Cannot get dog to loose weight

TooManyDogs

I'm at my wits end at this stage, I can not get my 9 year old lab x to loose weight. I've decreased his food, increased his exercise, changed the make up of his food, and nothing seems to make a difference.

He's on a raw food diet comprised of 80% bones, meat and organs, and 20% veggies. I've tried reducing his food by replacing it with bran and he lost a tiny bit of weight but then stopped. I reduced his food until he was at nearly half the dinner he should have been getting and it made no difference but then I was worried he wasn't getting the minimum calories needed to burn fat (do dogs need this the same way humans do?) so increased it again.

Anyone got any suggestions??? I'm bringing him to the vet on Tuesday but I'm really stumped at this stage. I really don't want him going back on commercial dog food if I can help it because he was overweight on nuggets too.

HELP!!!

getz

TooManyDogs wrote: »

I'm at my wits end at this stage, I can not get my 9 year old lab x to loose weight. I've decreased his food, increased his exercise, changed the make up of his food, and nothing seems to make a difference.

He's on a raw food diet comprised of 80% bones, meat and organs, and 20% veggies. I've tried reducing his food by replacing it with bran and he lost a tiny bit of weight but then stopped. I reduced his food until he was at nearly half the dinner he should have been getting and it made no difference but then I was worried he wasn't getting the minimum calories needed to burn fat (do dogs need this the same way humans do?) so increased it again.

Anyone got any suggestions??? I'm bringing him to the vet on Tuesday but I'm really stumped at this stage. I really don't want him going back on commercial dog food if I can help it because he was overweight on nuggets too.

HELP!!!

damned if you do and damned if you dont,there are good commercial diet/senior foods out there, you just need to look closer at them,

portgirl123

Prob not much good to you as your dog is on raw diet but i had the same problem awhile bag with one of mine. i changed to whites light and the weigh dropped off.i know maintein her weight with exercise and whites normal diet

gregers85

My gf has a 10 yr old cavalier who was very over weight and her vet suggested a Royal Canin Obesity food! She buys it from the vet, I've never seen in any pet store, It was very expensive but it was excellent the dog has lost loads and is in great shape now

Bullseye1

I think the raw diet is the problem it is probably too rich for his diet. You could try and move her to a balanced dry food diet. You are probably best to bring her to your vet and have a general check up and advice on how to get his weight down.

Does he get alot of treats outside of his regualar food? And what weight in kilos does he get at each meal?

kirstelise

It is best to put your dog on a specialised weight control food. If you mix your own food, however careful you are, you will never get the balence the same every feed. Meat can also lead to the same problems in dogs that is does on humans, salmonela, e-coli etc.
I would recommend putting your dog on a controlled diet. Royal canin satiety is a great food as, although you are feeding a small amount, it makes the dog feel full. Try not go for the Supermarket brands or pedigree/red mills it is full of fat and contains little nutritional value compared to scientifically produced veterinary foods. Definitely go into your local vet and get advice on the brand and amount of food. Most veterinary based dog food companies offer free samples to try before buying. As with anything, introduce the nuts slowly or it will cause stomach upsets.
Apart from that, cut out all treats and keep up the excersise!
Good luck!!

kirstelise

Ps And definitely cut out the bones! As a vet nurse I have seen too many near death experiences with bones, cooked or raw, they are extremely dangerous. Rawhide is a great substitute, safe, low fat and tasty!

tk123

When i was getting the weight off my guy I gradually cut it back his food (Burns at the time) every few days until it was half the original amount and the weight came off him. Also no treats at all until he was at the target weight - i took a couple of handfuls of his daily allowance of food and put it in his treat jar for the day. I don't think commercial food is need tbh - really the lower fat/weight loss ones are loaded with fiber to make them fuller but cutting the portion back on his normal food should do the trick? I was talked into trying my guy on hills r/d and he got hot spots and was pooing all the time from the fiber so i switched him back to his normal food and cut back the portion.

Has he had any blood work done? I remember reading before that labs and golden retrievers can get thyroid problems - i had thyroid disease myself so i stuck in my mind. If he was underactive it'd be hard to shift the weight off him.

Finnt

I'd the same trouble with my newfie the vet suggested R/D you can only get it from the vet apparently but feeding her that plus loads of exercise she lost loads if weigh it's expensive but worth looking into if all else fails

tk123

Finnt wrote: »

I'd the same trouble with my newfie the vet suggested R/D you can only get it from the vet apparently but feeding her that plus loads of exercise she lost loads if weigh it's expensive but worth looking into if all else fails

You can get r/d online from zooplus/vetuk/medicanimal and save some money vetuk is usually the cheapest!

Zapperzy

kirstelise wrote: »

It is best to put your dog on a specialised weight control food. If you mix your own food, however careful you are, you will never get the balence the same every feed. Meat can also lead to the same problems in dogs that is does on humans, salmonela, e-coli etc.
I would recommend putting your dog on a controlled diet. Royal canin satiety is a great food as, although you are feeding a small amount, it makes the dog feel full. Try not go for the Supermarket brands or pedigree/red mills it is full of fat and contains little nutritional value compared to scientifically produced veterinary foods. Definitely go into your local vet and get advice on the brand and amount of food. Most veterinary based dog food companies offer free samples to try before buying. As with anything, introduce the nuts slowly or it will cause stomach upsets.
Apart from that, cut out all treats and keep up the excersise!
Good luck!!

