Weight Loss in dogs?

darkchild16

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#1
We got our girls a beagle as an early Christmas gift. She weighed 28 lbs when we picked her up (Sept) Shes been here about 6 weeks and we got 4 lbs off. Now we are stuck around 24. She came to us on Pedigree Weight Loss and switched her to Fromm 4 star whitefish. We plan to switch all our dogs over to raw after Christmas (shes the 2nd and we are getting a 3rd in Jan). How should I get her to lose more of this weight? I have never had to make a dog lose weight. The 4 lbs was 1 cup a day with VERY limited dehydrated organ treats. We have taken her down to about 3/4c a day and kept her on those treats with no improvement.

Also shes a 13 inch beagle about where should I expect her weight to be?
 

Dekka

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#2
I don't know about beagles that much. Other than meeting friends hunting dogs.. and they often aren't pure beagle.

Kaiden, however was a very solidly built, cobby, JRT who was just over 13 inches. Muscled and trim he weighted about 16 pounds.

Some dogs just need to eat less. The raw should help, I found fat or skinny fosters looked a lot better after a week of raw or very high protein kibble. Kaiden got about 1 cup of high quality kibble a day and he was really active. Maybe go down a bit more? Even if one cup is where her maintenance is she will need to eat less to lose.
 
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darkchild16

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#3
Oh we know she needs to lose more. We took her down to a half filled 1/2c measuring cup twice a day. I need to go buy her a new bag of kibble and will be doing another upgrade. Shes ALOT more active and energetic since that weight came off but she still resembles a table somewhat.
 

milos_mommy

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I think like with people, the weight can come off fast at first and then plateau. If she's still losing, just more slowly, I'd keep it where you are. If she's just not lost any weight in a few weeks, reduce it more. It sounds like she's getting a half cup a day split into two feedings? That sounds typical of a moderately active dog that size on a quality food, but if she's got a slow metabolism she may need even around half that to lose (this is based on my feeding of boarding dogs).


If you need to cut her calories more and she's still acting hungry, try feeding some high fiber addition like green beans, pumpkin, etc.
 

darkchild16

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#6
Shes been at that weight for a few weeks now. The 4 pounds came off in like 2 weeks. Its around a 1/2 cup a day I don't measure it out exactly because I keep forgetting to go buy more measuring cups LOL. I think Im going to look for a higher protein better food this week. We were trying not to shock her too fast because she has other issues besides the weight and I didnt want to try and bathe a scared dog and she can knock the girls over trying to bathe her.
 

PlottMom

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I'm no help (I'm only good at taking weight off with raw, we got our Pom obese and he stays pretty trim on raw), but she is soooo cute!
 

darkchild16

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#8
I might switch her before. What is a good chicken cut for her size? We feed Krypto (GSD) drumsticks would that work for her or would wings be more appropriate.
 

PlottMom

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I would say yes on the drumsticks, as long as she doesn't inhale them whole (Dais once did that to an entire quarter...). For a while we were feeding Bruce 1/3c instinct raw bites in the AM and a drumstick at night - he should only be around 11.5lb so that started to make him fat, but you won't be looking to get her quite that small so I'd think drumsticks would be a good place to start.
 

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