would love to have sub-account for my obese dog!

beekuzz

My ex fed my baby boy, Solomon, pizza and stuff like that. Then he strained his ACL and doesn't walk very far. He's a Cocker Spaniel, double sized now. He wants to walk with me wherever I go, but he, like me, has to get the weight off in order to get better. I'm going to try multiple small walks, but wouldn't that be great if I had a plan for him, too.

Anybody else working with an obese dog?

ironanimal

Could you get a manual treadmill cheap for the little beast to walk on? Dogs can learn to use them and enjoy spending time when they would be laying about on it.

MerBear1FL

I recommend you research the "Green Bean Diet" of "Pumpkin Diet" for dogs. I have had amazing sustained weight loss with this diet for my Min Pin. Some would even say he is no longer fat!

beekuzz

Great idea. I'll look into that. Thanks.

MerBear1FL

of = or

Bluebaloo210

While I'm not currently working with an obese dog, I am a second-year vet student, so maybe I can give you some advice. Owners absolutely adore their pets, and frequently show this by giving their pooches treats, table scraps, keeping their bowls fed, etc... This not only packs the pounds on fast, but it can lead to conditions like pancreatitis, which can actually be a severe illness. The best thing that you can do for your pet is what you are doing for yourself: cut out the table scraps (these often contain way more sodium and fat than your puppy needs), limit the treats to one a day at the absolute max, and switch to a low calorie diet. The major pet food companies have created multiple diets that provide the perfect amount of nutrients for your pet. Once your pet starts shedding pounds, invest in a tennis ball and play with your dog for 15 minutes a day. Your arm muscles will thank you, and so will your pup!

Josteyn

Yes, you could buy your dog a treadmill... Or get him a special diet which no carnivorous animal would ever eat...

Or maybe you could just go walking with him and stop feeding him so much?

beekuzz

I recommend you research the "Green Bean Diet" of "Pumpkin Diet" for dogs. I have had amazing sustained weight loss with this diet for my Min Pin. Some would even say he is no longer fat!

I'll check out these diets. Thanks. He loves veggies.

ambitious01

I have a cocker spaniel who is seriously overweight. No hip bones there. I walk around my yard now that I get some exercise myself and get her to walk also. I walk to the bottom of the hill and I holler for her until she comes to me. I then pet her and go to the top and do the same thing. I also cut her off from table scraps and cheese-its.

findingme07

My Corgi was very overweight b/c we were feeding her the recommended amount of food on the dog food bag....those are inaccurate according to my vet. The baby now gets 1/4 C dog food twice a day and for several years we substituted 1/2 can low-salt cut green beans with each meal. She went from 44 lbs. to a cool 28 lbs. which is where she belongs. She had also torn her knee in the edging of a lawn between the lawn and the sidewalk, but with her weight loss she is doing so much better. She doesn't get any table scraps...they have too much salt and can be like poison in their little systems.

sarahkatara

My pup is not obese but she has had "weight problems" throughout her life. Every once in a while the vet has to put her on a special diet! I swear I have a yo-yo dieting dog, lol

I think it's FANTASTIC that you want to keep your best friend healthy and happy with you! The treadmill idea IS good if you have the money, but exactly what you said- multiple small walks to begin- is perfect. Every time YOU don't want to workout, tell yourself that Solomon needs you to get up and exercise! Use him as motivation! each week, set a new distance or time goal. Go a bit further each time and pretty soon, you and your big guy are going to be shedding pounds, combined with healthy diets, of course. Have you spoken to your vet to see how much./what type of food you should feed him? We found out that we were overfeeding my dog by about 1 cup of dog food per day. For a smaller dog (she's a mini schnauzer) that's pretty significant. I know Cockers aren't huge either, so definitely get clarification from the doc. Some of the mainstream dog foods claim to be healthy but actually have extremely limited nutrition in them. A big bag of quality dog food will run you more money but it should last longer, as you generally have to feed them less of it, and you know you're giving your pup the best. Oh- since he's working with a strained ACL, you may try letting him walk next to you in the grass versus on the sidewalk/street with you. The softer ground might be easier on his knees, letting him go further.

