Over Feeding

[BrigadoonRose]

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

Yes, I can feel his ribs. I'm wary of the weight creeping on, like it does to me ;)

So would I be correct in saying that feeding amount is something that's in a constant state of flux depending on life stage, activity & food type? Something that needs to be continuously monitored?

[raineth]

So would I be correct in saying that feeding amount is something that's in a constant state of flux depending on life stage, activity & food type? Something that needs to be continuously monitored?

Yes, it will vary for every dog, even if they are the same breed. Don't worry about comparing what he's eating to what other dogs here are eating. You should be able to easily feel his ribs (that means easily with your palm, if you have to poke your finger in to feel them then he has too much coverage). You don't want to see his spine and hip bones.

Usually the feeding guide on the packet tells you to feed too much.

[emgem]

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

Oh, me too. Why can't I be as nice to myself as a I am to him. Though he would be obese if given half a chance. He is so food orientated. He can exert quite a bit of pressure for a tidbit, so I do understand why some people find it difficult to resist.

[Dogsfevr]

Nope easy to do but working in the boarding/grooming field i see obese dogs all the time & i see the awful side effects off it .

We board so many diabetic dogs these days & they are owned by people who we would always say needs a diet yadda yadda but they always had excuses & then when the dog is very sick they blame everyone else .

The sad part is i also now of people who want there dogs fat because they are less active & easier to live with

[GoldenGirl85]

My GR gets fed the same amount as Deelee's and I've never had problems maintaining weight, when she was growing I was feeding her more than double that and I had trouble keeping weight ON her!

I don't have the sad 'starving' eye problem because Lexi has never been fed from the table or off our plates, any scraps come from the kitchen to her bowl

[dee lee]

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?

I think the previous advice is good. :)

My dog's weight fluctuated up and down marginally, until I hit on the right amount, it's a bit of an experimental process.

Even now that she is fully matured (6 yo), depending on whether I feed my dog pigs ears or chicken wings (she gets one a day as well as her 2 cups of food) I can notice a difference in her waist.

Edited July 15, 2013 by dee lee

[Remarkabull]

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

Same here :)

I have no problems keeping my dogs in good condition. They still get the occasional treat or leftovers but it all balances out and they have never been overweight, in fact once we got Simi (bulldog) I found it harder to get weight on her as I'm used to Dobes and their streamlined look so I was keeping her a bit too lean for her breed and had to increase her food.

[aliwake]

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?

My 20wk lab pup is on about the same - 4cups of RC kibble per day, plus yoghurt and treats, and he's yet to start gaining excess weight. The vet said he looks perfect. I think he's going to be a big boy though - going from his parents. Just stick to what you're doing, and if he starts looking chubby, then drop it back.

I too find the puppy feeding table based on adult weight really really annoying though!! So stupid!

When I was feeding him Eukanuba he hated it, so he was never searching for food. Now he's on RC, he always seems hungry, and roams the house looking for snacks - makes it harder to be firm now, but I know it's best for him.

[Vehs]

No trouble here - I know it's better for him in the long run

although we have tried to put a bit of weight on him for the winter, with that success we are back to normal

[trinabean]

Nope easy to do but working in the boarding/grooming field i see obese dogs all the time & i see the awful side effects off it .

We board so many diabetic dogs these days & they are owned by people who we would always say needs a diet yadda yadda but they always had excuses & then when the dog is very sick they blame everyone else .

The sad part is i also now of people who want there dogs fat because they are less active & easier to live with

That is sad!

My dog is one of those that is really hard to keep enough weight on. He has allergies though, and can't tolerate a wide range of food. He is not food-motivated (no fun at dog obedience!) He is often disinterested in food, or eating much, maybe because many foods have made him feel sick?

On the flipside, he is not one to bench-surf, beg, or steal food at least. Just not that into food I suppose...

