Slowing down, and gaining weight fast

[Stacia]

Some dogs are what I call 'good doers' and Labs fall into that category. Rourke has two mugs of kibble a day with a sliver of wet food on the top, a tray will last me a few days. If he looks slightly fatter, I reduce the food a little, he is normally 30kg and rarely alters. My German Pointers, which were smaller dogs, had FOUR mugs a day each! They were not such 'good doers'! I feed to how the dogs look.

 

[snowbunny]

The very last thing I would be doing with an overweight and limping dog is agility type obstacles. Dogs should be lean and strong before doing these otherwise the impact and strain is horrific.

As the others have said, cut his food by a third, from the sounds of it that will still likely be more than he needs when he gets to his ideal weight. He’ll probably plateau at the new amount, at which point you cut it by a third again, and keep going until he reaches a good shape.

 

[Shamas mom]

I really appreciate all your inputs

I've started with a solid rule of 3feedings of 1cup each a day, no treats except the pill pockets. That's where we went bad----he was getting involved with training and getting treats.

I've got angel mostly weaned off treats now too

With treats out, it's easier to monitor food intake. I've gotten rid of the scoop I was using, which I found was a 2c scoop...so he's been getting four cups a day and less exercise plus treats. No wonder he packed it on!

The vets ruled out any health issues so getting his weight down should resolve the Mobility and breathing problems.

20lbs in 9m is a lot to gain and I'm not happy. He's always been a standard 68-72lbs. The whole time I have had him. 72 was of I was actively training using treats.

Thyroid is good, no diabetes, full blood panel shows good. So the problem is definitely weight...


Since cutting the portions per feeding, I've noticed that shamas is eating about 2/3 what he's given...he's not accustomed to having empty bowls and tends to leave a bit to graze on. Even if I give him less. So he is still self regulating his intake which is good.

Pre-puppy, he essentially free-fed because I'd measure out his breakfast and there'd still be food at supper. He only ate as needed. I'm sure the issue is treats.

 

[Shamas mom]

As we go on, I'll drop him to 2/3 cup per meal

 

[Boogie]

When I had pups Tatze still only had two meals a day with a kong at the pups’ extra meal times.

Two meals, one cup per meal, is plenty for an adult dog.

 

[Atemas]

You could cut his food down further by feeding only twice a day (3 times only necessary for a small puppy) and including any treats in his total daily allowance. That way it’s a win win for them - they still get some rewards but it’s not additional

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

including any treats in his total daily allowance.

This is a big deal for food-motivated dogs as it can add up to a lot. When he's working, Carbon gets more food because I've got his treat pouch on standby. I'm guilty of thinking of this as 'non-food' even though on a long day out, he can eat the equivalent of a meal.

This thread is very good for me realizing why Carbon is a little extra fluffy at the moment. First I lied to myself about his meal amount, now I realise that I don't count his treats.

@Shamas mom I don't think Carbon will thank you for opening this can of worms.

 

[Jacqui-S]

I remember discussing previously (on the old forum I think) about hand feeding
This is essentially where you don't use a food bowl at all, but use the food as a reward for training. So, the dog get a few bits of kibble every time they do something "wanted". Maybe a settle in the kitchen, or sit to get a collar on, or drop the sock they just pinched off the floor.
I think it may have been Heidrun that mentioned this, so possibly used a lot in working environments.
The dog still gets the same amount of food over the day, just in smaller quantities and the amount of treats used is smaller.....these are usually higher fat and calories and less healthy.

 

[Parodius]

I remember discussing previously (on the old forum I think) about hand feeding
This is essentially where you don't use a food bowl at all, but use the food as a reward for training. So, the dog get a few bits of kibble every time they do something "wanted". Maybe a settle in the kitchen, or sit to get a collar on, or drop the sock they just pinched off the floor.
I think it may have been Heidrun that mentioned this, so possibly used a lot in working environments.
The dog still gets the same amount of food over the day, just in smaller quantities and the amount of treats used is smaller.....these are usually higher fat and calories and less healthy.

We do a hybrid of this with Neo, I weigh his meals out then put about half for his bowl and the other half in a pot to reward his ‘good’ behaviours around the house and for snuffle mats etc. I tend to reserve the higher value, more fatty treats for when we are out and about as he is more distracted. I think it tends to work pretty well but I’m sure he would tell you he is hard done by!

 

[Candy]

We do a hybrid of this with Neo, I weigh his meals out then put about half for his bowl and the other half in a pot to reward his ‘good’ behaviours around the house and for snuffle mats etc. I tend to reserve the higher value, more fatty treats for when we are out and about as he is more distracted. I think it tends to work pretty well but I’m sure he would tell you he is hard done by!

That's what I did with Joy as a pup. It worked well and the vet was always happy with her weight. I'm quite careful about how much she has because she's slight for a Labrador.
Pee Ess, she also considers herself to be hard done by!

