HELP!! I have turned my dog into a chubba.

[madremissy]

Not making any excuses and I have been noticing this for a while but now I am really worried since nothing is helping.

Kinzyl is a lard ass. Not just a lard ass but fat. Her food is TOTW. She used to get 2 1/2 cups a day at 5:00pm everyday.
In order for me to get any studying done at night I give her Kongs, which is the only toy that keeps her busy for at least 30 to 40 minutes. I do some clicker stuff to stimulate her mind. I use the low fat treats by Natural Balance. Break them up into little bitty peices.
Kongs are stuffed with peanut butter. I cut back on the amount I put in and added bananas, low fat treats to fill them up more. I know have 2 Kongs and 2 hollow marrow bones. I make them up all at once and freeze them.
We no longer have been able to walk like we were last year due to so many off leash dogs here in the country. We both have suffered from it.
I have started at the gym and if they would let me bring her I would put her on the treadmill next to me but there are some clients there that I think would freak out.

The changes I have made. I started feeding them in the morning and at night. Take have the what I give her and divide it. I have been putting in canned vegetables. I know not the best but I all I have.

Tonight, Travis and I found a nice place behind the new church down the road from us. It has a walking track and huge feilds all around. No one was there tonight and I don't think that it is that busy. I will try to take her there as much as possible permitting my schedule for school, gym, clinicals and studying.

Yes, I feel like a bad mom for not noticing sooner. I was taking pictures of her laying int he bed the other night and I noticed how much weight she has gained.

I have forbidden Travis to give her any "extra" treats except for the low fat and he is allowed to give her ice cubes.

I can not do raw. I need a low cost, time saving way to make a low fat filling for her kongs and bones so that I can study without her driving me and Sammy crazy. Yes, she makes it a point of driving me insane when I sit down to study.

It has been so cold lately, I have been sick and my yard is a huge mud puddle. I am not trying to make excuses but now that I am aware I am going to try to do what I can to fix this problem.

I need advice Please!!! Sorry this is so choppy. Just writing what came to mind as I thought of it.

Yes, I have googled and searched. I have found yogurt but it says that dogs shouldn't have that much yogurt. I need enough things to fill up a Kong. I have to have her something to do every night. She is not into any other toys. She will not play fetch. She just loves to walk.......
thanks for listening to me ramble.

[Jenn]

Put her evening meal in her kong, or one of those trick/figure it out things?? That way she is busy, & eating..

[hugapitbull]

Trouble's diet will take it off, but you have to mix it. Not real time consuming and always the same thing.

Just an observation - many kibbles make them porky. Duke is on TOTW and is really porking out. I've just cut him back on the kibble and am adding some of Trouble's food . He gets about 1 1/2 c of kibble. I have no doubt the Natural Balance kibble is what poured the pounds on Trouble.

[pitbullmamaliz]

I agree with Jenn - stuff her Kongs with her dinner. Put a smidge of peanut butter into the small hole of the Kong to stop it up, and then put some fat-free or low-fat yogurt (which is MUCH healthier than the peanut butter), mixed with her kibble, into the Kong. Do it in advance so it can be frozen.

[madremissy]

Shanna you gave me the recipie for that before. I have to keep this cheap and easy for everyone. Yes, I guess I am lazy. I like the TOTW, especially for Sammy's skin. Kinzyl's coat is gorgeous but she is getting huge. She has never been the leanest dog in the world but she and Travis are looking like twins with their bellies.

[pitbullmamaliz]

I forgot to ask how much she weighs? Inara weighs 46 lbs and gets 1 1/2 cups of the TOTW daily...I add some hot water to it to fill her up a bit more and make it gravy-ish.

[madremissy]

I agree with Jenn - stuff her Kongs with her dinner. Put a smidge of peanut butter into the small hole of the Kong to stop it up, and then put some fat-free or low-fat yogurt (which is MUCH healthier than the peanut butter), mixed with her kibble, into the Kong. Do it in advance so it can be frozen.

So the amount of yogurt it takes to keep the food in the kong will not hurt her to eat everyday? I would love to cut way back on the peanut butter.

I have no idea how much she weighs now. The last vet vist was 62lb. I do add warm water to the kibble. I always thought it would fill them up.

[pitbullmamaliz]

Where'd you read that yogurt is bad? PB is bad in large amounts because it has a tendency to cause pancreatitis due to the fat content. But I've only ever read wonderful things about yogurt.

