Dog Channel / Dog Channel Central / DOG FANCY Extras / Doggie Weight-Loss Support / Latest Posts

RE: Doggie Weight-Loss Support

rainsmom — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 11:07:08 GMT

dalmatians are supposed to be between 59-65 pounds so 2 cups of food a day is probably not enough food for her. I would give her 3 cups of food 1 1/2 in the morning and 1 1/2 in the evening maybe give her some greenbeans in between meals. you can put part of her meal in a kong cover it with non fat yougurt and freeze it that way she has to work to get her meal. also on rainy days you can hide her food in different locations and have her find it
another thing I would watch how far and long you walk her 9 is old for a dalmatian the average life span of a dal is 10-12 years and since she already has arthritus I would try a gentle activity such as swimming. I have a 7 y/o sheltie that do to bad breeding is already developing arthritus and my vet says no strenous activity for her. gentle walks swimming is what she is allowed to do,she is also on glucosamine pills and vitamin c to help manage the problem.

RE: Doggie Weight-Loss Support

Patty Cakes! — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 08:56:04 GMT

My dalmatian is 20 lbs over weight. We fed her table scraps and human food for the longest time. She's 9 now and has arthritis. I took her to the vet last month and they finally "yelled" at me for keeping her overweight.

My family is now trying to keep her weight down. She's lost 5 lbs already just by walking a mile twice a day and other activities. We decreased her food intake to 1 cup twice a day. I mix in carrots or apple slices with it. Sometimes we go for a long 2 mile walk up and down hills. I would run her, but I had knee surgery and have doctors orders not to.

If it's raining or too cold outside we hide one of her toys in the house and have her run around to find it. Once she found it, we congratulate her and then hide it again. Eventually she'll end up wearing herself out after a few hours.

A few problems I have is she tricks us to feeding her more. She'll eat breakfast with me, and then when I'm in the shower she'll whine to another member of my family. She'll also dig in the trash or eat stuff on our walks she finds in the grass. To fight back against her tricking us, we started marking the calendar once a day for breakfast and once for dinner, making an "X" by the end of the day.

If anyone has any other ideas, I'd like to know!

RE: Doggie Weight-Loss Support

The Whiner's Friend — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 16:55:48 GMT

Lucky you! My dog seems to never lose weight. I always try to give her exercise, but she stays the same weight. I think her being chubby is cute, but I know it isn't very good for her. Any tips?

RE: Doggie Weight-Loss Support

meredithb — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 12:27:05 GMT

The first thing I would recommend is excercise, excercise, excercise. You also want to definitely cut down on the treats. I only feed my dogs treats maybe once a day if that on some days

RE: Doggie Weight-Loss Support

Franz — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 09:09:30 GMT

Congratulations!! Your dog looks great and you must definitely b a very responsible owner. I wish more ppl in the world was like you, since i see everyday how dogs are abandoned on streets.
Well, a was in a similar situation when i found james. But what he actually needed was to gain weight, so the vet gave him a special diet. So he recuperated and now looks good. We go jogging everyday and comes with me to my basketball practices, etc I try to take him with me as much as i can . I think that's good cuz it improves the relationship between your dog and you

RE: Doggie Weight-Loss Support

Janice — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 14:32:38 GMT

Thanks so much for sharing. I'll give that a try. Eddie's much younger, so it will probably take a little longer. From the picture, I can see that your dog is very cute!

RE: Doggie Weight-Loss Support

starry*boy — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 05:13:27 GMT

I know what you mean, I hate to take star out in the cold but its been warm here like 80 degresse which is a change from 40's all day. I Dont walk star because my mom wont let me out of the house so for him to get exersie , I give him a toy that we can both play with and he pulls one way, and I pull another way and we chase each other (this helps to keep going if you have music on) and after a while you will get tired and then you know that your dog is wore out, but for my dog , it takes like 3 hours to wear him out and he is 12 years old.

playing and chasing is just as good exercise as walking.

RE: Doggie Weight-Loss Support

Janice — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 20:45:54 GMT

All of a sudden, I'm having difficulty sticking with my commitment to walking Eddie about three miles every day. Here's what's happening...
It's barely light when I leave for work in the morning and dark when I get home. Every day is very cold and either snowing or raining. Snow is nice to walk in; cold rain... not so much.
Shopping ... I'm always shopping, either for groceries or gifts.
Holiday visits ... sometimes with friends; sometimes work-related events.
End of semester rushing ... I'm taking classes, and the closer to the end of the semester, the more time needed for studying and finishing projects.
For the last two evenings, I just came home and crashed on the couch.
I'm trying not to make excuses; I'm just reporting that I'm afraid that I'm getting out of the habit of walking every day. Classes will be over this week; the holidays are just minutes away; but the long, dark, cold winter... here in the Midwest, we've got months more of winter wonderland weather... and I find it hard sometimes to push myself out the door. Does anyone have ideas that will help?

RE: Doggie Weight-Loss Support

Janice — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 06:34:37 GMT

Congratulations, Ashley and Oscar. What a great story!
I know what you mean about the weight loss making Oscar happier and more energetic. Eddie had turned into a giant log. The only time he'd be animated was when he was begging for food. Now he has a sparkle in his eye and he does tricks for attention (and carrots). He loves to go for a walk. He's a new dog!
When your dog is happier, it makes you feel good about all the things you've done to help! As for Oscar's daily exercising, sometimes it's just not possible. The days are shorter now, and, in my part of the country, so much colder. My doctor suggested that do what you can. Some exercise is better than none.
I'm not familiar with Chicken Soup light formula dog food. What made you give that brand a try and where did you find it? How did you know how much to give Oscar?
Again, congratulations, Ashley, and thank you for sharing.

