# Fat Fat Dog help...



## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

My friend's dog is overweight. She's 3 years old she's had blood work done her thyroid has been checked everything is normal. But she can not get the weight off of her. She's currently eating Fromm Chicken A La Veg and she's eating 2 cups per day and still not losing a lb.

It's to the point where she has a hard time getting around, she's 3 years old and it's hard for her to sit, go up or down stairs, or even get up on furniture.

She's currently at 60lbs, I think she'd look good at 40lbs but her owner wants to get her to 55-50lbs...




























I think she could eat even less like 1-1.5 cups a day..


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

She'll just have to keep slowly cutting back on food. Exercise is also important, what type and how much exercise is the dog getting?

Often times just giving walks is not enough (and can be hard on an overweight dog). Getting the dog to run around the yard, chase a flirt pole, or just explore a local park off leash or on a long line would be really good.


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## Rvent (Apr 15, 2012)

if there is a place she can take her for an under water treadmill, it would be perfect its low impact. or even a few short walks a day....Macy is 12 and over weight I try and take her for at least 2 30 min walks a day and a few trips around our property (running every so often).


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

She walks everyday and they have another dog but she's not much of a runner. I think it's hard on her joints, she has no stamina, she'll run for a minute then stop...


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

2 cups is too much if her ideal weight is 45-50, I would say she should be eating 1-1.5 cups. If your friend wants faster results, I had success with wellness core reduced fat when Uno got chunky. Although once the dog loses the weight, I would not feed it long term since it can lead to dry coat and lack of energy due to low fat.


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

Tess didn't loose weight on that food lol. And she didn't like it. But hey it may be worth a try. They were feeding them beneful and after the vet told my friend to feed Science Diet, I took control of the food situation. That's why she feeds Fromm now. She's been overwieght for at least 2 years and nothing seems to help. I believe they can reduce the food but I think that makes them nervous. I'll tell her to drop her down to at least 1.5 cups a day and see how that goes. If that doesn't work I'll suggest another food change..


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

I would cut the food in half. Mikey's ideal weight is 40 lbs and he was eating 1 cup a day and STILL holding on to 5 lbs.


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## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

Ok my old girl wasn't anywhere near that fat but she has always had a hard time losing weight on kibble, she is 45 pounds and I usually fed her 3/4-1 cup of food a day, even with that she was a few pounds overweight, it's actually why we switched to raw because with her knees I just can't have her fat. We didn't try any "diet" foods but we went through 4-5 different kibbles over the years, I just didn't want to feed some full of filler junk and I couldn't cut her back anymore. Now she is a better weight and gets to eat.


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## Jacksons Mom (Jun 13, 2010)

Fromm has a new weight mgt. food you could suggest. I do agree it sounds like over-feeding a bit still.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (May 19, 2009)

Many golden people have had luck with the 10 cals per every desired 10 lbs of body weight. Ideal weight = 50 lbs would equal 500 cals/day. If they act like they're starving, you can add in some green beans ( I used to buy the frozen ones at Sams. Just make sure there is no added sodium). Exercise is needed too, but with one so overweight, she should go slowly and build up her endurance. Just like with humans it's calories in versus calories expended.

Ribs should be easily felt along the spine in a correctly weighted dog with a waist tuck. Somewhere Purina has a good chart showing underweight, ideal weight and overweight examples.

Here's the chart http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/dogweight.html


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

How to cals and kcals relate. The food she's on is 393 kcals/cup...


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## Roo (Oct 17, 2010)

What if you cut the lowered amount of dry food even more by adding in some plain boiled meat (chicken, or beef, etc.)? That way you cut the carb amount in the dry food even more, but keep the protein high so the dog won't loose muscle mass to help support the joints. Also I thought I read somewhere that coconut oil helps with weight loss, but I'm not sure. My dogs had problems with weight loss till we switched to raw, even feeding less didn't seem to help much.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (May 19, 2009)

Kcals are equal to calories. cal vs kcal


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

So she should be eating 1.25 cups per day...I'll see if I can get her to add meat to her food.


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## Shamrockmommy (Sep 10, 2009)

Fromm really packs the weight on. The feeding guidelines are WAY< WAY off! (IME) 
My echo was eating 1 cup twice a day and looked as fat as your friends dog. 

She now gets 1/2 cup twice a day with lots of water, and a tablespoon of their canned and she is finally dropping weight.