Good luck to you and Solomon! I hope you post again to let us know how you guys are progressing!

dawnp1833

I have an obese dog too. Her previous owner starved her, so now she is obsessed with food, guards her dish and gobbles down all the other dogs' food if she can. At first we let her because we felt bad, and she was too thin. Now we've got her on low-cal dog food. The vet is worried about her joints and she has trouble getting up sometimes. She can't walk far either, but we had to do it just like we would for a person - first she would walk a few houses down, then we made it to the corner. Her next goal is around the block without having to call my husband to come pick us up.
Also, I had a dog with a bad ACL. Dasuquin works great. Also we got Science Diet Healthy Mobility dog food, and I think it worked miracles.

VitaBailey

I've had good results getting my dog's weight down by switching her to a grain-free diet. I feed her Nature's Variety Instinct. I wish I could walk her as much as I used to, but her older age and arthritis makes it impossible. I do a few short walks a day to keep her moving... I just keep my eyes on her closely. Sometimes, even then I have to carry her home.

ironanimal

Yes, you could buy your dog a treadmill... Or get him a special diet which no carnivorous animal would ever eat...

Or maybe you could just go walking with him and stop feeding him so much?

My suggestion for a treadmill was made for the times when the dog would be sitting about at home. I guess you missed that Mr. Smarty Pants.

Gunnarbear

While I'm not currently working with an obese dog, I am a second-year vet student, so maybe I can give you some advice. Owners absolutely adore their pets, and frequently show this by giving their pooches treats, table scraps, keeping their bowls fed, etc... This not only packs the pounds on fast, but it can lead to conditions like pancreatitis, which can actually be a severe illness. The best thing that you can do for your pet is what you are doing for yourself: cut out the table scraps (these often contain way more sodium and fat than your puppy needs), limit the treats to one a day at the absolute max, and switch to a low calorie diet. The major pet food companies have created multiple diets that provide the perfect amount of nutrients for your pet. Once your pet starts shedding pounds, invest in a tennis ball and play with your dog for 15 minutes a day. Your arm muscles will thank you, and so will your pup!

*****The best advice****** :flowerforyou:

kmm7309

I have a dog that was overweight for two years. And then when I started losing weight, she started losing weight. How? I measured her food portions to what the bag recommended, changed her food to Purina Dog Chow (from Old Roy, and her coat is beautiful now too!), stopped with the unhealthy food scraps (but she does get to lick the plate clean, so she doesn't mind as much!), and mostly took her outside. She's an indoor dog. When I started playing tennis, because the tennis courts are fenced in, I brought her with me, an hour a night. She retrieves the stray balls for me, and I play fetch with her off and on. Her weight practically fell off from these simple changes!

Good luck to you!

tumblyweed

You made me smile today.

My chihuahua worked with me around children who would constantly feed him. Eventually, he lost his neck and was just a little wobbly sausage. What helped was going to the dog park and to dog beach. He hated it at first. He would hide behind me and growl (heh heh). Eventually, a brave dog would chase him and then gradually, he started chasing other dogs.

tumblyweed

I think this might be fairly common. Maybe you could start a group on here for owners and their little pork chops.

kalynn06

I spend a lot of my day gently telling people that their dogs or cats are overweight. This is a surprisingly uncomfortable conversation and many people get pretty defensive, so you have taken a big step . As with people, the best thing you can do is to find out how much your dog needs to eat and budget calories accordingly. There are multiple places with calorie formulas or you could ask your vet. I like to do calculations based on my estimate of lean body mass. The type of food you feed is based on personal preference, though feeding a complete and balanced diet is essential. There are some decent diet foods that allow your dog to have larger portions with fewer calories, but, like with people, you can also feed controlled amounts of regular food if that works for you. You do have to be very careful with measurements, though, because there is usually not a lot of margin for error between deficit, maintenance and surplus.

