 11.6kg Being 8 years old it's a bit tougher to get the weight off, but he's looking sooo much better already, and has a waist again! So he's half way there now and has so much more energy. The main thing I think is helping is that I've given the ex a proper dog food measuring cup. Before that, he was just guessing and feeding him almost double what he was meant to! And being a dog, T wasn't about to stop eating when he was full ... when he's at goal weight, I'll switch him onto a senior food, probably Canidae Platinum. Best of luck with your pooch and congrats on losing weight yourself! E x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelleva Posted September 2, 2011 Author Share Posted September 2, 2011 Well I'm a bit disappointed, I weighed Georgia this morning and she's put back on the weight she'd lost. All she's getting is 1/2 cup of proplan weight loss, with a bit of grated carrot and a fish oil capsule over the top for her joints. I have to say though, this is MUCH less than the packaging recommends and she's not eating it all at once. She's leaving some and coming back to it. To me it appears she doesn't enjoy it very much at all. I'm going to decrease the amount of dry further over the weekend, and then I think I'll ditch the dry completely. The vet wanted to put her onto a Hills weight loss prescription food exclusively, which I don't agree with at all. I know where I can get Barf patties, so I'm going to see if I can get the kangaroo ones and start her on those next week. They are the lowest fat option. I'm open to any other suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelleva Posted October 6, 2011 Author Share Posted October 6, 2011 I just wanted to post an update. Miss Georgia has now lost 500 grams. So another 500 grams and she'll be at the weight the vet wants her at.. we're getting there, even though she gives me the STARVING dog act every single day! I did end up changing her over to the barf patties, and she gets the odd half a chicken frame, instead of the barf some days to keep her teeth in good order. I've come to realise that she actually doesn't need very much food, I was giving her WAY too much. Because she has a dodgy knee, she's not as active as a normal 2yo dog, so isn't burning up the same amount of energy. We're still enjoying our walkies and playtime though. So all is good, the vet will be pleased with us, when we go back for another injection in a couple of weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Great update Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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