Putting the dog on a 'diet'

RacoonQueen

I have three dogs, one of them, the smallest we've noticed for a few years to be overweight. Anyway, I weighed the three of them yesterday and she is the heaviest she comes in at 10.3kg :eek: Sizewise the only way I could describe her is that she's bigger than a yorkie but smaller than a jack russell - she's a mongrel so no idea what her parentage is but I think one was a JR.

Anyway, how do I cut back on her food without starving the other two. The other two are JRx and are perfect weights. We've always left food out for them to nibble at as they please so they're used to going to the bowls and eating when they're hungry, so when the third dog arrived the food was always there and she doesn't STOP when she's hungry.

Obviously a way to cut back on what she takes in is to not leave food out anymore, but that means adjustment for the other two who are used to being able to go and have a nibble during the day.

We do have 3 bowls for when they get their food, my idea was to get diet food and give it to her when we feed them - give the other two their normal food then just take everything up? Plus of course, give her less of the scraps. I'm sure the other two can adjust to the food not being out all the time. They're all fairly active, they usually get walked for around an hour + at least once a day so the fact she's managed to get so fat is NOT a good sign. :eek:

mymo

My smaller dog is a little overweight too, we have her on a diet at the moment.
I feed twice a day and used to just put down the bowls and walk away. I realized the bigger fella wasn't eating all his food and she was cleaning up. So now I give little one a slightly smaller meal, wait while they eat and take up any uneaten food (took a while but bigger fella eats all his now most days). Its working slowly, and I'm happy with that.
I also upped the exercise with her, she's very lazy though so not easy.

Cherry Blossom

To be honest, you shouldn't really be leaving food out anyway. I'd feed the dog separate from the other two and start with a strict ration per day for each one. Divide the ration into several small meals a day to start with. Leave the food for 15 minutes then take it up. You can reduce the no. of meals then to 2 per day over time and also reduce the amount you are feeding over time. You have to be strict about it, no two ways about it. In a dog of a healthy weight you should be able to feel their ribs, but not see them.

RacoonQueen

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

To be honest, you shouldn't really be leaving food out anyway.

Yeah I know that, the other two just eat when they're hungry though so it was habit to leave it for them by the time she arrived in the house.

Problem is, they don't always eat when the food goes out (she does). Suppose they'll get used to it when they realise it's not going to be there all the time anymore.

Because there's 3 of them they run around a lot when we'd have them out. She always been the least active though, more of a sniffer than a runner. She always seems to find something to munch on in the park too. :pac:

Kash

As mentioned already, you shouldn't leave the food out.

Instead feed them twice a day (we only feed ours once, but I think smaller breeds need smaller, but more frequent meals).

Don't worry about your other two, they'll figure it out very, very quickly! Dogs are very smart where their food is concerned Better to have them a bit hungry for a day that the other one overweight and eventually ill.

But consider upping her exercise - swimming is great for helping them to lose a bit of excess weight...

Cherry Blossom

Trust me! If they miss the opportunity for their first meal of the day, they won't miss the second . Even if they don't eat for a few days, stick with the plan, they will soon realise that they can eat at meal-times or not at all. If they are hungry - they'll eat it when its given!

belongtojazz

When I moved back home last year my dads 2 Jacks were like little barrels and 1 of them wheezed terribly. I had a very strict meal routine with my 2 as my Springer has real issues around food. It took about a week before his pair cottoned on to the new regime. Within 2 months the extra weight was gone as was the wheezing

RacoonQueen

Kash wrote: »

But consider upping her exercise - swimming is great for helping them to lose a bit of excess weight...

They're all wusses and terrified of water. :pac:

They do all run around a LOT when they're out, usually theres at least two of us out with them so they run from one to the other for about an hour. She tires quicker than the other two and runs practically sideways with her arse sticking out - she's always done this, don't think she's right in the head.