[tikira]

We have no problems with our dogs, they love their food, and look forward to it, but it comes from us, so we dictate how much they get. However, we also have the "nephew" dog regularly, and he is overweight and a tiny boy as well, so each gram counts. We ignore the pleading eyes, and give tiny treats. My nephew or sisterin law collect him, comment how good he looks, and then dole out the huge treats, lolloes, chips, etc, because "how can you say no?" Well for his health they need to. They didn't take it well when our vet told them to get the weight off him or they will have huge problems. They took it very personally, and sis in law sighed and said- "well the family are all fat, we will just be fat together"

Sigh, and yes, my tongue gets bitten regularly.....all I can do is encourage them and remind them of the dire explicit warning the vet gave, but he is mainly with my nephew now, who is listening to my advice.... yay.

Di

[BrigadoonRose]

Thanks dee lee.

Nope easy to do but working in the boarding/grooming field i see obese dogs all the time & i see the awful side effects off it .

We board so many diabetic dogs these days & they are owned by people who we would always say needs a diet yadda yadda but they always had excuses & then when the dog is very sick they blame everyone else .

The sad part is i also now of people who want there dogs fat because they are less active & easier to live with

Seeing the side effects is what's made me sit up & take notice. Many (many!) years ago I did work experience at a vet and observed an overweight Lab being spayed. The additional length of the surgery and possibility of complications due to her weight really stayed with me. In fact it was the only surgery I've ever observed that made me feel woozy. :-P

[dee lee]

Also it can take time to find the right food that will help your dog thrive.

I was using an organic, low grain brand of dry food for some time & it wasn't until I swapped brands for a much more accessible one, that I realised that she hadn't been doing so well on the organic stuff.

It's all trial and error. :)

[Christina]

Sometimes I give in to sad eyes. Not always though. They get a tiny teeny piece occasionally like with toast or a roast & then its no more.

Its not the end of the world to share with a dog that isn't fat but it may be the end of the dogs world if it is fat & keeps getting snacks.

[Trisven13]

I have absolutely no trouble keeping weight off all of our dogs except one..... My daughters fat Cavalier just seems to get fatter still on air. My OH can struggle to get the amounts right for him though.

[Podengo]

No trouble keeping weight off Elsie, did have trouble keeping it on though! She is not that into food outside of training (she would turn herself inside out for anything if you ask her to work for it though!), and is very active... In hot weather the weight just melts off her.

[RiverStar-Aura]

The problem with 'giving in to sad eyes' is that a lot of people don't adjust their regular feeding schedule to accommodate all the extra treats the dogs are receiving. I'm out at work most of the day so I have no idea how many snacks they're given by the family so their breakfast and dinner are adjusted accordingly.

Neither are gaining or losing weight so my balance works well.

I find the comment that some people (not here) keep their dogs fat because they're lazy, shocking. So many health problems arise due to obesity -- those poor dogs!

[Sue & Waldo]

Easy for me to keep Waldo's weight under control.

My trouble is keeping my weight under control

[CrazyCresties]

Then, my (obese) work colleague was telling me.....

Not really sure that the fact that she is obese has any bearing on this Along with many others in this thread, I too am overweight but my animals are not - I don't think the two are necessarily related.

[disintegratus]

I'm another one of the fatties with slim dogs

My dogs always get treats etc, but never give me hungry eyes because they know better :p The same can't be said for everyone else though! I often catch Thundercleese with his head on Nathan's lap, lustfully gazing at the food Nathan's eating.

To be honest their weights tend to fluctuate a little because I don't measure out their food so much, just when I notice that one of them is a little rounder than they should be, I cut back a little, or when one's gotten too skinny for my liking, I just feed them a little more.

I know I shouldn't, but I've also taken to keeping my old boy Harley (Dobe x kelpie, at least 9 years old, not that he looks it :)) a little fatter over winter. They have to stay outside during the day and occasionally overnight, and it gets bloody freezing here. So even though he's got a coat on, I like to keep a touch of extra meat on his bones while it's cold. It's not much though, no more than about 1.5kg on a roughly 33kg (ideal weight) frame. My Mum still tells me he's too skinny.

It's hard watching pets suffer because of being overweight. My Mum's collie x lab is quite severely overweight, has been ever since I moved out of home, and he's really starting to suffer because of it, but she just won't stop overfeeding him. I actually took his bowl from her house and replaced it with a much more appropriately sized one, but she just piles the food up more, and yet every time I go over there, she acts like he's lost heaps of weight. It makes me very sad