I like canned food for overweight pets, because it provides extra water and tends to make animals feel fuller, like eating soup rather than dry cereal. The important thing is to know the calorie content of your dog's food and to portion it out accordingly. If you feed treats or healthy table scraps, you need to budget those calories for your dog, just like for yourself. Adding exercise does help, but I'd go easy on your guy with his injury. Diet, like in people, is most important.

Reziel

I think Gunnarbear gave the best advice!

I think it's really great that you want your dog to lose weight too! My entire account is inspired by my dog Reziel. He's a Siberian Husky. Of course what I input into my food and exercise log is all about me.

Any whom, I think our dogs would get along. Just saying!

Good luck!

yourenotmine

I'm going to PM something to you.

krisiepoo

My poor pupper had elbow dysplasia surgery when he was 7 months old and undiagnosed hypothyroid for the next year after that. He was fat and in pain and I felt like a lousy owner.

I got him into water therapy and he started moving and losing weight and he LOVED it! We go swimming whenever possible, too, now that he's done with the therapy. See if you can getyour pup to swim.

Also, I foster for a golden rescue and if we have hugely obese dogs come in, we do 1/2 green beans, 1/2 kibble. So my dogs get approx 1.5 cups of kibble a day, if I wanted to get them to lsoe weight I would do .75 green beans, .75 kibble. They only get fruits and veg for treats, too.

Stick with it, a healthy dog will live longer and happier!

EAlexandraB

If you're currently free-feeding your dog (leaving food out all the time), switch to measuring his food and feeding him only once or twice daily at meal times. Leave the dish down for about 15 minutes, then put it away if he hasn't finished the meal. Leaving food out all the time means the dog gets to decide how much he eats, and dogs are notoriously bad at self-regulating food intake. (They're almost as bad as humans! :laugh: )

Make sure he's eating a high-quality dog food. This website has dog food reviews: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/ . Feed a 5 or 6 star dog food to ensure he's getting great nutrition.

If he's hungry all the time, bulking up his meals with raw green beans or canned pumpkin (plain, not pie filling) can help, as others have mentioned.

Your idea of short walks several times a day is a good one. As he slims down and his ACL recovers, some off-leash running would be excellent. If you're near a body of water, swimming would also be GREAT for him, since the water will take some of the load off of his knees.

Good luck to you and Solomon! :flowerforyou:

beekuzz

Swimming, a great idea and water therapy. I'll find a place that he can get that as well. So much good info from you folks.

Belladonna261

The BEST thing you can do for your pooch and to help with the ACL rupture is to get that weight off, the WORST thing you can do is is drop to a nutritionally unbalanced diet which will complicate the problem even furthur.
Gold standard solution: see your vet, there are many diets to help with this these days - high fibre, lower calorie and fat (to help keep your pup feeling full while dropping the calories) with feeding plans and often nurse support clinics.
Limit the snacking, or take some of the daily allowance out of the meals and use these for snacks. Remember a tiny piece of meat may be small to us but can be 20% of your dogs daily intake EASILY.
Replace the food rewards with time rewards, play, keep going with short lead walks, use your pooch to help you move more.
Good luck

somedaysoon84

I spend a lot of my day gently telling people that their dogs or cats are overweight. This is a surprisingly uncomfortable conversation and many people get pretty defensive, so you have taken a big step . .

you took the words out of my mouth!! i'm VT, and i am usually the first to mention sparky's weight gain from last year. people get very agnry about their pets weight, as they do with their own.

i have a show dog who messed up her ACL, it can happen to even the most in shape. while she was up and unable to excercise i cut her food, and limitted treats.

if you are weak, as most of us are, to scruffy's pouty "feed me from your plate" face, i suggest keeping some frozen green beans, baby carrots, or a few pieces of kibble beside your plate. you get to feed the dog, and the dog thinks he's eating from your plate. WIN WIN!