Does every one of your meals balance? Do you immediately become deficent in something just because you didn't get it in that meal or even day. Most people who feed raw put much effort in to make sure it balances over a period of time.

These dogs that you have seen with injuries due to bones, have you seen many which were caused by raw, size appropriate bones fed under supervision to ensure the dog didn't swallow it whole? Honest answer please or were most caused by people giving there dogs the leftover cooked carcass of the sunday roast chicken? It's just I'm a student nurse and in the 3 months of placement I'v done, any dog that I'v seen with problems due to eating bones has been fed cooked bones or has not been supervised while eating a large bone and the dog has swallowed a large chunk of it whole and had problems passing it.
In saying that I'v only had 3 months practice so maybe I haven't seen enough but even by going on the number of people here and on other forums who feed a raw diet I'v not once heard of someone having a problem with it, in fact some dogs with dodgy stomachs or poor coats do much better on it than commercial food.

TooManyDogs

Thanks guys. I'd be very reluctant to put him back on commerical dry food, the other 5 dogs are a perfect weight on the raw diet and every meal is weighed out. To be honest I can't see him eating a bowl of dry food while everyone else is getting raw food

I'll see if the vet will take bloods to check for other things, my other dogs are in absolutly perfect body shape so to me that suggests the diet is ok from a nutritional point of view. They all get the same amount of exercise, but I might do more biking with him.

As regards the bones, I've never had a problem over the last 3 years feeding my 6 dogs bones, I'm in the kitchen with them supervising and never has anyone come close to choking.

ISDW

The raw diet is fantastic for dogs, and one that I would certainly feed if I had less dogs, or the storage space for it.

Rawhide chews can also kill dogs, like anything, if dogs are left unsupervised with them, they can be lethal. And another poster posted on a thread on here recently about how unethical rawhide is, and what it might actually be made from:eek:

Regarding salmonella etc from raw food, this won't happen if you freeze the food first, or pop it into boiling water for a very short time, not to cook it, but to kill any bacteria.

Regarding losing weight, I would examine what you are feeding, whether it is all fatty meat or by products. Do you feed any fish at all? Maybe substitute some of the meat for fish, don't know if that would be lower in fat?

Whilst your dog isn't old at 9, it is getting older, and so his metabolism may be slowing down. How often do you feed?

TooManyDogs

ISDW wrote: »

Regarding losing weight, I would examine what you are feeding, whether it is all fatty meat or by products. Do you feed any fish at all? Maybe substitute some of the meat for fish, don't know if that would be lower in fat?

Whilst your dog isn't old at 9, it is getting older, and so his metabolism may be slowing down. How often do you feed?

I only feed once a day, in the evening. His diet is mainly made up of chicken which shouldn't be particularily fatty, but I'll be more careful cutting it up now, cut out all of fat in future. I've a 11 year old dog and 13 year old dog too who are great on it but I'll investigate the fish aspect. Try and get his wide load moving more

Sigma Force

If you don't already maybe taking the skin of the chicken first might help. Some meats are fattier than others cheaper cuts tend to have more fat (but more flavour). Labs are roundy dogs as they get older, have seen active labs before that swim in the sea daily etc. but they are still very round and heavy as they get older. Have never yet seen an older lab that is trim but perhaps there are I just haven't seen them. They just seem to be one of those breeds that tends to get rounder with age.

Am not saying your dog is healthy or unhealthy but some dogs (as with some people) can be quite pudgy but still be in great health, good heart etc. So if the vets rules out any underlying health issues like thyroid etc. then I wouldn't worry too much if he's able to run about and gets enough excercise and is on a good diet and is in good form. I guess it's his joints that would be most effected as time goes on but as mentioned fish might be a good idea, nice oily fish so that even if he doesn't manage to loose much weight the oily fish might help the oul joints.

TooManyDogs

I was kind of wondering if it was partly due to him being half lab. He's the only cross of a lab I have and the only one carrying weight.

Fitness wise he's great, we went camping for a weekend recently and brought bikes, he managed the 2 cycles of 5 miles a day really well, my 13 year old only did 1. He also gets glucosamine daily to help his joints. I'll have to get friendly with some fishermen, shame they only fish crab and lobster near me!

Having spoken to hubby I've discovered when he feeds the dogs he doesn't cut off the skin from the chicken.... where as I do. That'll change for a start.

mymo

Regards bones and rawhide, I feed some bones one day every week, raw chicken and lamb ribs usually, also a little raw meat with them, always fed raw bones to dogs and never saw an issue.
I was recommended not to give rawhide to a dog because its bad for them, makes the coat dull, and there is a serious risk of choking and gut problems(blockages etc).
Sounds like the raw chicken should be getting the weight off, if its not coming off I would be getting the vet to look into it.
+1 about the labs getting rounder as they age, I know one slim 11 year old lab, but even he has that roundness around his chest area, even though you can see the outline of his ribs. He swims every day most of the year round and likes to play fetch for hours. He is also the only lab I know not showing signs of arthritis (I know one 6yr old lab with it), so I know the worries with the extra weight.

Latatian

Try reduce it by 20% or so, wait a few weeks, see if the dog loses weight. If he doesn't, then reduce it again. So long as he doesn't lose more than 2% of his body weight per week you haven't reduced it too much.

Labradors seem to need much less food than other dogs as they get older, which is probably partly why so many of them have joint problems.