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My dog is a fatty, need diet ideas!

The Menagerie
#61

My English Lab was a tank. One day my friend saw him and thought he was a PIG - he’s a yellow lab.
He needed to shed weight for health. After upping exercise, decreasing food , giving green beans for snack, etc. I could not get the last 10 pounds off. 10 pounds loss, is a lot of weight on a big dog.

Vet finally said, whatever you are feeding him - cut it in HALF. That worked. I eventually eased the foot quantity up after a few months - And for about 5 years now he has maintained his perfect weight.

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#62

Our Asian Market does not have fresh produce, its 99.9% pantry items and I do go there for some things.

#63

Weee! Is an online food delivery service. There is an app and also a website: www.sayweee.com. This is not an ad, not affiliated in any way except as a happy customer! My food comes next day, delivered by an Asian family but not our local one which doesn’t have much. Worth checking out if they deliver in your area! The prices are great and there is no delivery fee over $60. I don’t order every week but things like Napa cabbage and enoki and oyster mushrooms last that time easily.

#64

I haven’t had dogs but I did have cats that were porkers - one was 21 lbs and the other was 19 lbs. They weren’t just “big cats” they were fat. What worked was:

  • Switch from free-feed to limited meals
  • Switch from dry to high protein/high quality wet
  • Significantly restrict the volume of food

They both slimmed down to the 12-14 lbs range and that was a much more appropriate size (although the bigger one could probably always have been 1-2 lbs smaller). If they are fat they are getting too many calories - it doesn’t matter what the bag/box says in terms of how much they should eat. Just like some people will get fat on 2k calories a day and other people will be rail thin and have no energy at 2k calories a day. We all have different metabolisms.

Of course, this requires the fortitude to not feed them more/extra when they are begging for it which is hard!

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#65

Has anyone tried Tucker’s raw dog food? My local grain store carries it and it seems to be a reasonable price for raw - 20 lbs for $100.

I’m thinking I am going to try half kibble, half raw.

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#66

Link to article about gene mutation found in some Labs that slows metabolism and increases hunger:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adj3823#sec-2

“In our initial report, we showed that Labradors carrying the POMC mutation had greater adiposity, weight, and food motivation. . .”

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#67

That describes my dog to a “T”

#68

I like the ingredients! May be toss in some fresh veg and a handfull of berries.

I would feed this if it was in my area.

#69

This might be a dumb question, and I’m sure I could Google it, but was just wondering when you all (g) say raw diet, is all the meat raw?
I’ve been cooking all my organ meats from beef, with rice and veggies, and water/veg oil for broth, to add to the dogs’ kibble dinner, which they inhale. I figured its gotta be a bit better than canned food, and it’s way cheaper.
They also get eggs a couple times a week, mixed in with a little kibble, just to slow them down!

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#70

I’ve been exactly the same and I think the difference is “fresh” vs “raw”. I have five dogs and they are all doing really well with it.

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#71

Yes the meat is raw. Raw contains enzymes and amino acids that are removed during the cooking process. Anything, either fresh or raw, is better than kibble so adding it to kibble boosts the nutrition.

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#72

Okay - so our labradors are not fatties - well, not after a few months after re-homing them! Our collies usually are “not sleek” so we are probably meet in the middle.

How do we do it - exercise, feeding and rewarding.

Increase the length and pace of her walks. Labradors can tolerate the same exercise level as border collies - my flatmate’s labradors often came out with me and my collies. They just rock along at quite a pace. Recently, I was walking only one of the labs and noted that we were doing 10 minute 5 second per kilometer on the flat!!! Albeit he could do the same on hills so …

Summer its swimming in the afternoon - it’s great going in our rivers with a nice strong lab to drag you up the river. It is also quite rewarding doing interactive activities with our dogs. My collies learned to love swimming from the labs :smiley:

Do not use food as her reward (if you do) - move towards play or praise. (Pretend that she is a collie that have been bred for centuries to work all day for a “good dog”.) My flatmate found that her latest rescued lab was just looking for the scent of the liver treat rather than the scent that he was supposed to be. He LOVES his pats and cuddles as the reward. I am using the same with all of my CGC classes now. It is quite amazing how many dogs actually do love praise and being told that they are a “good dog”.

Feed her according to the weight that she should be not what she is. And, given the recent publication on the extra gene … So, if your vet reckons that she should be say, 32kg, then feed according to that. Not what she actually is. You can also throw in leafy green veges such as spinach or cabbage or celery or carrots.

#73

For me, I try to be specific when I say raw or fresh.

Fresh fruits and veg, raw meats/eggs. I have feed cooked veg in the past, or lightly cook veg which is good too. You want to keep the vitamins and not damage them with heat.

You could feed the organs raw. I would skip the rice, its just filler with no real value.

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#74

Rice, i just thought would add some of the flavour to the stew as it soaks up the ‘meat juice’, and be a filler. Better than kibble? I’ve never really cooked for my dogs before, and there is so much conflicting info out there. Used to just feed canned mixed with dry, but now i quite enjoy cooking for the mutts! and they love it!!

#75

One of my dogs is slimming down with a part kibble/part raw diet. I did switch his kibble to a diet version, too.

#76

I’m a big kibble fan, honestly, but my guy does get some extras. When I butcher chickens I freeze the feet and necks on pans so that I can chuck them in a bag, these are big summer treats especially when it’s hot. He also gets a fresh egg every other day at least, and will get a fresh liver and a heart on butcher days. On the other hand, he also gets to share potato chips and Cheetos with dad most nights :woman_facepalming: Balance, right? :laughing:

#77

This is how I do things as well. I did a minor in human nutrition and it’s a topic where the more you know the more you realize you don’t know. I trust the people who have devoted years of their lives learning how to balance the canine diet, researching how different nutrients interact, developing products for different life stages, etc.
I can understand not liking the CEO of a large company, I don’t really understand the mistrust that people have for the scientists and veterinarians on staff. They’re regular people who like pets and are confident enough in the products to feed it themselves.

I have laying hens so my dog gets a few eggs every week. If I’m cooking or packing my lunch I’ll throw her the ends of my fresh veggies or fruit. I supplement Omega 3’s. If SO gets a deer or a moose than we’ll keep some of the organs, I’ll freeze them in small portions. She’s never been interested in eating any of it raw, but once or twice a week I’ll throw a portion in boiling water for a minute and she’ll eat the meat and drink the water.
And ya, if I’m eating popcorn or french fries I throw her a couple, no biggie. I try to keep treats to less than 10% of her diet so as not to throw things out of whack.

She’s 10 years old and healthy. Still hikes and ski-jors with me. Beautiful long, soft, shiny coat and teeth.

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