Diet dog food

spongebob89

Anyone have any success with any particular diet dog food ?

I went to pet store today and got informed about dog foods. I always taught pedigree and bakers were the top brands but they are actually rubbish when he pointed out the 4% meat that was in it and cereal being its main ingredient.. Oppose to the more expensive brands that you don't see on the tv ads that have a higher percentage of meat and better ingredients

Wish I had of known all this 10 years ago but better late than never

muddypaws

Is your dog very overweight? I'd suggest just cutting back on the food you use, and cutting out any treats. Feed for the weight your dog should be, not the weight he/she actually is.

andreac

What food are you actually using at the moment? How much are you feeding and how much exercise does your dog get?

VonVix

I don't really believe in diet dog foods unless there's some sort of medical reason behind it. I personally think the matter more often than not is the dog is simply eating too much and/or not getting enough physical activity.

My fellas are about 4lbs overweight now when they were 10lbs over originally at the start of April. They were being waaay overfed, too many treats (every time a certain person came home, they got a treat, this could happen 4-5 times a day), they were also eating more than twice as much food as they should have been for the size they are supposed to be as well as eating wet with a mixer which I was told can easily make a dog more susceptible to becoming overweight.

I got really strict with the people I live with, did research on better food than supermarket rubbish, set rules with how much they are supposed to eat x2 a day instead they were eating for how much they currently weighed instead of how much they were supposed to weigh. They aren't allowed any more than 1 treat a day and anything extra must be for training only.

The simple matter is that once you cut back on their food, they generally are going to beg and be more hungry, they are going to stare at you or follow you around when you eat something, in part you will end up needing some will power yourself to be not giving them anything extra on the side lol.

boomerang

I don't think the OP is looking for weight-reduction food?

muddypaws

boomerang wrote: »

I don't think the OP is looking for weight-reduction food?

Oh, I think you might be right, but the thread title and talk of diet dog food in their post has confused us all.

spongebob89

Sorry yes weight reduction is the goal.

Hes a ten year old staffy a few kilos over weight hes 22kg ideally needs to be 15-18kg, I walk him everyday sometimes twice. always fed either bakers or when money was tight sorry to say aldi dog food. But i just bought gain senior today and going buy the guidelines which says 250grams a day but i read another tread sayin gain feeding guidelines are too much. So im hoping to lean him out because he tires very fast on his walks and cant jump on the couch in one go

muddypaws

spongebob89 wrote: »

Sorry yes weight reduction is the goal.

Hes a ten year old staffy a few kilos over weight hes 22kg ideally needs to be 15-18kg, I walk him everyday sometimes twice. always fed either bakers or when money was tight sorry to say aldi dog food. But i just bought gain senior today and going buy the guidelines which says 250grams a day but i read another tread sayin gain feeding guidelines are too much. So im hoping to lean him out because he tires very fast on his walks and cant jump on the couch in one go

Is the 250 grams for a dog of 22kg or one of 15-18kg?

I'd say aldi dog food is probably preferable to Bakers.

Nody

spongebob89 wrote: »

Sorry yes weight reduction is the goal.

Hes a ten year old staffy a few kilos over weight hes 22kg ideally needs to be 15-18kg, I walk him everyday sometimes twice. always fed either bakers or when money was tight sorry to say aldi dog food. But i just bought gain senior today and going buy the guidelines which says 250grams a day but i read another tread sayin gain feeding guidelines are too much. So im hoping to lean him out because he tires very fast on his walks and cant jump on the couch in one go

The answer is simply to feed him slightly less then recommended while making sure he moves more. You say he tires quickly so how about taking him on twice as many walks but make them 1/3rd the length (to make sure he moves more) etc.

DBB

VonVix wrote: »

The simple matter is that once you cut back on their food, they generally are going to beg and be more hungry, they are going to stare at you or follow you around when you eat something, in part you will end up needing some will power yourself to be not giving them anything extra on the side lol.

