Is my dog fat??

Postby maberi » April 13th, 2010, 1:21 pm

PetieMarie22 wrote:No I wasn't measuring. She just ate when she was hungry. I gave her 1 cup last night, she ate it all. I gave her 1 cup this morning. She ate it, then looked at me. So I gave her a half cup more, but she walked away. So I picked it up and figured when I get home I'll give her a cup again. How much should she be getting? She's not on "high Quality" so I was thinking 2 1/2 - 3 cups.


It really depends on the dog and the food. I would probably start with 1 cup (or a little less) morning and night and go from there to see how she does. I base how much I feed on the way my dogs look, not their weight (funny enough their weight never fluctuates more than a lb when we visit the vet each year). To me dogs are no different than humans. Their activity level and metabolism is totally different across the board, so following guidelines on the side of a bag makes little sense to me (that is just me so go with what you are comfortable with). I also wouldn't base your amount on if she still seems hungry after she eats what is in the bowl. You'll end up with a hippo after she gets used to the new feeding schedule.

Kayden's natural weight is around 50 lbs (although fairly lean) and he gets around a 1/2 cup of high quality kibble in the morning and at night with some yogurt or cottage cheese. He also gets a kong with peanut butter in it in the morning before I leave. He get some treats during the day based on the training we are doing and I always give him snacks throughout the day when I am eating stuff, so that makes up for the lower amount of kibble.
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Postby Malli » April 13th, 2010, 1:25 pm

ya if I fed Oscar what he wanted to eat now (I used to free feed him and he kept himself lean but recently his metabolism seems to have slowed, I'll add that his thyroid has been tested), he'd eat probably 4-6 cups/day and weigh easily 90 lbs :shock:
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Postby amalie79 » April 13th, 2010, 1:40 pm

Their activity level and metabolism is totally different across the board, so following guidelines on the side of a bag makes little sense to me (that is just me so go with what you are comfortable with)


Not to mention the fact that many pet food brands (especially the mainstream ones) exaggerate the quantities needed. We've used Nature's Variety Prairie for a while, and I find that their online feeding calculator is very conservative-- even when compared to Innova's calculation, the caloric number is way lower. It was pretty accurate, as long as our pups were getting exercise. The winter months killed, us though. Right now, Robin's getting what they recommend for sedentary dogs (1 5/8 cup; I actually give 1 1/2 cups split between her food bowl and kongs), plus she gets a little peanut butter and yogurt in her Kong and treats throughout the day for training. Seems ok, since she's not exactly sedentary! We'll see how she does.

When they were on grain free (NV Instinct), their weight stayed very constant, but River had so much more energy than we could provide an outlet for that we stopped. Our older dog gets Pinnacle Duck and Potato-- it's not totally grain free, but pretty close (oats and quinoa are it) but it has the added advantage of only being 25% or so protein. We're thinking about switching everyone to it. The cats are on the Pinnacle Cat and have all been experiencing some much needed weight loss.

And making the switch from free-feeding was really hard for our older dog; he'd free-fed for 14 years! But he made the switch and I've been able to catch some health issues early because of it.
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Postby maberi » April 13th, 2010, 1:51 pm

Very good point

amalie79 wrote:Not to mention the fact that many pet food brands (especially the mainstream ones) exaggerate the quantities needed.
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Postby PetieMarie22 » April 13th, 2010, 2:43 pm

A few people have mentioned they feed their digs yogurt. That's new to me. Plain yogurt I'm assuming? For calcium? She may like some of that in her morning Kong.
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Postby Malli » April 13th, 2010, 2:45 pm

But, its a good starting point when you don't have a real gauge on it. :|

Its what I had to do. I had an idea of what Oscar ate, but we were giving him that, and he was chunky-monkey, so obviously it was too much. So I looked at the recom. food amount for his size on the bag, tried that for 2 weeks, and then adjusted. It worked really well, but I also weighed him fairly regularly to check for any minor unnoticeable progress. Sometimes, with a dog his size anyway, by the time I notice a change in weight its 5-10 lbs.
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Postby maberi » April 13th, 2010, 2:48 pm

PetieMarie22 wrote:A few people have mentioned they feed their digs yogurt. That's new to me. Plain yogurt I'm assuming? For calcium? She may like some of that in her morning Kong.



Same reason as for humans :wink: Good source of protein, calcium, probiotics (although the levels are questionable)

I use plain yogurt. It is usually much lower in sugar content than the "flavored" kinds
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Postby Rolex+Deebo » April 13th, 2010, 2:50 pm


I try to follow the same guidelines for myself...


LMAO oh my..I can think of about 3 things to say here..none of which would be appropriate for a g rated audience.

Guess we're the only ones that caught that. :P



Nope I got that too! LMFAO! :smileUp:
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Postby maberi » April 13th, 2010, 2:52 pm

Malli wrote:But, its a good starting point when you don't have a real gauge on it. :|


Yep, I guess I have been feeding dogs of different sizes for so many years I can't even remember the last time I looked at what the bag said to feed

Karma is 30 lbs and gets 1/3 of a cup
Kayden is 50 lbs and gets 1/2 of a cup
Earl is 70 and gets a little less than a cup
Manny came in at 69 (the shelter said he looked healthy but he was way too fat) and I put him on a little more than 1/2 a cup and he is now down to a healthy 62

I honestly could care less what they weigh. Same for myself. As long as I look healthy, feel healthy, have a high level of energy and a low amount of body fat, the scale means nothing (again, that is just me).
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Postby amalie79 » April 13th, 2010, 3:19 pm

But, its a good starting point when you don't have a real gauge on it. :|


Absolutely! We usually start there, too. And when I switch foods, I compare calories in new and old food; I know calories aren't the be-all-end-all, but they're another good place to start once you establish a baseline! :)

A few people have mentioned they feed their digs yogurt. That's new to me. Plain yogurt I'm assuming? For calcium? She may like some of that in her morning Kong.


