Obese Dog...what to do?

[Dace]

We have a sheltie and he is about 8 yrs old. He has seemed increasingly pudgy over the last couple of years. We took him to the groomer and had him shaved yesterday....Oh My... he is OBESE!

We are going to start walking him 1-2 x a day (starting out with very short walks and building up to longer walks) and I am going to trim back on his food.

I am wondering if it would be healthier (and hopefully more economical) to feed him home cooked food. I have read that dogs his age need very little, if any meat, and eggs, cheese & yogurt can be used instead, along with cooked whole grains and veggies.

Just wondered if anyone here has any first hand experience with 1) putting a dog on a diet and 2) home cooked meals for dogs

 

[Wifezilla]

I have read that dogs his age need very little, if any meat

I have experience with an obese cat. The cause of obesity in dogs and cats are GRAINS in their diet. Read your dog food label. Is the first ingredient CORN? Switch to a high protein, low carbohydrate food (Innova EVO, BG, Taste of the Wild, Core Wellness, etc...) until you can research a proper dog diet.

Whoever said that dogs don't need meat is a freaking moron with no understanding of animal nutrition and evolution. Sure, dairy can be part of a good dog diet, but MEAT is essential.

Research BARF diet for dogs. (BARF stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food).

Also, cutting portion may make your dog thinner but at the expense of muscle and bone tissue. In the long run that will cause your sheltie more health problems. Once the dog is on the right kind of foods, it will naturally eat less since its nutritional needs are actually being met.

 

[Aidenbaby]

I too doubt that portion control alone will be enough to make the dog lose weight. My mothers cat currently lives with us. When he came, my mom only wanted us to give him 1/3 of a cup of cat food twice a day. Well, that lasted a very short while because we free feed our own cats. I fill the bowl in the morning and at night (if we remember and if it is empty) and they eat when they are hungry. Strangely, with the new eating plan he hasn't gained weight but he isn't camping out the food bowl either like restricted feeding cats tend to do. He's been losing weight because I'm tossing him outside (much to my mothers shock) and letting him be a cat.

 

[Amosunknown]

Do you have a treadmill in your house? Training dogs to run on a treadmill is ridiculously easy, and he'd probably gladly run many times a day for the reward of some tasty broth.

I train any puppies we get to run on the treadmill. That way they can burn their youthful energy without needing to eat my furniture or wood trim.

Your pudgy pal would benefit greatly from some exercise, and he can get it without you having to commit lots of time and energy yourself.

And I also agree with the PP- its the natural biological programming of any predatory animal to gorge itself on food when it gets it, and then laze around to get the most out of it. If you're feeding on a schedule I'd stop and just fill the food bowl and keep food in it constantly. He might pig out for a day or two, but eventually he'll realize theres no need to gorge and stop it.

We had danes, and anytime I took a new dane on the previous owner would always remind me not to over feed because of bloat, and to watch this particular animal because it over ate, or ate too fast. Well, let me tell you, i've never owned a dane that could eat a 20 pound bag of food in a week. I could barely get 3 pounds in them a day- the serving supposidly needed for their weight. Something my labs were perfectly capable of due to their energy needs.

Free feeding in my experience and opinion is healthier and more phsycologically appropriate for maintaining canine weight. I've done barf, and its actually REALLY simple if you can find a local butcher (where the animals actually are slaughtered) and collect their bone meal and spare meat. I was able to do it for the same price as regular all natural dogfood.

 

[freemotion]

Check out the thread on feeding dogs raw (BARF). I feed my pooch raw. They can still get fat if you feed them too much, but the health benefits are super. Your sheltie is probably about the size of my poodle....just under 30 lbs is his ideal weight, slim and muscular. To keep him there, he gets 10 chicken wings per week and two meals of veggies, plus a rawhide chew here and there and TINY bits of good, appropriate treats. The only grains he gets are cooked in broth....brown rice, which I cook every 3 months or so and freeze in little portions, about 1/4 cup. Always good to have available for the occasional digestive upset, so rare on this diet. And he gets a serving with his veggies when we think of it.

Dogs do better with more bones and cartilage rather than pure muscle meat. Cats need more muscle meat, for dogs it is too rich as the bulk of the diet. Chicken wings have less meat and the bones are softer. Avoid legs, the bones are weight-bearing and harder and there is too much ratio of meat to bones. You can also feed the ribs from stripped breast if you can get them.

 

[Wifezilla]

Strangely, with the new eating plan he hasn't gained weight but he isn't camping out the food bowl either like restricted feeding cats tend to do.

Yes...restricting food is a guaranteed way to make your pet a neurotic, food obsessed mess. Restricting food does the SAME THING to people. If you are hungry, it is because your brain is signaling their is some vitamin or nutrient missing. In the case of obese people eating a high carbohydrate diet, high blood sugar and high insulin levels drives all the energy from the food in to fat cells where it gets trapped. The brain sensing the nutrients aren't free floating in the blood stream like they are supposed to, sends out a hunger signal even though there is plenty of energy in the body...it just isn't available.

 

[Beekissed]

I have always had labs, who tend to get a barrel shape with age. I use portion control and added exercise to control weight. When I noticed my older dog getting slower and trying to lay around too much, I got her a puppy! This improved her mobility tremendously and she looks great.

I watch their weight closely and just control portions. I could never put out continuous feed with these dogs....we do that when we have to go away for a couple of days and they eat it all in one setting and can't breath for two days!

I've noticed that everyone that I know that offers food free choice to their pets always have very obese pets! I know some of you folks seem to think this isn't so, but I've seen it time after time.

I don't really think its natural to have food in front of them all the time unless its in small portions and on a timed release, more like they would have it if they were foraging in the wild...little snacks here and there...a big kill or scavenge maybe once a day.

 

[big brown horse]

Yeah, I agree with Bee. I feel that some dogs (not all) will eat it all at once even if they are not hungry...labs are bad at that. I have two ST. Bernards who tend to get chubby too. One is nine and the other is 2. They are lean, mean, fighting machines. They eat only twice a day and are extremely active for St.s. I attribute my 9 year old's good health on not getting fat ever. The pup, well she is hard to put weight on!

They eat the raw diet and we mix up the types of meat with organ meat etc. Sometimes when I have to go somewhere for a few days, I will let the neighbor feed them Wellness, which I keep stashed for those purposes.

 

[TanksHill]

My old Rottie switched over to Nutro Lite when he started to age. Less activity made him gain weight. The lite food helped a lot and check your portions you would be surprised how little they really need of a good quality kibble.

I started my current Rottweiler on the Green Tripe raw diet, it was great. But by the third day I could not stand the smell in the fridge. Toby was diagnosed with those Demadex Mites due to rapid puppy growth and his immune system lagging. We switched his kibble to the Innova Evo. All meat, they call it a great substitution for all raw. We use the red meat and he eats 3 cups of kibble total per day. Puppy diet.

Maybe just try switching the kibble and see what happens. Is your dog getting food from another source? Perhaps eating something from the neighbors or trash?

 

[Wifezilla]

I've noticed that everyone that I know that offers food free choice to their pets always have very obese pets!

This only happens on a grain based diet. Remember, corn is what is used to fatten cattle.