This is why calorie controlled foods are an advantage. Because you can feed normal amounts of it, diet foods help to keep the dog satiated, which reduces begging, and consequently, owner guilt. That is critically important to encourage longer-term owner compliance, which is without a shadow of a doubt the key factor in successful weight loss for pets.
Bakers and the like, even when fed in weight-limiting amounts, do seem to prevent a dog from muscling up... They often seem soft and pudgy despite getting lots of exercise.
As I have a dog with pancreatitis, I can tell you some pretty good quality dry foods with low fat include Barking Heads' Fat Dog Slim, and James Wellbeloved cereal-free range. I get the former from www.zooplus.co.uk, and the latter is available on all zooplus sites, best value is on the .de site. Barking Heads is in some pet shops, James Wellbeloved is more widely available.
Some other things I'd suggest op... Use activity feeders for him, such as Kong Toys, Kong Wobblers, activity balls, scatter feeding, hiding food etc, this will promote activity and keep the dog occupied for longer, burning calories and reducing begging time.
Low calorie treats such as raw carrots and dried tripe sticks are great for snacks, if you find it difficult to resist giving snacks!
Also, it's really, really important to measure his food, using a weighing scales, every day. It has been shown that using measuring cups can result in up to a 20% discrepancy in the daily ration!
Good luck, you're doing your dog a huge favour by knocking those extra pounds off!

spongebob89

DBB wrote: »

This is why calorie controlled foods are an advantage. Because you can feed normal amounts of it, diet foods help to keep the dog satiated, which reduces begging, and consequently, owner guilt. That is critically important to encourage longer-term owner compliance, which is without a shadow of a doubt the key factor in successful weight loss for pets.
Bakers and the like, even when fed in weight-limiting amounts, do seem to prevent a dog from muscling up... They often seem soft and pudgy despite getting lots of exercise.
As I have a dog with pancreatitis, I can tell you some pretty good quality dry foods with low fat include Barking Heads' Fat Dog Slim, and James Wellbeloved cereal-free range. I get the former from www.zooplus.co.uk, and the latter is available on all zooplus sites, best value is on the .de site. Barking Heads is in some pet shops, James Wellbeloved is more widely available.
Some other things I'd suggest op... Use activity feeders for him, such as Kong Toys, Kong Wobblers, activity balls, scatter feeding, hiding food etc, this will promote activity and keep the dog occupied for longer, burning calories and reducing begging time.
Low calorie treats such as raw carrots and dried tripe sticks are great for snacks, if you find it difficult to resist giving snacks!
Also, it's really, really important to measure his food, using a weighing scales, every day. It has been shown that using measuring cups can result in up to a 20% discrepancy in the daily ration!
Good luck, you're doing your dog a huge favour by knocking those extra pounds off!

Thanks so much for the advice.. But money is tight and I'm tryna get well the cheapest good brand available. You seem very knowledgable about dog foods im choosing between gain senior which seems good, reasonable price too and also clinivet senior if you have any reason i shouldn't go with either of these id be glad to know.

And also the slow feeders would they really make the dog burn any extra calories worth talking about dia wrecking?

DBB

What sort of money can you get the Gain or Clinivet for?

As for the activity toys, it can take a dog 15-30 mins or more to empty a stuffed Kong or Kobg Wobbler. Every single mouthful they get requires them to be active. The idea is that instead of them wolfing down each meal in a minute, then go off to lie about doing nowt, the reward of the meal is stretched out for longer, whilst the dog is burning up calories in the stretched-out process.
A plastic activity ball isn't expensive, I'd say no more than a tenner, but it costs nothing to hide portions of each meal around the house and garden, varying the hiding spots, or scatter feeding, which is literally throwing his dry food around the garden (like feeding hens!) and setting him free to go find it and snuffle it up one piece at a time, moving about all the while and burning calories

muddypaws

You're in luck as well OP, as we're coming into halloween season. Pumpkin is an excellent thing to add to kibble to fill a dog up, it is low in fat, and high in fibre, so the dog feels satiated. Replace some of the kibble with the pumpkin (raw).

I use bottles as feeding toys, plastic milk bottles, or mineral bottles, but watch the dog, so that when they've emptied the bottle, they don't chew and eat the plastic. Make sure you put a couple of small holes in the bottom of the bottle though, as there is a danger of a dog's tongue getting stuck in the top of the bottle otherwise, creating a vacuum and swelling up. I just put the kibble in, and the dog has to knock the bottle around, and turn it upside down to get the food out.

spongebob89

DBB wrote: »

What sort of money can you get the Gain or Clinivet for?