 

[SwampDonkey]

I just weigh it all then make up Kong's from each bowl.

 

[Shamas mom]

I remember discussing previously (on the old forum I think) about hand feeding
This is essentially where you don't use a food bowl at all, but use the food as a reward for training. So, the dog get a few bits of kibble every time they do something "wanted". Maybe a settle in the kitchen, or sit to get a collar on, or drop the sock they just pinched off the floor.
I think it may have been Heidrun that mentioned this, so possibly used a lot in working environments.
The dog still gets the same amount of food over the day, just in smaller quantities and the amount of treats used is smaller.....these are usually higher fat and calories and less healthy.

Ours would love that

I actually worked using hand feeding to help shamas with resource guarding. I'd sit with the bowl in my lap and hand feed both by turns

 

[Emily]

3 to 4 cups of food per day??? That sounds a MASSIVE amount to me, only suitable for a young, very active dog. Just give him 1/3 less, he won't notice and it will reduce his weight quite quickly.

Tatze is on two cups of senior food a day - one per meal. I use some of this for Kongs.

We feed Finn 2 small cups a day, much less then the brand says he should have

Eek, Ella gets 4 cups (standard measuring cups) of food per day, plus treats .

We worked out her food by trial and error but I've just looked at the bag and it's pretty much what they recommend. Maybe she has a high metabolism

She sits between 25-26kgs and doesn't fluctuate much

 

[Shamas mom]

Eek, Ella gets 4 cups (standard measuring cups) of food per day, plus treats .

We worked out her food by trial and error but I've just looked at the bag and it's pretty much what they recommend. Maybe she has a high metabolism

She sits between 25-26kgs and doesn't fluctuate much

I think it depends on the food. Over the years, I've noticed that lower end foods required that more be fed for the same benefit. One food was saying 4-5 cups for Shamas at 68lbs. I generally have him on foods that are calling on 3-4 cups, so I feel confident to feed 2-3. He's always eaten about 2/3 of the recommended amount according to the bag.

I also find that Dental food is more about the business of eating..because he's stopping to work on it, I think. He was never one to gulp his food, but he does take on air when he eats. Dental food is like chicken nugget sized pieces, and he takes time with it. it's larger cup requirement..but that's because bigger pieces. He's on 3- 4 cups of Dental, with a recommended 5-6 cups according to the chart. It's 274kcal/ME cup If I knew his requirements, I could break it down specificcally to kibble pieces, by counting how many kibble to a cup. i think it's about 10-15?

 

[Shamas mom]

Pet Calorie Calculator: Estimate How Much to Feed Your Dog or Cat | APOP — Association for Pet Obesity Prevention

Find out how many calories your dog or cat needs each day with our pet calorie calculator. APOP’s veterinary-approved tool helps you manage feeding, treats, and weight to keep your pet healthy.

petobesityprevention.org

Found this. So for target weight, it looks like I want to be feeding about 1050 calories. Which is 3.8 cups/ day of dental food

cut one cup, swap it for another brand of food for treats, and we should have a diet plan. the other food I have in the house is 386Kcal/cup. That's what I've been using for treats.

 

[snowbunny]

I would weigh the food rather than use volume - using cups is terribly inaccurate. And, whatever any calculator says, metabolic needs are very individual. At the end of the day, if your dog isn't losing weight, you're feeding too much, whatever the BMR (RER) calcs say. And as your dog loses weight, their requirement will decrease which means you have to keep on reducing the food in order to keep them losing weight.

 

[Boogie]

I would weigh the food rather than use volume - using cups is terribly inaccurate. And, whatever any calculator says, metabolic needs are very individual. At the end of the day, if your dog isn't losing weight, you're feeding too much, whatever the BMR (RER) calcs say. And as your dog loses weight, their requirement will decrease which means you have to keep on reducing the food in order to keep them losing weight.

Wise words.

For me personally my Tdee (total daily energy expenditure) calculator says I will lose weight on 2000 calories a day. Sadly not, that’s my calorie intake to maintain. I only lose on a consistent 1500 daily calories. Not fair not fair!

 

[Shamas mom]

I would weigh the food rather than use volume - using cups is terribly inaccurate. And, whatever any calculator says, metabolic needs are very individual. At the end of the day, if your dog isn't losing weight, you're feeding too much, whatever the BMR (RER) calcs say. And as your dog loses weight, their requirement will decrease which means you have to keep on reducing the food in order to keep them losing weight.

Shamas needs will be closer to 900 I suspect, based on his tendency to refuse walks. He's considered sedentary. If he were human, I'd say 1200-1500 on a 2000/day scale.

I like my dad's version of dieting, which is to measure out the daily food and remove some for each time Chloe eats anything not in her kibble container. She lost 25lbs