me? fat? i don't think so.....

Bearpup

Hi Everyone,

Apologies in advance if this question has been asked a million times before... but.... Looking for some advice. We have been told by our vet that our German Shepard Bonnie is slightly overweight (she is 35kg), Can anyone recommend a good weight management food? We have had her 2 and a half years and think she was 1 when we got her (she was a rescue so cant be sure) but already I can see problems with her hips (I don't think this is weight related to an extent) so would be brilliant if we could find a weight management food that also contains glucosamine or something that's good for the joints... Don't know if this exists!

Thanks a mill
Bearpup

andreac

At 35kg she doesnt sound over weight for a G.S.

Would you not be better to cut back her daily food intake a little and increase the exercise? Shes not over weight, or if she is shes not really heavy enough to go on a certain weight management food in my opinion.

When you say hip problems, has she been checked out for this?

Theres a liquid called Stride for horses and dogs or you can get Cortaflex powder or liquid for dogs which is also very good for their joints.

Bearpup

Thanks for your reply andreac. To be honest I was a bit shocked that the vet said she was overweight. She is a big girl but not fat in my opinion but I suppose the vet knows better than I do.

She gets the same amount of food as our german wire haired pointer and foster dog collie/lab mix (both much smaller) and they are skinny minnies! The 3 of them are very active dogs but I suppose out of the 3 Bonnie would be the laziest. I don't know the weight but a "scoop" of food (if that makes sense!) every evening. We feed them pet master silver. Maybe I'll try reducing her intake before considering switching to a different food.

She hasn't been checked out for the hips yet but will need to be very soon, I can really see it in her especially when walking over gravel (its defo her hips not just sensitive paws). I need to check our insurance etc before the vets as I have a terrible feeling a hip op might be on the cards.

Will also look into Stride / Cortoflex- I did buy tablets before which contained glucosamine and green lipped mussels (?)for a gelding I had but I didn't find them great but then again, he was into his late teens so could have been just his age.

Thanks again for response

andreac

To be honest, if its Hip Displacia, the tablets or liquid wont help that much so id def look into getting her checked out asap.
Do you have her insured at the moment? If not get that done straight away.

My female rottie is 34/35kg at the mo and shes not a big female at all, shes actually on the small side for a rottie so i cant see how your lady is over weight at 45

Vince32

Nobody thinks their pet is fat lol it's only when other people comment that it makes you think.
If your vet thinks she is slightly overweight, she probably is.. a little, but it wouldn't be anything life threatening, spotting the difference between "ideal" and "slightly over" can be a tricky business. have a look.

http://www.placervillevet.com/canine%20body%20condition.htm

If you put up a pic, I'm sure everyone will tell you she is fine, or make her walks 10 minutes longer for a few weeks.

Just remember your vet is the reason you visit him/her in the first place, to help spot / catch potential health problems.

Best of luck and good wishes to you and your dog.

Bearpup

pic attached...

andreac

Bearpup wrote: »

pic attached...

You cant tell by that pic if shes over weight or not though...

Vince32

well she is definitely cute as a bug, but a good pic to gauge her weight would be head to toe, with her full body in view in a standing position.

cant really tell much more than she is pretty from that one

Bearpup

Just kidding on the last one photo

Trying to find a pic where you can see her full body.... the attached are all pretty recent...

thanks Vince32- your probably right, because there could be issues with her hips maybe the vet is trying to get us to control her weight before she gets fat.... prevention is better than cure I suppose!

Outkast_IRE

Dog looks fine weight to me, with my own dog i find when on foods which are high quality meat and veg based she will lose the weight naturally , when shes on foods that are bulked up with grains she tends to gain weight.

Just in my own case i switched to orjen and it worked great for me , but each dog is different.

By switching to Orjen what you are doing is losing grains from the diet and replacing with meat and veg so if your bothered you can just replace with real meat and some veg.

Basically i find my dog at optimum weight when her diet excludes grains as much as possible.

Zapperzy

Bearpup wrote: »

pic attached...

Well if the empty tub of haggen daiz is anything to go by it might be a start to cut down on that!

There are weight loss and management diets (hills r/d is one) but unless she is really overweight I wouldn't bother changing her onto one. Look at her whole diet, not just the dog food, does she get any scraps or treats, cut these out if she does, if you want to give her a treat then chop up some raw carrots (dogs usually love them plus their healthy ). I would say increase her exercise but get her hips checked out first.

Vince32

hmm... what I can see in pic B, and "Ideal" on the scale I posted, she can lose some weight around her tummy and ribs, but its hardly anything. I take the vets position on this, she is healthy and active without question, but she has started gaining again, keep an eye on it.

barbiegirl

We switched our retriever cross to Robbies because of allergies, the vet had commented that she only needed another kg to be out of ideal weight. At that stage she wasn't even a great eater.

Within a month of the switch she had lost 2kg and was and is eating every day Happy dog and very happy us.

Bearpup

Thanks for the advice and replies everyone. Much appreciated. By looking at that chart Vince32 I can see what you mean, she mightnt be exactly overweight, but maybe carrying a little "christmas weight"... aren't we all .. Also makes sense to cut out grain and replace treats with carrots.... Will try this for a while and see how we get on. Thanks again, great to get some reassurance.

tk123

What I did was..
Cut back the food gradually over a week - he was about 31kgs and I wanted him around 27-28 so I fed him the weight for a 26kg dog until the weight came off. NO treats until she drops some weight - keep a handful of the food allowance by and put in a treat jar for her and that's her treats or you can use fruit/veg - carrots, pepper and frozen green beans are my guy's favs lol. Once the weight comes off you can increase the daily amount if needed or add in treats. Make sure you allow for the treats in the daily allowance too btw.

If she has problems with her hips hydrotherapy would be a good idea for building up muscle and burning off the fat without causing any unwanted wear on the joints.

koneko

It's hard to tell from pics, but from "BonB" I would say she looks overweight in that one, but it's hard to judge, the pic after that looks better.

GSDs are big dogs but they wouldn't have a chunky frame, especially around the middle. Can you feel her ribs, or are they covered by a layer?

Weight alone isn't much of an indicator, there can be so much range, depending on the dog size. My female GSD is just under 30kgs last time I checked, but she's a fairly decent (big) size, but never over weight. She's really active though, I think if she was a lazy dog I'd end up having to feed her less

Definitely try out carrots! Our GSD loves them!

Toulouse

+1 on the hydrotherapy, it's fantastic for dogs with joint issues.

Bearpup

Diet started friday & going well so far

Vince32

ROFL yeah she is looking great