fat lab question

ok i hate asking about this because the last time i asked a question like it. it got did it got a little heated, but i am facing an issue with mikey he is gaining weight a lot of it ive cut back on his food to a cupand a half a day and im not real comfortable with giveing him any less. i am feeding diamond naturals lamb and rice and have been for about a year i am verry happy with it with my dogs other than chuncky butt. i was just wondering if any one has a recomendation for a weight management dog food. to save any issues if you want to pm me that would be great. oh and i have tried the purina fit and trim and the diamond maintance formula and havent been that impressed.

oh and i do exersize him regularly we play frisby alot and i have had him pulling a sled
i keep telling him fat puppies dont fly as far but he just dont seem to get it. just gives me that dopy lab grin

Have you had him checked for Cushings and or had his thyroid checked? If he is gaining weight with lots of exercise and no change in the amount of food I would suspect something medical.

not yet its been since duck sesson ended so he hasnt been quite as active but we did a lot of hunting this year

I would think it would be worth it to have it checked. I am sure some of the vets can tell you more about what to get checked.

I would suggest feeding less than what even the bag recommends. We change Rocky's diet for the winter since he gets less outside time to run it off. We are feeding him less than recommended right now to keep him from gaining too much weight this winter. He always gains weight in the winter anyway. There are two ways to manage your dogs weight. It's either exercise or amount of food. Since Rocky runs like a fool all summer we end up having to over feed him for the warmer months.

We put our son's Alaskan Husky on a diet one winter. Couldn't figure out why he not only didn't lose weight, but was actually gaining.
We finally caught him getting into dog and human food that we thought we had adequately locked up. We made all that inaccessible. He still wasn't losing. I decided to watch him closely and found him making snacks out of unfortunate woodland and field creatures (mostly mice).
Mikey isn't finding any unauthorized food sources, is he?

When our black lab Katie gained a good amount of weight and being fed the usual recommended amount of food. The vet determined it was her thyroid. When we started her on thyrosyn the improvement and weight loss was dramatic. We noticed to that Katie had a pronounced loss of energy and slept All the time.

Ok this is an area I feel I can discuss. Most people who have been with UAD for awhile know my lab Belle. When we started with UAD Milt said Belle could use to "lose a few pounds". We thought she looked fine, she didn't eat much (3 cups a day) and got regular exercise. Then she got kennel cough and could not exercise for 3 weeks. She got up to almost 120 pounds. Now Belle is a BIG dog, but still. Even I knew she needed to lose weight. We started cutting back on her food but nothing happened. So we took her to the vet had complete blood work done (thyroid all the stuff) to make sure there was not a physical reason for her weight. I also discussed with my vet my concerns about cutting back on her food more. If she eats so little would she be getting enough nutrition? Belle's blood work was completely normal, and our vet suggested we get a "better" food than we were feeding, so we could feed her less and she would get more. So we did, and we started exercising.

That was in September, the following May we went to Mutt Strutt, no one and I mean no one recognized Belle. She was down to 85 lbs. Everyone said to me "if I did not see you on her leash I never would have recognized her". We did cut her food down to one "light" cup 2 times daily, and we exercised. She went for 4+ mile brisk walks almost daily, and if she didn't walk I got out the bike and we went for a run. She was running up to 3 miles. She actually started enjoying frisbee more as she lost the weight. She never jumped for the frisbee when she was heavy. Now she really goes airborn. And of course she loves to swim. We have kept the weight off her now for over 2 years. We get so many comments how beautiful she is and what good shape she is in. Now if I can only do this for myself

I think the biggest problem is we all "humanize" it and think when they give us the puppy dog eyes they are starving. Well just like a human, if you really need to lose weight you must "starve" some. They don't call them flabradors for nothing! To put food in your dogs stomach without calories you can add green beans or baby carrots. Dogs love them, and they don't add calories. I do suggest you start at the vet to make sure nothing is wrong, probably there is not, but it is the best place to start. You can help your dog, just don't give in to their BIG BROWN EYES. I wish I had before and after pics of Belle. She really did transform.

there is no way mikey is getting any extra food i keep it locked in a tote in a spare bedroom, i am going to check to make sure there is nothing medicly going on i cant say for sure how much he has gained but he has definetly porked up some i wouldnt call it extreamly over weight but something that needs niped in the butt befor it gets that far. i will try adding something like carrots to his food and mabey cut him back alittle more. the biggest thing is when hes on a deit i have to feed him in another room otherwise hebullys the other dogs to steal there food and those poor gsps have a hard enogh time keeping weight on. all they do is run. during

durring the summer mikey gets losts of exersize as we spend a couple hours a day on the dock at the lake. but the winter isnt exactly the easyst to get that extra bit in other than pulling the slead.
thanks for the info i have goten some great spots to start anyway. so we will see how he does
'

In the winter "I" am more liable to stay home than take the dogs for a walk. I hate the cold, so we cut back on their food in the winter, according to their reduced exercise now. In the summer when we are extremely active, they might get an increase.

The big thing is take an "honest" look at the exercise. If it is a 20-30 minute stroll, or chase a ball/frisbee for a little while, while it is not hurting them and is better than nothing it is not enough exercise. Especially if you need to lose pounds, the exercise needs to increase. You will find yourself in what I call a "catch 22" the more I exercise my dogs, the more I find they "need" exercise. Unfortunately there are only so many hours in a day and we all have other responsibilities too, just make sure the time you have counts.

