Over Feeding

[dee lee]

Just quickly looking at the food thread, & noting a discussion on working out the right amount of food to give, reminded me of a couple of conversations I had this week.

Firstly I bumped into a friend in the street, while I had my GR, Honey, with me. She was giving Honey a cuddle & mentioned how great it was that she is so trim & fit, then went on to say "its so hard to watch their diet isn't it?". Ummm, no. She gets a cup of food in the morning & another in the evening, nothing else. Not so hard.

Then, my (obese) work colleague was telling me her 2 cats were very upset at the diet her pet sitting friend put them on while she was away. Apparently they were STARVING when she got back! I just bit my tongue...

I often hear that, & it occurs to me that while Im a bit of a stickler, so many people must give in to the feelings of guilt, when those big brown STARVING eyes look at you after dinner. :laugh:

Do you do it?

[sas]

I made my Lab x fat by forgetting he wasn't a Dane and feeding him as such *sigh* took a year to get that weight off him.

My dogs get fed a weighed amount for breakfast and dinner, a certain amount for training and a consistent amount for 'other' times so I know what keeps them in lean shape. My dogs don't share peoples food with them - I think that can often be a problem as well as guilty owners using treats to make themselves feel better.

[Dame Aussie]

I'm the same as you dee, never had any issues keeping them at a healthy weight

[minimax]

My OH struggles to resist the pugs big sad pleading eyes, despite me going mad at her and explaining How bad it is for them to be overweight etc

I get really angry with her because I go to a lot of trouble with their food, I make their raw mix and it's weighed out etc and she feeds them roast chicken when I'm in the bath, or chips, or a little of whatever she's eating. Grr.

[persephone]

I'm the fat one, not my dogs :)

[hankdog]

My boy has behaviour issues so most of his food is given as treats out and about. I measure out a bag in the morning and he gets a bit of fish in the bowl. What he doesn't get on his walk is used in the afternoon session. This all worked fine until I found peanut butter beats being reactive to dogs, I smear a few spoons on the inside if a plastic jar and put it in the fridge so it's hard for him to get a lot when he's licking the jar but he is still getting more than is ideal. Although he's a bulldog I like to keep him fit and lean and I think he's a bit over at the moment but beating his behaviour issues trumps waistline in my case.

I think it's quite unfair to take away a dogs ability to run and have fun because of their weight.

Edited July 14, 2013 by hankdog

[Kirislin]

Just quickly looking at the food thread, & noting a discussion on working out the right amount of food to give, reminded me of a couple of conversations I had this week.

Firstly I bumped into a friend in the street, while I had my GR, Honey, with me. She was giving Honey a cuddle & mentioned how great it was that she is so trim & fit, then went on to say "its so hard to watch their diet isn't it?". Ummm, no. She gets a cup of food in the morning & another in the evening, nothing else. Not so hard.

Then, my (obese) work colleague was telling me her 2 cats were very upset at the diet her pet sitting friend put them on while she was away. Apparently they were STARVING when she got back! I just bit my tongue...

I often hear that, & it occurs to me that while Im a bit of a stickler, so many people must give in to the feelings of guilt, when those big brown STARVING eyes look at you after dinner. :laugh:

Do you do it?

all mine are in excellent condition and I'm constantly amazed at how little they actually need to eat to maintain a good body weight.

I'm the same as you dee, never had any issues keeping them at a healthy weight

me too.

I'm the fat one, not my dogs :)

same here. I wish I cared as much about my own diet as I do for my whippets

[twodoggies2001]

I have learned to be a hard hearted Hannah lol. My two could eat all day if I let them. I have my cousin's dog here for about 4 weeks while his family are abroad and their dog is FAT. If I succeed, there will be a different dog waiting for them when they get home. I'm told by him that he doesn't get much to eat. You don't get fat on fresh air alone. I too will probably be accused of starving poor Harry but so be it lol. Just to ease everybody's mind, I have permission to feed Harry as I do my own boys. Can't wait to see his waistline again.

[Kirislin]

I have an elderly friend with a beautiful white shepherd that was a perfect 24kgs when he got her as a young adult rescue. He told me once he spends about $60pw on dog food!!!! Now she is massive. The last time I took her down to the vets to get weighed she was 34kgs but she looks alot fatter now. I used to take her to the park to let her run with my whippets because she loves them, but I dont dare now for fear of her doing herself an injury, like his last shepherd.

I have tried many times to tell him she's too fat, and now I've said I cannot take her for walks because of it, but nothing will stop him feeding her, he equates it with love and affection. The funny thing was, when I was looking after her for him, she didn't seem like a food motivated dog. He's a dear friend, but he's a stubborn old thing and there's nothing I can do or say to get him to understand he needs to stop feeding her so much. It saddens me to see her like this.

