Slightly overweight Staffie

flipsat

My 4 yr old rescue female Staffie (spayed) is a little overweight. Am feeding her Purina Beta light and no extras, apart from stolen strawberries or tomatoes from the garden. She gets a cowhide chew as a treat when we leave her at home on her own. Is there a better food we should be feeding her?

Tabitharose

my two labs were on the volumptous side and I changed their food to nutro light which suited them well and they are now a much better size as a result are you checking the feeding guide on the side of the packet - are you sure that you're not giving her more than you should? have you tried increasing her exercise also? I believe the hills lighter dog food is good too but haven't tried it on my girls;)

arybvtcw0eolkf

Well I'll hit you with the obvious question.

Are you exercising it?.

flipsat

Yes, walks everyday. Have checked food amounts on product labels and we give her 280 per day when they say 220 - 380 g for a 15 to 25 kg. dog. She is about 20 kg.

Jules

Are you leaving the food down all day or jsut for a little in the morning and the evening?

flipsat

She eats every bit instantly.

flipsat

Oh btw she has her food 140 g am and the same pm.

Jules

Have you brought her to our vet recently as sometimes dogs can have a thyroid problem which causes them to be overweight. Or sometimes, like humans, they may just have a slow metabolism and need a calorie controlled diet Royal Canin do a food called obesity managment, should be able to get it in your vets, and a nurse or vet should be able to give you the right amounts to be feeding him/her.

Alfasudcrazy

I think dogs that are prone to going overweight need more vigorous exercise than sedate walks. Its just that my male dobie was inclined to put on weight but since he has had more vigorous exercise his 'fatness' as opposed to weight has come down and you can see the improvement in his overall agility and happiness. Before he found it difficult to run for too long.

EGAR

Sometimes spayed/neutered dogs tend to put on a bit more weight due to the slow down in metabolism due to lack of hormones. I do not know how much protein the food you feed contains. I find that Bull Breeds to not very well on anything higher than 20% protein, they either climb the walls or put on weight.

flipsat

Hi Egar, The food contains 23% protein. I deliberately looked for a higher protein food as I thought this would be better for her. Not sure if you are you saying that she would be better with a lower than 20% protein value?

cowzerp

i think he/she means lower protein is better, i would disagree with this as protein is more natural to a dog, meats from animals, they might graze on plants occasionally but thats a small % of there diet-protein takes more calories to burn and has a lesser chance of turning to fat, can you explain why protein would make them (climb up the walls)?

fits

cowzerp wrote:

i think he/she means lower protein is better, i would disagree with this as protein is more natural to a dog, meats from animals, they might graze on plants occasionally but thats a small % of there diet-protein takes more calories to burn and has a lesser chance of turning to fat, can you explain why protein would make them (climb up the walls)?

this is not human nutrition, its canine nutrition.
I dont think you really know much about canine nutrition. I dont either... but I know the harder work a dog is in, the higher protein feed you give it..... i.e racing greyhounds and working gun dogs would be on very high protein foods.... Dogs that need to lose weight are put on lower protein more fibrous foods. EGAR is very experienced with bull breeds and her advice should be listened to.

If you look on this page.. you'll see that the 'high oats' feed is 20% protein and recommended for losing weight... and the 'active dogs' feed is 24% protein.

And the one I feed my dogs is 18.5% protein... they're certainly not fat.

EGAR

The food I feed my rescue dogs and my own private dogs contains 20% protein and I will not go any highter than that. High protein levels can affect kidneys etc and can cause behavioural issues, google it yourself the list is too long to put in here. High protein levels in non working dogs can also affect skin and hair.

Also, there a BIG difference in protein in dogfood. Not every protein can actually be used by the dog ie if it is from *chicken by products* which means beaks, feather and other unsavoury sources.

EGAR

I have had a colline in training last year whos owner was at her wits end. After a long talk with her she told me that the breeder recommended a food which contained 28% protein. The dog was like a maniac. After changing his food to a 20% protein dog food he calmed down, was alot easier to manage and successfully passed his obedience test a few weeks later.

Tabitharose

EGAR wrote:

The food I feed my rescue dogs and my own private dogs contains 20% protein and I will not go any highter than that.

nutro lite has 15% but my girls do get a small amt of cooked "proper" meat too to suppliment it

Alfasudcrazy

When I got my dobie pups they had a rash - the breeder was feeding them dog food for a greyhound. :rolleyes:

I agree that 18% protein is about right for the average household pet dog.

Ado86

There are a number of reasons why your dog might have put on weight, as a veterinary student we tell people that after their animal is spayed that they need to cut the amount of food they feed their animal by a third- so just give her two thirds of what you would have normally fed her prior to being spayed. Her metabolism will have changed after being spayed, the hormones previously present controling metabolism are no longer there so they are more likely to put on weight. Also exercise needs to be regular and moderately strenous- causing her to work fairly hard. Older animals tend to be more sedentary than younger animals and may need a little more encouragment to get up and go. There could also be some health reasons why your dog has put on weight, a good marker of their weight is called body condition scoring- if you can feel her ribs without having to put too much pressure on them then thats a good sign. Too much or too little fat over the ribs isnt a good thing. If you suspect anything medically wrong with your dog, bring her to your local vet. There are also prescription diets which are calorie reduced and are very effective in reducing weight, although they can be quite pricy. And you have to stick very religiously to the diet or else the true benefits wont be seen.
Best of luck.