You are lucky it is only a few pounds, that should not be too bad. You just have to set you mind and be strong. Those lab eyes will kill you I am telling you. LOL Belle still comes up to me sometimes when I am eating (I know I shouldn't let her, my bad) puts her nose really close to my face, starts sniffing then licking the air like trying to absorb more calories. She is not starving but you would never know it by her.

I wish Belle fit on the tread mill UAD gave us a year ago. I would definitely spend more time with my dogs on it. Teddi is getting the hang of it.

i let the dogs out during the day and ill let them stay out aslong as they want usually they are running and playing hard for a couple hours also mikey goes to work with me and we will play frisby in the shop a few times a day probbly an hour total give or take but i do feel he could use more how ever with my schedule right now its not possible

my boys actually have the opposite problem they never seem to gain weight my older dog who is 13 eats 4 cups of puppy food a day just to maintain his weight and he just had a full blood panel done and his levels were better than last. any how I teach agility classes and see many many fat dogs of all breed most of those people are feeding 3 to 4 cups of food to a couch potato dog. if you worried about lowering the food amount you can add no salt green beans instead of a 1/2 cup of food. you can also use canned pumpkin make sure there is no sugar. this will help the dog feel full and make you feel not so bad for cutting food back. I would have the blood panel done just to make sure things change quick good luck and keep us informed.

Bridget

As has been mentioned, green beans are a godsend. I often use them in place of dog food for my client's dogs so they feel better about cutting that extra half cup of food and the dog's feel fuller. It works!

Much less calories, same volume.

As for exercise, one thing to remember is that aerobic exercise counts more than anaerobic. That means that quick sprints to the frisbee aren't worth as much a long, regular walks. They can be, if done enough, but a few tosses here and there just aren't much.

It's like us going out and playing a game of football on the weekend. We get real sore (because our muscles worked hard in anaerobic activity because they were out of shape and thus ran out of oxygen quickly) but we don't lose weight. For losing weight, we have to elevate our heart rates over a sustained period of time. We have to walk, then jog, then run, every day. Same applies to them.

I know I'm guilty of thinking I exercise my dogs when I'm not really. But especially for a young active breed dog...you can't do it enough.

It's life.

Bottom line-I agree with Alisa that medical stuff is probably fine and that this is calories in, calories out. Drop the food a bit (add green beans or carrots for volume if you need to), up the exercise a bit, and go from there.

I speak not only as a veterinarian, but as a pet owner whose own dog lost 15 lbs after blowing a CCL. It happens to all of us, and we all fight it every day. After living through Molly's experience, I'm now very careful about diet on my Labs (and Hobie) and it changes all the time. Always in flux, depending on their condition, the weather, etc.

I told a family member in Florida about the Green Bean diet... adding a can of green beans to the bowl, with half of the normal amount of kibble. Anyway, her once obese yellow lab is now a svelte heart throb. She is now nicknamed "Bolt" because she's so fast and active.

Ironically, I'm kind of on the same diet! Seriously, I make green beans by the 3 lb. can and live on them for days, back it up with a little lean protein at each meal, and I can shed 10 pounds in a week. I'm on my third day today. I could wrestle someone to the ground for a piece of cheesecake or lasagna, though.

MaraLee

i have started mixing in the vegis with mikeys food he kida looked at me funny as if to say "what the H is this" but when he got hungry enogh he ate it. also i picked up a tread mill at a thrift shop i figure i can use it as much as mikey he wasnt to sure about it at first but hes comeing around.

I have to hand it to you maralee i couldnt diet like that i have become more a ware of what i eat and work on portion controll alot more but there is no way i could do that. hats off to you

Sounds like you've gotten a lot of good info/suggestions...

I just wanted to pop in on the thread and say that I found the "fat puppies don't fly as far" comment to be hilarious.

Oh the treadmill it the best thing in the winter especially if you have a dog who hates the cold like Lance does. sarge will go out lance refuses unless he has his snowsuit on...

we work 4 times a week on the treadmill and lance now goes on it on his own and i can do laundry and he will just run his happy spots right off.

start slow on the treadmill i used lots of treats....in your case you can use some of their dinner kibble. i used a leash too just to keep some control i slowly increased speed and sometimes a incline helps the dog...

good luck

Bridget

Just curious about the treadmill....how far (time/miles) do they go? I've never used one for a dog. Is it a human one or a fancy type just for dogs? (I've seen that type advertised and they seem a little outrageous!)

mines a human onw its older but works prety well its set at an incline and is more or les set at how fast you move on it you sort of push it along as you walk kinda wwird but it works i put him on it for about 30 min hes slowly figureing it out

Thanks for posting the diet ideas. We also have to start keeping tabs on what Gumpy eats. The pred makes him hungry all the time now. Last time he was on it he went up to 27lbs from his normal 19-20 lbs... I'm going to start the veggie thing with him and hope he feels better. I hate seeing the poor little guy hungry.

Koko, is 2 now but she has been running on our treadmill for 1 1/2 years. She loves it and climbs on all by herself, no leashes or anything. She runs on it anywhere from a mile to 2 miles almost everyday. When she is done she will not get off of it till she is instructed to do so. One of the advantages of a treadmill is there is much less impact on the joints.

I just had to share this little bit of info on mikey and his new diet. i fed him this morning like usuall with his carrots. he ate every thing around the carotts but would not touch them i saw him heading for karahs dish and told him to get back and finsish his. he went over sat down in front of his dish picked up 1 ate it and went to walk away without even thinking it i told him to get back and finish his vegies. it took im a few min but he finaly finished. it was just to funny hes like a little kid im going to try something diferent mabey green beans tomarow see if that goes better but it was just to funny watching him this morning

Here is Koko training for first competition in 2009.