[~Anne~]

I'm fine but my husband tends to feed our pugs a tad too much. It isn't their eyes that do it to him, it's his. He can't accept that the small amount in their bowl is enough to sustain them, particularly Olivia. Her waist has thickened somewhat since he has been in charge of feeding them. Boof is good though but then he is twice the size of Olivia and my husband tends to feed them both the same amount.

[Dory the Doted One]

With a puppy in the house keeping Dory trim has required some fiddling.

I admit to feeling bad when Willow gets a meal that Dory normally wouldn't. So Dorys meals are broken into tiny portions or she gets more veggies.

There is some tidbit feeding, but meals are altered accordingly.

I am often baffled by people's inability to measure and maintain healthy weights on pets. Even more baffled when they can't see their morbidly obese pets. Fat pet is one thing, but animals many times the average weight?

[raineth]

I struggled for a while after getting Digby for the following reasons:

1. he is naturally a very big, broad barrel shape with quite a bit of loose skin, and actually doesn't appear fat even when he actually is. Unlike a Dane, it's really glaringly obvious and looks very awkward when they become even a bit tubby. I realised he was fat when he went to the vet and weighed 67 kgs He honestly didn't look it to me.

2. Because he is bigger (not taller but bigger) I assumed he would need about the same, or maybe slightly more as the Dane. Very incorrect assumption.

3. RAW diet. RAW diet seemed to just make him fat, even at very small portions and I was a bit worried that he wasn't actually getting enough of all the other nutrition he needed. The Dane had no problem on RAW.

Digby who now weighs just a tad under 60kgs and is now a ball of muscle, rather than a tub of fat, eats the same amount as your Golden Retriever; 1 cup in the morning and 1 cup in the evening. This even with his fairly extensive exercise regime keeps him in optimal condition.

Edited July 14, 2013 by raineth

[Leah82]

I just recently got our Cocker from 16.2kgs down to 14.5 where I can now just feel his ribs. It's probably the easiest 1.7kgs I've ever managed to loose :p

My OH tends to overfeed a bit, plus a few treats here and there but since I've taken over dinner time the weight has fallen off, although you can't tell because he's so damn woolly at the moment.

[RiverStar-Aura]

I give my two dogs a lot of treats during the day and as such, their main meals are reduced to balance this out. I've mentioned before that my 6.4 kilo Aussie gets a tablespoon of Royal Canin Mini twice a day and she's in perfect condition. I tried increasing the amount but she started getting fat.

Likewise with Zeus. He's 14.8 kilos and lovely and lean and muscly. He gets 1/4 cup Royal Canin Medium twice daily and I couldn't be happier.

Feeding is a lot of trial and error regarding amounts per dog, per type of food, but if you're willing to put the effort in, once you've found the balance, maintenance is easy!!

[wuffles]

I have no problems keeping my dogs slim. They are always hungry no matter what I feed them.

[Rebanne]

I'm the fat one, not my dogs :)

same here. I wish I cared as much about my own diet as I do for my whippets

me three

[BrigadoonRose]

I have a 15 week old Lab puppy & I'm quite paranoid about turning him into a porker. But after reading what you feed your dogs I'm a little worried that's what I'm doing!

I feed Advance Puppy Plus, a little bit less than the recommended amount (according to their feeding guide, although who knows how much the adult will weigh at 15 weeks :-/ ) - that works out to about 1.3 cups 3 times a day. Am I growing a little boom bah?

[Pretty Miss Emma]

I'm the fat one, not my dogs :)

same here. I wish I cared as much about my own diet as I do for my whippets

me three

Same here... sigh...

[Rebanne]

I have a 15 week old Lab puppy & I'm quite paranoid about turning him into a porker. But after reading what you feed your dogs I'm a little worried that's what I'm doing!

I feed Advance Puppy Plus, a little bit less than the recommended amount (according to their feeding guide, although who knows how much the adult will weigh at 15 weeks :-/ ) - that works out to about 1.3 cups 3 times a day. Am I growing a little boom bah?

only you can tell that. :) Can you feel his ribs?

[sheena]

My dogs LOVE their food, but I have never given in to feeding more & now they don't expect it. They just lick their bowls all from one end of the room to the other, then go & check out the other's bowl, then want to play & do tricks. They get a set amount each day & if the turkey neck for breakfast is a large one, or they have been having lots of training treats & little exercise (as if :laugh: ), I cut back on their dinner at night. I also like to keep a check on their weight by putting them on the vets scales often.