I have not noticed her being hungry inbetween meals either, and her stools are much better, not so squooshy. I've cut her back to these amounts just last week and today I'm noticing less neck rolls and side rolls.

HTH
TIffani


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

lauren43 said:


> How to cals and kcals relate. The food she's on is 393 kcals/cup...


And how much of those 3.9kcal/g are contributed by the; 3. Pearled Barley - 4. Oatmeal - 5. Sweet Potatoes - 6. Brown Rice - 7. White Rice ...


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## Georgiapeach (Jan 24, 2011)

Unosmom said:


> 2 cups is too much if her ideal weight is 45-50, I would say she should be eating 1-1.5 cups. If your friend wants faster results, I had success with wellness core reduced fat when Uno got chunky. Although once the dog loses the weight, I would not feed it long term since it can lead to dry coat and lack of energy due to low fat.


I helped my MIL's cockapoo go from 28 obese pounds to her proper 14-15 pounds (per vet recommendation), feeding Wellness Core reduced fat. I recommend this kibble. Of course, consistent exercise is key, too. Start small and increase the amount as able. My MIL's dog could barely walk around the block at first, but worked up to walks of 3 miles, plus playing fetch in the course of her weight loss time (7-8 months). You don't want the dog to lose too fast; it's not healthy to crash diet.



lauren43 said:


> Tess didn't loose weight on that food lol. And she didn't like it. But hey it may be worth a try. They were feeding them beneful and after the vet told my friend to feed Science Diet, I took control of the food situation. That's why she feeds Fromm now. She's been overwieght for at least 2 years and nothing seems to help. I believe they can reduce the food but I think that makes them nervous. I'll tell her to drop her down to at least 1.5 cups a day and see how that goes. If that doesn't work I'll suggest another food change..


Make sure the dog is being fed the amount for the weight it SHOULD be, not the weight it is now, or you won't have success. My MIL's dog wouldn't eat the kibble at first either - she ate NOTHING for the first 3 days we had her. She had been used to eating as much fresh boiled chicken as her heart desired daily (and she obviously enjoyed a LOT of it) and as many Milk Bones as she could stuff down her throat - ugh! After the third day at our house, she dived into the food like a newly released concentration camp survivor - lol! We added a little water to wet the kibble (to help increase the kibble's aroma). We also added 3-4 baby carrots and a couple of tablespoons of no salt green beans for filling fiber in her evening meal (she also refused these at first, but hunger won her over after a few days). In addition, we added a fish oil capsule daily - helps heart and skin (human quality - they're cheaper - look for BOGO deals and sales). 

I also recommend dividing the total ration into two feedings daily. It makes the dog happier to be fed more often, and it helps increase the dog's metabolism, like it does a human (smaller, more frequent meals). I feed all my dogs like this, whether on a diet or not - meal times are happy times!


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

DaViking said:


> And how much of those 3.9kcal/g are contributed by the; 3. Pearled Barley - 4. Oatmeal - 5. Sweet Potatoes - 6. Brown Rice - 7. White Rice ...


What food would you suggest?

@Georgiapeach she eats twice a day


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

Also, does she get a lot of treats and how big are they? People tend to feed treats that are WAY too big, thumb nail sized is good.


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## Georgiapeach (Jan 24, 2011)

Maxy24 said:


> Also, does she get a lot of treats and how big are they? People tend to feed treats that are WAY too big, thumb nail sized is good.


Baby carrots, blueberries, small pieces of watermelon (in season, of course), and very small pieces of apples are good (and not too many of them). Again, hunger will make the dog more receptive to healthy treats.


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

Maxy24 said:


> Also, does she get a lot of treats and how big are they? People tend to feed treats that are WAY too big, thumb nail sized is good.


She's only allowed one treat per day, not sure what size they buy but I'm pretty sure they are your average milkbone


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## Savage Destiny (Mar 16, 2011)

That poor dog needs to lose at least 20 pounds. If not more. Losing 10lbs on that dog will still result in a fat dog, and she'll still have a hard time on her poor joints. I know it's tough for the owners to realize that, but they HAVE to. I had to learn the hard way with Riddle after she tore her first ACL. Her surgeon was very frank with me about the weight she needed to lose. I didn't even realize she was fat, let alone obese, but she was. 