Janice

RE: Doggie Weight-Loss Support

doxiemama — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:09:49 GMT

I have a weightloss success story as well. I have a 4 year old dachshund who has been "weight challanged" since he was a year old. I'd tried all sorts of dog foods, increasing exercise, reducing treats, etc and couldnt get anything to work. I even put him on the prescription weight loss formula foods and nothing helped. A few months ago I switched Oscar over to Chicken Soup light formula dog food. I also cut back on treats and try to increase exercise as much as I can (which doesnt always happen sometimes). I knew that he'd lost weight from being on his diet. I didnt realize how much weight he'd lost until I was going through some pictures the other day, he is like a whole different dog. Oscar went from 21 pounds to 17 pounds. He has a lot more energy and seems so much happier now.

RE: Doggie Weight-Loss Support

Janice — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 19:23:37 GMT

Hi, I received an e-mail from Carole about her dog, Chloe. Despite Carole's efforts to monitor Chloe's food intake and to make sure that Chloe get exercise, Chloe is able to maintain her weight.
Carole asked about a food and exercise calculator to help her figure out how much food Chloe should eat and how much she should exercise.
My only experience with a calculator like that was for my own food and exercise program. I'd received a recommendation from a nutritionist I visited with, and I've since found others by searching the web for a food and exercise calculator.
I just tried searching for food and exercise calculator for dogs. The good news is that I found one; the bad news is that it seems complicated.
I took Eddie to visit a veterinarian/nutritionist, and she took that complicated equation and made it pretty clear for me.
Not only that, she had reference material that she could use to calculate the protein and fat content of dog foods. Not all dog foods are the same, and some diet foods provide less protein at the same time they are providing less fat.
We went through several bags of different brands before we settled on the one that seemed to offer the best combination of nutritional value and taste for Eddie.
She calculated exactly how much of that food Eddie should get each day. We follow her instructions on how much Eddie gets, rather than the suggestions on the bag. One other thing she suggested was spreading out his meals -- some for breakfast, some when I go back to work after lunch, and some at dinner. Honestly, that hasn't worked perfectly. More often than not, he has his dog food finished by lunch, but after that, it's usually carrots, string beans, or brocolli.
If you have any ideas for Carole, please feel free to share them!

RE: Doggie Weight-Loss Support

Janice — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:18:09 GMT

Hi, BeagleBabe. Wow, that's great! I'd love to know more about the Pudgy Pooch program. Did the vet recommend different food for her? Was there a regular weigh-in component? Did you follow a specific exercise program?
In Eddie's case, monitoring the food I gave him helped a lot, but the biggest part.... and the best part, I think, ... was the consistent exercise. We got to bond, too, and our walks continue to get longer and have become the best part of my day.
As for the vegetables... It took just a little while for Eddie to make the transition from dog treats to carrots. Eddie is a chow hound. If carrots and string beans were the only treats being offered, Eddie learned to appreciate them. When it comes to food, Eddie's kind of a "love the one you're with" dog.
Thanks for sharing!

RE: Doggie Weight-Loss Support

BeagleBabe — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:42:59 GMT

Congratulations on Eddie's success! My dog also has a weight-loss success story, she went from nearly 45 pounds ::yikes!:: to 27.

We knew she was a bit plump but one day we took her in to our vet and he said that her health was starting to take a toll because of her weight. We enrolled her in the vet's Pudgy Pooch program, and she was able to lose the weight in about 10 months.

We starting going on mroe walks, and cut down on the treats, but she never was a really big treat lover. I think it was jsut the exercise that made all the difference. Plus, i had the chance to spend more time bonding with her

I could never get her to like vegetables, though. Did eddie jsut love them from the start or was there some sort of trial period??

Doggie Weight-Loss Support

Janice — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:11:01 GMT

Last year at this time my dog, Eddie, was overweight, and I’d helped get him there. He’d whine for food, and I’d give him treats. He’d whine for more, and I’d head for the never-ending doggie cookie jar. When he wasn’t whining, he was lying around, thinking about whining for food.

Then one day I tried to pick him up, realized he was almost 40 pounds, and decided I had to take action.

I asked Dr. Sarah Abood, a nutritionist at Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, to help. She set up a weight-loss program for Eddie, told me how I could help him shed the extra pounds, and gave me a list of acceptable treats for Eddie.

By early January, Eddie had lost nearly 7 pounds, and Dr. Abood gave him the go-ahead to try maintaining his weight. To read more on how Eddie lost the weight, catch up on my weight-loss blog.

Every day Eddie gets the same amount of dog food. In addition to that, his treats are only carrots, broccoli, and string beans. Changing his diet was just the beginning. We also made a commitment to exercise: We walk about three miles most days. Eddie loves to walk. He loves to meet the neighbors, the neighbors’ dogs, and especially the neighborhood cats. When he’s just exploring our yard, he loves to chase squirrels and chipmunks. He has energy now and loves to be on the move.

I just weighed him and he’s down to 30.5 pounds. He is still driven by food, but we’ve used that drive, and his new love for carrots, to teach him a few tricks. He looks great and he’s regained that playful, affectionate, and charming personality that disappeared when he was concentrating so much on filling his face.

When we started a year ago, my goal was to be Eddie’s weight-loss buddy. I think it’s the walks – and the carrots – because I’ve lost a few pounds, too!

So now I’d like to ask, what’s happening with you and your dog? Are you working on a weight-loss plan for your dog? Do you have any success stories you’d like to share? Do you have problem areas or things you’ve struggled with? Reaching and maintaining a healthy weight is an ongoing process. And that process only gets easier if you have someone to share it with. Take it from me and my weight-loss pal Eddie!