dog treats are super high in Kcals. milkbones are like scarfing a piece of cake for us. BUT basically anything that is good for us is good for them. fruits, veggies, yogurt, etc. mine really like cucumbers BTW....

canned food is a good option for fat dogs, it is MOSTLY water. stay away from the alpo gravy styles(motly fat) and stick with the brown moosh. you can try some of the senior diets, as they are lower in fat and higher in fiber.

also, if your dog is a nibbler, as they eat through the day.... start picking up their bowl 20 minutes after feeding time. and break meals up into 2-3 smaller meals. once the food is up you give no more until the next feeding. the dog will eat better, and snack less. dogs in the wild (feral, wild, or wolves) may not eat everyday. technically they don't HAVE to. and while i wouldn't say not to feed everyday, it wont hurt to miss a meal or two while you are working on the schedule. just don't feel guilty!!! dogs have survived with people by making us feel bad and want to take care of them. its in their genes to make us feel guilty.

swimming is great, but not everyone has the access. once the weight is off, go for walks. "road work" is the very best way to build muscle and tone, and is mostly what i do to keep my show dogs fit and trim.

diet and not caving in to "the face" is really what its about. its hard, and frankly, as with dieting for themselves, a great majority of people fail.

Josteyn

Yes, you could buy your dog a treadmill... Or get him a special diet which no carnivorous animal would ever eat...

Or maybe you could just go walking with him and stop feeding him so much?

My suggestion for a treadmill was made for the times when the dog would be sitting about at home. I guess you missed that Mr. Smarty Pants.

Nope, didn't miss it.

But the solution to the world's problems and this one in particular is not technology, nor a machine, but good old-fashioned WALKING which has the advantage that it runs off fat rather than oil/fuel/electricity and takes no more resources than a pair of shoes.

Maybe YOU are the one missing something in life, my dear.

3dogsrunning

If you're currently free-feeding your dog (leaving food out all the time), switch to measuring his food and feeding him only once or twice daily at meal times. Leave the dish down for about 15 minutes, then put it away if he hasn't finished the meal. Leaving food out all the time means the dog gets to decide how much he eats, and dogs are notoriously bad at self-regulating food intake. (They're almost as bad as humans! :laugh: )

Make sure he's eating a high-quality dog food. This website has dog food reviews: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/ . Feed a 5 or 6 star dog food to ensure he's getting great nutrition.

If he's hungry all the time, bulking up his meals with raw green beans or canned pumpkin (plain, not pie filling) can help, as others have mentioned.

Your idea of short walks several times a day is a good one. As he slims down and his ACL recovers, some off-leash running would be excellent. If you're near a body of water, swimming would also be GREAT for him, since the water will take some of the load off of his knees.

Good luck to you and Solomon! :flowerforyou:

Pretty much what I was going to say.
Although, the site provided is a suggestion, I don't quite consider it the be all end all. I am a fan of feeding affordable food your dog does well on, which may not be the "best" one on that site, but it's a good starting point.

3dogsrunning

I forgot to add, even of you don't want to schedule feed toucan still track how much per day you feed and limit it.

SherryTeach

Dogfoodanalysis.com is an excellent site to research quality foods. Practically every food on the market is rated with the nutritional analysis explained. I think my dog is worth feeding wholesome nutrients too. I expect her to be my companion for a long time. She is on Castor and Pollux Organix. Read the labels just like you do for your own food.

3dogsrunning

Dogfoodanalysis.com is an excellent site to research quality foods. Practically every food on the market is rated with the nutritional analysis explained. I think my dog is worth feeding wholesome nutrients too. I expect her to be my companion for a long time. She is on Castor and Pollux Organix. Read the labels just like you do for your own food.

But, as I understand it, is one person's opinion. Like everything else in life there are those with differing opinions. I have fed my dogs "superior" foods listed on the site and they have done better on some that were considered less superior. I don't disagree it is a great starting point and I also agree reading labels and understanding ingredients is key. Pair that with what works for your dog.