As for the activity toys, it can take a dog 15-30 mins or more to empty a stuffed Kong or Kobg Wobbler. Every single mouthful they get requires them to be active. The idea is that instead of them wolfing down each meal in a minute, then go off to lie about doing nowt, the reward of the meal is stretched out for longer, whilst the dog is burning up calories in the stretched-out process.
A plastic activity ball isn't expensive, I'd say no more than a tenner, but it costs nothing to hide portions of each meal around the house and garden, varying the hiding spots, or scatter feeding, which is literally throwing his dry food around the garden (like feeding hens!) and setting him free to go find it and snuffle it up one piece at a time, moving about all the while and burning calories

Gain for about €40 for 15kg and clinivet for €57 they have near enough the same ingredients i just want to make sure its decent food for my dog to loose weight

DBB

Hi again OP,
I've had a look at the Gain and Clinivet varieties that you've mentioned, and bearing in mind that I have *some* training in nutrition, it is not my specialist area at all, so take what I have to say on that basis
Both of those foods are very high in cereals, and that's what tends to happen with diet foods... reduce the fat by getting rid of meat, and replace it with bulk. But as I've already posted above, cereals are not good for many dogs. In addition, as dogs age, they need to get high-quality protein into them.
I have a personal *thing* about feeding cereals to dogs, particularly when they make up the bulk of the diet.

For a little money you're prepared to spend, you could afford the pick of the dry foods (in my opinion) which is Taste of the Wild. It is cereal free and high in meat content BUT it is also probably a bit on the fatty side for a dog on a diet, so if you opted for this, you need to be very careful about reducing portion size. The best value I've found so far is on the German zooplus site www.zooplus.de (use Google Chrome to translate it for you).

Another good food, also cereal free, but also on the upper end of your budget is the James Wellbeloved cereal-free range, the fat levels in this are down around where you want them to be (10-ish per cent). Here's a link to one variety of it on the zooplus.ie site, you'll get it slightly cheaper on the German site:
http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food/james_wellbeloved/wellbeloved_cerealfree/128194

To come down in price, you're looking at cereals appearing in the food, but I think if you're judicious about it, you can find a food that is not bursting with crappy cereals, and a favourite on this forum and good value is Markus Muelhe, which also has the sort of fat levels you're looking for:
http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food/markus_muehle/markus_muehle_black_angus/380219

I'd be inclined to supplement any older dog's diet with oily fish, it's extremely good for mental health and joint health, also helps keep age-related nasties at bay, and whenever you get a chance to throw in some fresh meat, do! Low fat meats include de-skinned chicken, turkey, rabbit and venison. I think a great way to get meat into the diet is via high-quality, high-meat tinned food.. you won't get this stuff in supermarkets, but you will get it on zooplus! Rocco is very good value, dogs love it, and it is low in fat:
http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/canned_dog_food/rocco

If you decide to order on zooplus, bear in mind that you can avail of a 3% discount on orders over €100 (look out for the discount code, it's "STOCKUPANDSAVE" on the Irish site, "SAMMELBESTELLER" (I hope I've spelled that properly!) on the German site, and delivery is free on orders above a certain value, depending on which site you shop from.

If you're giving him some wet food as part of his diet, the standard Kong Toy is great for wet food, but you could also get one of the stuffed marrow bones you get in pet shops, remove the awful proprietary filling from it, and stuff the middle of it with the wet food for him to remove as part of his activity feeding.

spongebob89

DBB wrote: »

Hi again OP,
I've had a look at the Gain and Clinivet varieties that you've mentioned, and bearing in mind that I have *some* training in nutrition, it is not my specialist area at all, so take what I have to say on that basis
Both of those foods are very high in cereals, and that's what tends to happen with diet foods... reduce the fat by getting rid of meat, and replace it with bulk. But as I've already posted above, cereals are not good for many dogs. In addition, as dogs age, they need to get high-quality protein into them.
I have a personal *thing* about feeding cereals to dogs, particularly when they make up the bulk of the diet.

For a little money you're prepared to spend, you could afford the pick of the dry foods (in my opinion) which is Taste of the Wild. It is cereal free and high in meat content BUT it is also probably a bit on the fatty side for a dog on a diet, so if you opted for this, you need to be very careful about reducing portion size. The best value I've found so far is on the German zooplus site www.zooplus.de (use Google Chrome to translate it for you).

Another good food, also cereal free, but also on the upper end of your budget is the James Wellbeloved cereal-free range, the fat levels in this are down around where you want them to be (10-ish per cent). Here's a link to one variety of it on the zooplus.ie site, you'll get it slightly cheaper on the German site:
http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food/james_wellbeloved/wellbeloved_cerealfree/128194

To come down in price, you're looking at cereals appearing in the food, but I think if you're judicious about it, you can find a food that is not bursting with crappy cereals, and a favourite on this forum and good value is Markus Muelhe, which also has the sort of fat levels you're looking for:
http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food/markus_muehle/markus_muehle_black_angus/380219

I'd be inclined to supplement any older dog's diet with oily fish, it's extremely good for mental health and joint health, also helps keep age-related nasties at bay, and whenever you get a chance to throw in some fresh meat, do! Low fat meats include de-skinned chicken, turkey, rabbit and venison. I think a great way to get meat into the diet is via high-quality, high-meat tinned food.. you won't get this stuff in supermarkets, but you will get it on zooplus! Rocco is very good value, dogs love it, and it is low in fat:
http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/canned_dog_food/rocco

If you decide to order on zooplus, bear in mind that you can avail of a 3% discount on orders over €100 (look out for the discount code, it's "STOCKUPANDSAVE" on the Irish site, "SAMMELBESTELLER" (I hope I've spelled that properly!) on the German site, and delivery is free on orders above a certain value, depending on which site you shop from.