I started using plain unsweetened (pref nonfat) yogurt because it is good for them and has that great tummy bacteria that everyone with 2 and 4 legs needs, but also because the amount of peanut butter it took to fill their kongs, even with the kibble, was contributing to the weight gain. When my husband worked irregular hours, the pups were rarely home alone for long stretches and kongs were a special treat; now he works more regular hours (like mine) and the kong is an absolute necessity. Mixing the yogurt with a teaspoon or so of peanut butter made it taste just as good, but reduced the calories and fat by a whole heckuva lot!

A nice bonus is that it freezes harder than the peanut butter alone and that means the kongs last longer while we're gone. I just mix it with some kibble and reduce their breakfasts and dinners by that much kibble. So far, they love it!

I'll probably also start mixing canned pumpkin with the yogurt sometimes, instead of PB; my oldest gets canned pumpkin every day since I have to keep him very regular, otherwise he has continence issues. I need him to empty himself out before I leave the house! But I also like to use it any time I switch foods or the pups get medicine; just helpful for waste management! 8) Plus, they love it! We even have a pumpkin time dance...er... Did I say that out loud? :oops:
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Postby dlynne1123 » April 17th, 2010, 2:39 pm

Also, if shes getting more treats for training, just cut back on the meals at the end of the day. Be sure to measure in the treats with the food, so the amount is still about the same. On days we train or do noseworks my girls won't barely touch their dinner so I stopped feeding it nights we go to training. The fill up on treats! Plus they get a lot of food for noseworks right now.
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Postby mnp13 » April 17th, 2010, 3:11 pm

How is the food switch going?
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Postby PetieMarie22 » April 19th, 2010, 11:44 am

It has been going well, thank you. On 4/14 I started giving her 1 cup in the AM and 1 1/2 cups in the PM of Earthborn Holistic - Primitive Natural, which is grain free. She has adapted well to an eating schedule and we have been using "meal time" to practice our sits, downs, and stays. She does seem to be looking for more food after she eats her meal, but I just call her out of the kitchen and she forgets about it. Snacks are for training - small square cut pieces of Am Cheese slices. Her treat is one or two peanut butter Kongs during the week.
I think her belly has shrunk a little, at least to my eye. I'd like to see a little more indentation in her waist area. We've been doing descent on the exercise, anywhere from 30-60 minutes about 5 days a week. Sometimes just playing in the yard with the sausage dog next door, but we have gone on a few good walks this week. (Did so awesome heeling on the trail she got a compliment. "Well behaved dog" :dance: )
Her #2's are harder. A little gas right after she eats, then nothing.
I'll take some pictures of her tonight and post them tomorrow to see if you guys can see some improvement. I'm seeing a little, but I'm giving it some more time. It's great that I took all those BEFORE pictures to compare.
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Postby PetieMarie22 » April 20th, 2010, 10:42 am

Here are some pictures of Petie after 5 days on her new food and scheduled feedings. I took these last night. I don't see much difference yet, but I haven't been doing it for that long.
Image
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Image
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Image
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Postby maberi » April 20th, 2010, 10:55 am

I love her markings!! 5 days really isn't that long, so I would continue on your schedule and cut more food if you don't see the results you are looking for.
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Postby amazincc » April 20th, 2010, 5:55 pm

She's VERY pretty! :)

How much cheese is she getting during training?
If she still seems hungry after her meals you can try adding some green beans (canned or frozen, unseasoned, salt-free)... they are filling, but very low in calories.
I agree... five days is not long enough to see a marked difference. :wink:
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Postby amazincc » April 20th, 2010, 5:56 pm

She's VERY pretty! :)

How much cheese is she getting during training?
If she still seems hungry after her meals you can try adding some green beans (canned or frozen, unseasoned, salt-free)... they are filling, but very low in calories.
I agree... five days is not long enough to see a marked difference. :wink:
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Postby madremissy » April 20th, 2010, 6:34 pm

Be careful with the peanut butter stuffed kongs. I used them to keep Kinzyl busy while studying this past winter and she is a bit chubby. We are working on that with no more kongs and chasing bubbles. :)
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Postby maberi » April 21st, 2010, 10:18 am

You might also want to think about investing in a weight pull harness for her. It is a great workout and an easy way to tire a dog out in 15-20 minutes. It will help to add some extra muscle on which will help her body burn fat faster in the long run as well. It looks like she already has some nice muscle under there and with that nice tight coat, her muscles will really pop. We are also planning on holding a weight pull class at DOTCORNY this summer so you would already have a head start :wink:
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Postby PetieMarie22 » April 21st, 2010, 10:53 am

I would like to get her into wieght pulling. I have to convince my boyfriend first. Last time it was mentioned he wasn't to into it. What ever. I'll try to get him to go down and watch a class. Maybe he'll like it once he sees it.
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