Need Solutions For Overweight Dog

[Kuri_89]

Hi all :D

I currently have an overweight crossbreed. I got her from the pound 17months ago weighing in at 14kg's. For the last 6-8 weeks i have had her on a 'diet' as the veterinarian has told me she is very overweight, she weighed in at 15.5kgs at her last vet check.

Her previous diet consisted of:

Breakfast - Kibble, Dry dog bone biscuits & 2 human nice biscuits

Day - Kibble available throughout the day

Dinner - chopped raw beef heart, chopped cooked beef tongue & some dog roll + our leftover dinner & whatever else she manages to scrounge from us.

Her new diet:

Breakfast - Quarter of a raw beef heart & Quarter of a Beef tongue with half a handful of kibble

Day & Dinner - nothing, no human scraps, no extra dog food. She is only fed one meal in the morning.

Her exercise routine has always been the same. 60min walk in the morning, 60min walk in the evening followed by an extra 30min at the off-leash area playing fetch, doing some agility, chasing other dogs etc, 5min jog around the block.

To date 6 weeks later she has lost a mere 500g! I'm starting to really worry that we might not be able to get her weight under control, i'm getting desperate and are looking at other idea's or opinions regarding her new diet. Should i be cutting her food back even more? take away the kibble or replace it with a more holistic brand (such as black hawk).... Any suggestions will be welcome!

I have added a picture if any of you need to know what she looks like (sorry i'm unsure of what breed she actually is) she is the white one.

[persephone]

Your photo didn't work , unfortunately ... :)

I would suggest 2 meals a day ..just to keep her feeling as though she is getting it all .

1/4 beef heart is quite a lot of meat, actually .... maybe just feed that in the morning, and the 1/2 handful of bikkies at night?

She can have raw carrots to chew if she likes them :)

what sort of kibble is she eating?

[Kuri_89]

The veterinarian recommended feeding her meal morning's only. Originally i felt bad, so i followed suggestions of making the one meal and then rationing it out during the day. The only thing is i do casual shift work & find it hard to ration out at exact times every single day, so i went back to the one meal. We also have 3 dogs in our household so i have to watch them whilst they eat to make sure she isn't eating their food also. She actually gets less than quarter of a tongue & heart as i ration out half a tongue & half a heart between the three of them (i just don't know my maths apparently :p )

The kibble she is currently on is purina supercoat, but i would like to change to black hawk as soon as this lot is gone. I was looking at maybe taking away half her meal and topping it up with Phuds? The website say's it assists in weightloss, but then others have said their dogs are on it to gain weight, so a little confused?

I tried uploading a photo through image shack and through attachments but it wont work! She is the white dog in my avatar (shame its so small though!)

Edited May 7, 2012 by Kuri_89

[RiverStar-Aura]

Personally I'd still be rationing out the food but instead of during the day, just feed morning and night.

An adult dog doesn't really need to eat throughout the day.

You can also try cutting the meat down further if need be and add in vegetables: carrots are fantastic and other people on the forum also use sweet potato and pumpkin.

When it comes to the diet can you be absolutely certain that no one in your household is sneaking her anything extra?

How much did the vet say she should weigh?

My Aussie Terrier weighs 7 kilos and is fed 1 tablespoon of Royal Canin for breakfast and dinner.

My 13.7 kilo medium sized beagle cross is on 1/4 cup of RC twice daily. I usually think its not much but they're doing fine!!

Good luck. Diets aren't easy!!

[Kuri_89]

My mum took her to HER vet whilst i was in Thailand for her annual vacc, and it was he who claimed she was overweight and needed to lose 3kg! so around the 12-13kg mark is the weight he would like to see her at.

Funny that because MY vet has never said anything about her weight, i have been told she was chubby, & i can see that myself when i look at her, but i really think 3kg's is pushing it - so i think i'll watch her ribs rather than go for a specific weight.

I feed her every morning so i know exactly how much she is getting, i'm also pretty sure nobody is feeding her extra's we are all adamant in getting her healthy, we've all had a good talk about it and the consequences of not following through with the elimination of 'snacks' so i feel pretty confident that nobody is sneaking her anything. I actually feel pretty crappy when i look at the amount of food i'm giving them - doesn't seem like a lot.. i feel like i'm starving them

I will try the grated carrot in their meals from tomorrow morning and look at getting some sweet potato/pumpkin (OH won't like that he looooves his sweet potato lol) I also wouldn't mind incorporating fish into their diet as well. I will also get some approx measurements/weights of what i actually feed her tomorrow.

Edited May 7, 2012 by Kuri_89