If you're giving him some wet food as part of his diet, the standard Kong Toy is great for wet food, but you could also get one of the stuffed marrow bones you get in pet shops, remove the awful proprietary filling from it, and stuff the middle of it with the wet food for him to remove as part of his activity feeding.

Thank you for the generous reply I appriciate the advice

Im suprised to hear that the gain has alot of cereals in it and I wouldnt have the budget for the cereal free stuff tbh so if you recommend I go with the Markus Muelhe over the gain then I will if theres much difference?

Tins of tuna in aldi can be cheap prob cheaper than the dog food maybe it would make a good addition too

Esel

Sardines are much more oily than tuna, and cheaper too.

Capsules of fish oils (omega 3/9) from the health food/vitamin section of Lidl/Aldi are very inexpensive. I would be interested to read some expert advice on dosage (i.e. one capsule/day, one every second day etc.) of this supplement.

Also, advice on dose levels of Lidl/Aldi glucosamine too, please.

Ashbx

muddypaws wrote: »

Is your dog very overweight? I'd suggest just cutting back on the food you use, and cutting out any treats. Feed for the weight your dog should be, not the weight he/she actually is.

So glad you said this! My Border Terrier needed to lose a bit of weight a few years ago. So I cracked down on giving her treats and reduced her food and was bringing her for extra walks....but I was measuring her food based on the weight she was and not what she should have been!

Rookie mistake!

Ashbx

For treats, try give your dog carrots (frozen carrots are good for puppies who are teething or if you want the treat to last a bit longer) and rice cakes.

Although, my border collie wont touch a rice cake with a barge pole, my border terrier chomps them right up. Rice cakes are good for cleaning their teeth too. Stay away from Dentastix....they are full of calories!

spongebob89

Sooo 3 months ago i reached out for diet dog food advice, I figured out the markus muhle was the best bang for your buck in terms of ingredient quality

My dog is even now fatter than he was 3 months ago when we first put him on the diet

And we have brought the dosage down to just below 1 cup a day and one tin of sardines jn the evening.. How has that made him fatter he cant even jump up on the seat anymore

Im willing to soend extra this time and looking an considering this one
http://m.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food/nutrivet/313779

ferretone

Just 1 question, before you jump to the big guns. How many people live in your house, and are all of them on board with his diet programme? Is there any chance somebody is feeding him unauthorised snacks, or that he is managing to find food somewhere that you don't know about?

It's also worth getting him a thorough vet checkup, including full blood panels, to make sure there isn't something going on medically, that is leading to the additional weight gain.

Once you've ruled all this out, then I'd agree it's time to re-examine the whole diet programme once again. Best of luck. It's no fun for them to be seriously overweight, especially when they are in their senior years, so have enough stress on joints etc already

Nody

spongebob89 wrote: »

And we have brought the dosage down to just below 1 cup a day and one tin of sardines jn the evening.. How has that made him fatter he cant even jump up on the seat anymore

Did you measure the weight of your cup? MM is very compact for it's size so if you go by cubic measure rather then a weight measure for feeding you may have been overfeeding him for his weight.

braddun

more exercise and less food

andreac

Do you need to feed him sardines? If so then give him less of the dry food then with it.

The MM might be a little rich for him so I would just reduce what he gets and see how you go from there. Give him nothing bar his meals and reduce those down.

spongebob89

andreac wrote: »

Do you need to feed him sardines? If so then give him less of the dry food then with it.

The MM might be a little rich for him so I would just reduce what he gets and see how you go from there. Give him nothing bar his meals and reduce those down.

Em probly not but I hear the are sardines are great for senior dogs my mother is in charge of feeding him an insists on a cup of dog food in the morning and something like a tin of fish at night

Anyway paid the bit extra for James Welbeloved cereal free fish and vedge so without the grains should help and im gonna try get a weighting scale to measure the food in grams as the cup measurement could have been off as stated by op

Thanks guys