This was Riddle at 68lbs: 


















She doesn't look THAT fat. Now, however, she looks like this: 









I weighed her tonight, actually, and she's 51.5lbs. She lost 16.5lbs, and she doesn't even look all that different from before. Her fat pictures aren't even close to your friend's dog's fat level. They need to come to terms with what a severe health issue this is. 

Personally, I'd be feeding her no more than 1.25 cups per day. If she's hungry, they can throw some baby carrots or green beans on her food to bulk it out. They can soak her food in water until it expands so she feels more full. Or they can just make her deal with it. Riddle doesn't act any more starving now than she did when she was 16lbs overweight. 

I really hope your friends can understand the reality of this and get the weight off that girl.


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## Kassandra (Jun 6, 2012)

I didn't read all the comments, forgive me if someone has already mentioned this!

When we get really fat dogs at the shelter, we chop up some veggies and add it to their kibble. It makes them feel fuller with no extra calories since they can't digest them. Surprisingly, a lot of the dogs we get are way too overweight than underweight. Adding the veggies to their kibble (while reducing the amount of kibble) really seems to help. Some of the dogs would beg for more food after they ate which I get is understandable as they are dogs and do like to eat, but after cutting down the amount of kibble and adding in some chopped veggies they stopped begging because I guess they felt fuller. 

Exercise is also pretty important. A lot of these extremely overweight dogs we get can only go out for a 10 minute walk before they get so tired they need to take breaks. It is really hard on their joints to be so excessively fat. The thing is to always keep them moving. Let them explore, chase a ball, play tug. It doesn't have to be a ton of hard exercise that you would give a super active lean skinny dog but there needs to be something there that keeps their heart rate up. Even just getting them super excited can do a lot for them. 

I hope this poor girl can get the weight off, it's such a sin to see a young, otherwise healthy dog so fat and the weight will start to cause other problems for her. :frown:


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

lauren43 said:


> What food would you suggest?
> 
> @Georgiapeach she eats twice a day


First and foremost various physical activities that agrees with her body as she looses weight. Then look for food high in protein, low in fat and more fiber than the normal ~3%. This is one of the (few) cases where concentrated plant protein products like pea protein or corn gluten meal could make sense. Stay away from formulas that blindly just reduces the calories without paying attention to the protein level. In a weight loss formula I am looking for something like 28% - 32% protein, 7% - 12% fat and 4% to 6% fiber plus L-carnitine. Victor Healthy Weight and Nutram Weight Control are two good options. Look for these or foods with a similar profile.


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

DaViking said:


> First and foremost various physical activities that agrees with her body as she looses weight. Then look for food high in protein, low in fat and more fiber than the normal ~3%. This is one of the (few) cases where concentrated plant protein products like pea protein or corn gluten meal could make sense. Stay away from formulas that blindly just reduces the calories without paying attention to the protein level. In a weight loss formula I am looking for something like 28% - 32% protein, 7% - 12% fat and 4% to 6% fiber plus L-carnitine. Victor Healthy Weight and Nutram Weight Control are two good options. Look for these or foods with a similar profile.


So in this case you think she would actually benefit from a weight-loss food? I know many ppl say to pick a food and then just feed less of it, but do you feel there are more benefits to a weight loss formula, as long as the protein levels are reasonable?


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

lauren43 said:


> So in this case you think she would actually benefit from a weight-loss food? I know many ppl say to pick a food and then just feed less of it, but do you feel there are more benefits to a weight loss formula, as long as the protein levels are reasonable?


Where the energy comes from does matter. To continue the argument Victor have on their website. Feeding less "pasta" will reduce the calories but you would still be eating "pasta" and now even less proteins will come from whatever meat is served with the "pasta" since the meat portion is slashed in half too. In other words, feeding half of what is not a great food in the first place is not a good solution in my opinion. The two pillars of weight loss in dogs are physical activities and a diet that supports whatever physical activity that make sense for the individual dog. Barring any medical issues, an obese dog will start to burn it's own fat as soon as physical activities start. Don't replenish that fat with more fat, feed more proteins instead to support healthy muscle development. An obese dog can not right of the bat start with extreme fat shedding activities so it needs help from the diet.


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

A few years back, we adopted a dog who should have weighed about 25 pounds but weighed 43.7 pounds. We used Wellness Core's reduced fat food, feeding her the amount of food for what she *should* have weighed. We only used a few carrots, more free beans for treats, except for special occasions where she got one Buddy Biscuit. Good luck!


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