Overweight Dogs

MericoX

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#1
For anyone that's had to slim a dog down, how did you go about doing it?

My little foster is on a diet, she's getting 3/4 cup of ToTW grain-free a day (just switched her to grain-free today due to her skin infection), a very small handful of green beans in the evenings, and two cookies per day. We haven't done much for increased exercise as I'm having to train her to walk on a leash, but she does get to stay out in the play yards on the days I take her to work for her bath. She seems smaller in the two weeks I've been fostering her (at intake she was 16 pounds but I'm not sure if that's entirely correct).
 

MicksMom

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#2
My grandmother's Toy Poodle was overweight when we took her (after my grandmother passed away). She came to us weighing right around 15 pounds if I remember right. She looked like a little barrel on legs. I had no clue how much food she had been getting a day because my grandmother not only kept her dish full of dry food, she also fed some canned food every day, so I started with 2/3 cup a day and no canned. My vet thought that was too much, and suggested gradually cutting back to 1/3 C. The only regularly scheduled treats I gave were at bedtime. I found out that the charcoal flavored ones had little to no calories, so that's what she got (not sure if they still make them). Within 2 months she was down to 12 pounds, which was only a pound over where my vet wanted to see her.
 

*blackrose

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#3
I've just always cut back on food and eliminated treats. I did switch Chloe to a lower calorie food to help her maintain her weight, but that was all!

And by eliminate treats, I mean they would maybe get a cookie every other day or so. I don't really give my dogs a lot of treats outside of training. Lol

Chloe got up to about 53 pounds and I wanted her at 45. She was eating 1 cup daily to keep her weight where I wanted it. (She's also inactive.) Gracie was around 14 pounds, and she was eating 2/3 cup daily to keep her at/around 11 pounds.
 

Saeleofu

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#4
Cut back food is all I really do. Gavroche was down to 3/4 cup of TOTW a day (at 67 pounds) and still gaining when I convinced the vet to check his T4. So, I guess in his case Soloxine for weight loss lol. (He now eats 2 cups a day and maintains nicely.)
 

noludoru

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#5
I've just always cut back on food and eliminated treats. I did switch Chloe to a lower calorie food to help her maintain her weight, but that was all!
I made Middie work for his food - kibble turned into treats. I encouraged chewing on things and drinking water, but he never appears hungrier than at any other time.

He's on a diet right now - 2-1/2 cups of kibble is offered to him at mealtime, and if he doesn't eat it then, the food is picked up and offered again in 12 hours. If he doesn't eat I'm not going to get overly upset about it - the food is there for 20 minutes and it's his choice. If he wants something else, too bad.
 

frostfell

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#6
i wish i could make either of my dogs fat :( esp the baby. she would look more "bully" and be taken more seriously if she was a little plump. alas, the wench has the natural body of an ADBA Nationals winner.
First World Problems?
First World Problems.
 

frostfell

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#7
i wish i could make either of my dogs fat :( esp the baby. she would look more "bully" and be taken more seriously if she was a little plump. alas, the wench has the natural body of an ADBA Nationals winner.
First World Problems?
First World Problems.
wow im not helpful at all

high protein food, smaller portions, lots of cardio work? (trotting)
 

Southpaw

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#8
I had an easy time with Happy. I guess it depends on what made them overweight in the first place. In her case she was simply just fed too much. Her foster said she gave her like 1.5cup a day + meat + veggies + treats and I just.... give her 1.5c a day of kibble. Done. lol. I take her for walks too, I don't know if her foster did... they're not like, vigorous walks or anything although we do occasionally do longer ones, plus I play with her and sometimes she plays with Juno.

She was 44.5# when I got her and now she is 37#.
 

MericoX

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#9
I had an easy time with Happy. I guess it depends on what made them overweight in the first place. In her case she was simply just fed too much. Her foster said she gave her like 1.5cup a day + meat + veggies + treats and I just.... give her 1.5c a day of kibble. Done. lol. I take her for walks too, I don't know if her foster did... they're not like, vigorous walks or anything although we do occasionally do longer ones, plus I play with her and sometimes she plays with Juno.

She was 44.5# when I got her and now she is 37#.
I think a lot of her weight will drop with just diet alone. We don't know much about her past, as her owner died and a relative was looking after her. We do know that at one point they were feeding her cat food because they didn't want to go out and buy dog food since they didn't want her anyways.
 

JacksonsMom

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#10
Jackson is an athletic 17lbs or so, and he gets 1/2 cup per day of kibble (Acana). He also gets some canned food, treats, and the occasional chew mixed in (dentastix, bully sticks, etc), so I try to account those for his calorie intake as well. But I would think 3/4 would be too much for a 16lb dog trying to lose weight. Maybe try lowering the amount.
 
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#11
With my Golden,I dropped the food intake,by 1/2 a cup and increased exercise.
Replaced any treats,with toys which she loved.
 

Dizzy

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#12
Cut back on food and increase exercise.

Bodhi put weight on when we switched to raw. Its too hard to divide the packs up more than half so she gets a full pack one day (am and pm) and half a pack the next day (am and a TINY handful of biscuits in her bowl when Fred gets fed pm).

Also monitoring treats as that can increase without you really realising.
 
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#13
I'm trying to get Angel back to her high school weight, and I'm mostly reducing food quantity. She used to eat two cups of Earthborn Primitive Naturals with a half can of wet food (various brands). She's now on 1/4 can of Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul Senior and she gets 2/3c of the Earthborn dry. This sounds like a drastic reduction, but she usually grabs a couple of mouthfulls of Lucy's dinner (same foods, but Lucy gets a full cup).

Everything I've read about weight loss says that the important thing is to avoid EXCESSIVE fiber and carb fillers. High protein but lower fat content seems to be the way to go, as well as just general volume reduction. If your dog doesn't lose weight, you might want to have thyroid checked but give a reduced diet + exercise a few months to see effects.
 

MericoX

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#14
Her first weigh-in last week she had gained 0.1 lbs and was up to 14.3.

Today's weigh-in she was at 13.8 and you can see an inkling of a waist. I dropped her to 1/3 of a cup a day as she is also getting a little bit more extra treats (though small) to reward her going up/down stairs and going outside on her own.
 

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