Weight Loss Tips

[kassidybc]

Chloe is about 5 pounds or so overweight. She gets a fair amount of physical and mental exercise (not an excessive amount, as we don't want to create a dog who requires tons and tons of excercise). She was eating 2-3 cups of food, twice a day. Since then, we have switched her from the Purina that she was on at that time, to Evo. We have worked her down to now getting 1/2 cup twice a day, with a big spoonful of 100 percent pumpkin so as to make her a bit more full. When we train, I deduct the amount of treats from the amount of food she is getting, so she gets the same calorie intake. We have been doing all of this for about 3 or 4 months, and she has only lost 1 pound. Is this a normal speed for losing weight? Since she is getting 4 or 5 cups of food less a day than she was a few months ago, I would have thought she would be losing weight a lot faster than that! Although I am glad she is making any progress at all, if you think that she is losing weight slower than she ought to, any tips would be appreciated!

 

[MissyBC]

I give Missy 1 cup of food per day:
1/2 cup in the morning and 1/2 cup at night - if we don't train at all but she gets lots of running...

If we train and she gets lots of running under her belt for that particular day I keep it the same.

If we train but she doesn't get as much running in, I normally change it to 1/2 cup in the morning and 1/4 cup at night. This is what her training facility told me to do.

She went from 45 pounds to 40 but I don't remember how long it took her.

She gets no pumpkin, only if we switch her food (rarely these days). She eats Taste of the Wild with Roasted Fowl. I plan to switch her food this month to something else to change it up a bit. - Either to Merrick or NOW! Fresh.

Hope this is helpful! Good luck!

 

[648117]

WOW, I'm amazed at the amount of food your dogs get.
Both Chloe and Missy only get a little more than my dogs!

Holly weighs 6.5kgs (14.3lbs) and gets 3/4 of a cup of dry food per day (half of that in the morning and half in the evening) she eats GO! Natural Dog Food. She is at a perfect weight for her.

I usually don't bother deducting training treats from her daily kibble amount (I would if she started to put on weight).
Then most evenings she gets some sort of "big treat" - a stuffed frozen kong (medium sized), or a pigs ear, or a dried beef rib or deer tendon.
The most she has ever weighed is 6.8kgs (when we first got Lewis she kept finishing his dinner for him).

Lewis gets the same daily food allowance and "big treat" as Holly (he weighs slightly less - about 5.9kg) minus most of the training treats (I don't train him much as he's my mums dog).

Lewis is taller than Holly but Holly is a lot more muscular and gets more exercise.

 

[Mutt]

What is a cup of food?
Both my dogs (labrador mixes, female, Boef, 30 kg and male, Mazzel, 35 kg, Boef is slightly higher than Mazzel) get slightly less than 1 cup of food (a fairly large measuring cup for dog food) per meal (2 times a day). They have large feeding bowls and with the amount of food they get we can just cover the bottow (1 layer). They get DogLoversGold.

They also get treats from training and also sometimes just for "free". I don't keep track of how much this is.

 

[brody_smom]

What is a cup of food?

A standard "cup" in US measurement is roughly equal to 250 ml. We use that term in Canada as well, even though we officially switched to the metric system in the 1970s.

 

[kassidybc]

Thanks for all the ideas! I will let you know how she is doing with her weight as time goes on! I'm still open to more ideas!

 

[brody_smom]

What does your vet say?

 

[kassidybc]

She says that Chloe is overweight and needs to loose a few pounds. Our herding instructor, who has owned border collies for years, gave us the 5 pound number.

 

[Mutt]

A standard "cup" in US measurement is roughly equal to 250 ml. We use that term in Canada as well, even though we officially switched to the metric system in the 1970s.

Okay
Though I meant more like how much is a 'cup', I thought of a measurement cup that often comes with dog food (in different sizes)

 

[sara]

Well, the best way to lose weight is exactly what you're doing, cut back on the amount of food. Slow weight loss is actually a good thing, you don't want her to lose weight too fast. However, instead of pumpkin, you could add in cooked veggies, though there's nothing wrong with pure pumpkin, however I do highly recommend variety in food. Feeding the same thing day after day is not very healthy. You could give her edible bony raw meals once or twice a week (like turkey necks) so she's getting protein, feels full, but doesn't get many calories. (bone works like fiber)

I'm very glad you got her off of Purina, but Evo has been having serious recall issues lately, and I wouldn't feed that either (though it's 100% better than Purina)

My 35lb Terrier put on a little weight the last few months, so he's dropped down to 3/4 of a cup twice a day, my 10lb Dachshund gets 1/2 cup 2x per day, my 9lb Dachshund gets 1/3 cup 2x per day. However, I do fast my dogs one meal once or twice a week. And when I do training I actually use their meal (I use kibble as training treats). I feed a major variety. I feed kibble, canned, raw, dehydrated, table scraps, sardines, etc. The foods I will feed are Champion (Orijen, Acana kibble), Horizon (Legacy, Pulsar, Amicus kibble), First Mate (canned and kibble), Fromm (canned and kibble), Tripette (canned), The Honest Kitchen (dehydrated), DNA (dehydrated), and Addiction (canned, dehydrated, kibble). The dogs and cat get something different every meal. In this way they get different vitamins and minerals, and their digestive systems have learned to tolerate a variety, and they don't get sick from anything.