Need to lose the weight

[sramirez]

OK, the time has come - my Sophie (who came to me as a rehome last July) definitely needs to trim down (as do I ) Anyway, I feed both my cav girls 1/3 cup Natural Balance (Dick Van Patten) Reduced Caloric 2 x's day. I've been breaking all treats in two and just giving both girls half of any treats. She does get an occasional small dip of ice cream

Well, anyway, what other suggestions do any of you have? I try to walk all 3 dogs every evening - and last night Sophie had such a hard time just doing one big block. She is 8 1/2 years and was only spade just last June. She came to us quite overweight - around 28 lbs. I won't bother to tell you how much weight I need to lose, I probably know what to cut back on (besides my old age of almost 52)

Thanx/

Sheri

[Cathy T]

Sheri - sounds like you're doing everything right. With Shelby we cut her treats down. She doesn't really care if she gets a whole biscuit or 1/2 of a biscuit, as long as she gets something. We also started feeding veggies ie carrots, broccoli, green beans. Those have helped. I really have to watch Shelby's weight as she can get bigger without me noticing it until...oops, time to go back on a diet!

[Jay]

I have managed to get my two to drop some weight too. I measure their food carefully so I know exactly how much they are eating at each meal. In the AM I combine 1/2 c of Merrick dry with 1/3 c of pumpkin and divide it equally between the two. In the evening, I mixed 1/2 c of Merrick dry with 1/3 c Merrick canned and divide between the two. I have really cut back on treats, my two like Paul Newmans biscuits (small size) which I break in 1/2. I also give them carrots. Monty likes snap peas...Gem doesn't. I use a variety of treats for training. Those are a little harder to control. But I can now easily feel ribs. I haven't weighed them, but I know they are at a good weight now. Much better for their hearts and easier on the joints for agility!
J.

[judy]

At the pet store today, i was getting weight reduction kibble for my cat. They showed me a product called Slim. It's made by BiologicVet. I was going to look it up on the web just now but on their site they had this page where it asked for a pass code. I emailed them to get a passcode.

The pet store guy said that you sprinkle this stuff on their food and it reduces their appetite and they will not eat as much, they won't feel hungry if you give them less food.

If you want to cut calories, instead of treat you could give a Kong with a treat inside that she can lick with her tongue but can't reach far enough to eat. She would still enjoy the flavor and the chewing, without getting any calories. breaking treats into little pieces is a great idea too.

good luck. When i find out more about that Slim stuff, i'll let you know. I really want my cat to lose weight. she is showing stiffness of arthritis and i know that the weight will make it worse. I've cut down on her portion sizes and am only feeding her once a day instead of twice now.

[sramirez]

Thanx everybody for the "losing weight tips" for my Sophie. My breeder also said to substitute the treats for gr. beans and apple/carrot bits. I'm quite interested in SLIM - maybe it'll work for me too

Keep me posted - I will get started on the new regime immediately. (I even brought fruit for my breakfast snack at work today). I guess a number of us 'ole gals' need to get the lbs. off one way or another. And to think I used to never, ever worry about weight -

Sheri

[Karlin]

Exercise is good, and good for us people too . All sorts of veggies or fruit can be used for treats and/or to take the place of the regular food you will now want to cut back on. I agree with Cathy, mine do not care what size the treat is, they are thrilled to get whatever is going. I break biscuits into smaller pieces and they have to sit or go into down or do something to earn ech small piece of a treat. No free meals!!

For comparison:

Jaspar and Leo, who weigh about 16 and 14.5 lbs respectively, only get about 2/3rds cup of any food mix daily, all given in one meal -- and are both very active (eg walk at least a mile daily, with at least one or two walks of several miles twice a week, plus swimming, and agility for Jaspar.

Lily, the extra girl I have at the moment only gets 1/2 a cup as that is all she would get if she were in proper weight. She wighs 17 lbs and should be about 13. : So LOTS of walks figure in the picture right now!

Personally I don't like feeding diet foods (or eating them myself). I think there's more satisfaction in real food eaten in smaller quantities and bulked out with lower calorie tasty items, like fruit and veg.

If you feed two meals daily (I only feed one, in the morning) it is REALLY important to measure and be very religious about quantities. These dogs eat small amounts generally and the temptation, with two meals daily, is to add 'a little bit more' to the bowl at each meal. A single meal looks more substantial and lessens the temptation to over feed.

[GudrunTheRed]

My 2-year old Chester was getting a bit thick around the middle and he's lost 2 pounds in the last 2 months. He only eats in the morning and I give him a 1/2c dry food, a Tablespoon of wet food and a bunch of canned no-salt green beans and he absolutely gobbles it up. With all the green beans he can really fill up and he honestly seems to like them.

For dry food I switch back and forth between Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance and Canidae and for the wet food Chester adores the Canidae.

In the evenings he will get a chicken breast jerkey strip and every few nights he gets a greenie. No other snacks or treats during the day except for apple or banana that he begs for when I'm eating one! He loves his fruit!

He also gets 2 good walks a day and lots of tug-o-war time in the evening.

[JaneB]

Sheri,
Sounds like you are on the right track. One additional thought: Are you walking all three dogs at the same time? We have an English Bulldog, Rudy, that tends to "beef" up and isn't good for the long walks. What we found was that he could go quite a bit further if walked alone. I think that he tries so hard to keep pace with the little girls, in fact, he has to be in the lead, that he was tiring too quickly. When we walk him with out them he walks slower and longer. This has really helped in keeping his figure trim - well, as trim as a Bull ever is.

JaneB

[sramirez]

Well, I've started Sophie on the bananas and carrot chips. Of course, she loves both! My other two dogs just look at me when I put the same tidbits in their dishes - like I've gone crazy
Last night I said "whoever eats their carrots gets an additional snack". Of course, only Sophie ate her carrots!! Our little Lhaso has gotten soooo picky with his food - I think it's b/c my daughter (he is her dog) has really been feeding him too many treats..... but he has a HUGE attitude problem too - rather indicative of his breed.

Thanx for all your great advice on losing weight. I let you know if any of it works on me!!

Sheri

[molly]

While our dogs usually will eat green beans, they LOVE frozen green beans...must be the doggie equivalent of a popsicle. They also love ice cubes. We give both as treats. All helps to control their weight!