You should aim to feed her for the weight you WANT her to be, not where she is now.

[madremissy]

Where'd you read that yogurt is bad? PB is bad in large amounts because it has a tendency to cause pancreatitis due to the fat content. But I've only ever read wonderful things about yogurt.

You should aim to feed her for the weight you WANT her to be, not where she is now.

I was reading that large amounts of yogurt so it should only be 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons a day in their food.

I want her to be 50 lbs. But she is only getting 2 1/2 cups a day. It says for 40-60 adult dog to feed 2 1/3 to 3 1/2 cups a day

Is it like a human and she is adding weight because I was only feeding her once a day and not enough????

I don't mean to be stupid but it seems the more I try to fatter she gets.

[Jenn]

That is a RECOMMENDATION on the bag, as I was told a long time ago. It isn't the "rule", reduce her food to 2 cups, 1 in the morn, 1 in the evening.

[pitsnok]

Yes that seems like a lot of food for her ideal size/weight. At my house we feed TOTW and Harlow (40lbs) and Boss (~55lbs) get about 1 1/2 cups a day, Degan (70lbs) and Ollie (~50) get probably around 2 1/4 a day... So really it just depends on the dog. We were feeding Boss and Ollie the same amount and Boss slimmed up to a really nice size, but Ollie got skinny. Now that we have upped his to around what Degan gets he is adding more weight. Harlow and Ollie are also our more hyper ones. Boss is REALLY lazy and Degan is chill with the exception of occasional zoomies and some springpole work.

It'll work out! Maybe start using kibble as treats instead of treats?

[madremissy]

That is a RECOMMENDATION on the bag, as I was told a long time ago. It isn't the "rule", reduce her food to 2 cups, 1 in the morn, 1 in the evening.

Well I didn't know that rule...

I am going to try that. One cup in the morning and 1 cup in her Kong at night with the yogurt and freeze them.

Now, any other LOW FAT kong stuffings. Also, are carrotts and peas good for them. I have soooo many little cans left over from Mckinlee being here. I don't eat those nasty things so could I put those in the kong?

She sleeps all day... and then at night her and Sammy play for a little while. So it is not like she is miss active. She is just miss PITA when it comes time for me to study.

[pitbullmamaliz]

I know carrots are fine, not sure why peas wouldn't be. Canned pumpkin (not the pie mix) is also a very healthy, low-fat Kong stuffer.

[madremissy]

I know carrots are fine, not sure why peas wouldn't be. Canned pumpkin (not the pie mix) is also a very healthy, low-fat Kong stuffer.

Those little nasty green peas.

I guess she knows we are talking about her because now she is grabbing her blankets off the couch and is trying to shred them

[BigDogBuford]

Buford is about 90lbs and only gets a cup and a half of kibble per day. He's a couch surfer so he doesn't need much to keep him going!

[madremissy]

Buford is about 90lbs and only gets a cup and a half of kibble per day. He's a couch surfer so he doesn't need much to keep him going!

I guess she is going on a serious diet. Now to retrain Travis on how many scoops.

Jeanine, Does he is once a day?

[madremissy]

Here are some pictures of the fat ass, err I mean princess.

Her tummy is pudgy.


She is content to lay outside in the sun.


This is what she does most of the day.

[Jenn]

awww she's just enjoying the good life!

I didn't know that rule either

[mnp13]

I agree with the others - fill her kongs with plain fat-free yogurt and veggies and her dinner.

Feeding her once a day is not making her fat, over feeding her is making her fat. No worries, we've all done it. And I would stick with once a day personally, if you cut her food back and freeze it into the kong, it will take a while for her to eat it, giving you plenty of time for studying!

[madremissy]

I agree with the others - fill her kongs with plain fat-free yogurt and veggies and her dinner.

Feeding her once a day is not making her fat, over feeding her is making her fat. No worries, we've all done it. And I would stick with once a day personally, if you cut her food back and freeze it into the kong, it will take a while for her to eat it, giving you plenty of time for studying!

Thanks Michelle, I guess I was thinking like humans with her only eating once a day Feeding the one time of day is better for our schedule around here.
Are canned vegetables ok????? I was talking to Alyssa about how she found out that Teeny and Blue liked her dehydrated fruit. Are those ok to get and put in there. That would be so easy to mix up. Pull from a bag of dried fruit, frozen veggies, her food and some plain yogurt.

Thanks for all the advice.