Diet

[GoldenRetrieverLover_01]

Has anyone ever had their dog overwheight? What did you do then. My dog is not fat or anything, we'd just like him to be slimmer. He gets 3 walks a day, and we stopped or are trying to stop feeding him treats. He's in pretty good shape, just could be slimmer. When we went to the vet when he was a puppy she said they should always have a nice tuck where his ribs are. Now he does not have much of a "tuck." Any ideas please post.

[Logan]

Your Buddy is still young and growing. We started fighting the "weight" battle with our Lilly (Golden Retriever) when she was about 18 months old. I have resorted to using "Light" food for all of mine, but all of mine are older than yours. My youngest is 5 (and that would be Lilly). I measure the food, carefully, giving them each about one cup in the morning, one cup in the evening and they sometimes share one can of food, between the four of them, to give them some variety.

Just ask your vet what you should be doing for Buddy. He might still be growing and nutrition is very important at this point for him.

Logan

[dragondawg]

The first step is to not follow the feeding instructions on the bag of dog food. Pet food manufacturers will usually recommend 3X the amount they should be given- after all it's their business!

You might try cutting him back to 1.75 cups of dog food per day. Still try to divide it in some way between two feedings. If he looks like he is ready to eat everything in sight, then add something benign like carrots to fill up the tummy. Once the dog is down to the desired weight, try increasing the food intake to 2 cups. If the dog continues to drop weight add more food. If it starts to gain it back, then go between 1.75 and 2 cups. Sooner or later you will find a range where just the addition or subtraction of a very small amount of food will affect the weight. Thus you can alter the amount depending on whether it's summer or winter.

Surprisingly enough I found exercise not to be effective in removing weight from a dog. I would exercise mine until I was exhausted, and she would ask for more exercise losing no weight in the process. But cutting back on the food amount did produce results.

[GoldenRetrieverLover_01]

Thanks to all of you for your help! buddy gets 3 walks a day, so I don't know if the excersice is helping him, and he gets 2 cups every morning of food, and then 2 cups for supper. We might try and cut down on his food sooner or later but for now, we're just giving him his normal. He still is a very young pup...like you guys mentioned. Thanks a lot!

[binka_nugget]

Kai used to get 1.5 cups of food a day. I've cut him down to 1 cup a day. He lost a couple pounds.

I did the same for Kaedyn. He's not overweight but he could stand to be a tad thinner.

[manda99]

Originally posted by dragondawg
The first step is to not follow the feeding instructions on the bag of dog food. Pet food manufacturers will usually recommend 3X the amount they should be given- after all it's their business!

OK, phew, I thought I was trippin this whole time. I'm reading the cans and bags thinking... WHAT?? I don't think so.

I stopped feeding Smokey bad people food/scraps/leftovers/etc and he lost weight very quickly. (Ok, ok, he still gets a fast food hamburger on special occasions like vet visits). And the weight loss was with reduced exercise interestingly enough.

So now his diet is - 2 feedings daily always 1 cup kibble and then either an egg or some plain yogurt or 1/2 small can wet food or some mixed veggies. Sometimes no extras, just the kibble. He does okay with that. He's still on restricted exercise and he hasn't gotten any fatter so I guess it's fine. And the vet is always telling me he looks good n healthy. Woo.

[Buddy Blaze Lover]

My last Border collie had weight problems too. Since he was really overweight, we went to the extreme--from 4 cups of dogfood a day to about 1 1/2. He lost weight fast! Then we got him on a regular diet, excericised him a lot and he was fine. Another thing is, if you can help it, don't give your dog *beef* dogfood. He'll gain weight fast, so rather use lamb and rice which has more nutrients in it. I give Blaze lamb and rice IAMS, and about 3 1/2 cups a day, plus excericise and play with him a lot, and he hardly gains a thing. It's much more healthy too!

[GoldenRetrieverLover_01]

Thanks everybody! Buddy used to get people food, but not any more. He just gets his own doggie food and he needs his excersice as well- he loves being outside as long as he's with someone, since he's a family dog.

[GoldenRetrieverLover_01]

The food we feed Buddy is called Canine Plus and it's made from chicken.

[K9soul]

I think goldens can be particularly prone to packing on a few extra pounds. I know I watch Tommy pretty carefully, but so far I think he's doing well. They are already a more bulky built breed than some, so I don't expect him to look as trim as my greyhound mix .

As for feeding, I tend to feed him 2 cups of a high quality food in the morning, and then he gets perhaps a dog biscuit and maybe a veggie treat in the evening. He seems to do really well on this regimen. I used to feed him a dinner but he seemed to start getting a little chunkier so I cut that out and he seems perfect now.

The only other thing to keep in mind is I also think goldens can be a bit more prone to thyroid disease, which can cause them to be overweight, but I doubt this as your Buddy is so young yet. If he got overweight and stayed that way despite exercise and cutting back on food, then I'd take him in and have the vet check his thyroid level.

Good luck!

[GoldenRetrieverLover_01]

Thanks to all of you! We're excercising Buddy more often, and he's not fat- we'd just like him to be more slimmer. We're not cutting down food yet, that kind of action does not need to be taken but thanks for the suggestions. And I don't think Buddy has that disease- he's not overweight after all. Thanks to everyone once again- keep posting!