Tips on how to help our dog lose weight please

[Memphisbelly]

We have a lab x collie he is 5 yo and weighs 36kg.he has 2 really good walks a day minimum, he used to have only a couple of treats a week (gravy bones) but have even stopped those on advice of the vet.
They said he is 6 kg overweight and to feed him the food for a 30kg dogwhich he wasn't far off. I cannot remember the name of the food we have as we tip it into a bin and my dh collects it but its one with no additives, its turkey and rice dry mix, the vet wants me to go onto prescription food from them which is very expensive or halve his food again in quantity which i don't want to do, he doesn't act starving or scrounge.

His build is a lab body with a collie head so he looks bigger than he is if that makes sense.
I have a friend that shows dogs and she thinks diet food for dogs is useless if they are on a good food already.

Any advice? Thank you in advance

[tabulahrasa]

Diet food is only really useful if you have a dog you're struggling to get weight off and they're already on tiny meals and complaining of hunger.

Otherwise, just feed less.

If you're going by the amount per size of dog recommended by the manufacturer...most dogs will put on weigh on that amount of food.

My dog has about half what it says to feed him on the bag tbh.

Also weigh it, don't rely on doing it by sight.

[MehsMum]

Feed less. There's no need to buy expensive vet-advised food. If your dog complains about being hungry, a rawhide chew (hardly any calories) might keep him busy.

To save weighing his food out every time, work out what he should have, and then use a marked measure. As tabula said, don't go by the advice on the bag.

If you do want to give him treats (for training etc) give a little less food, and buy treats you can break into real tiny pieces. I have a (big) dog who will gallop up from 200 yards or more away for something half the size of my little fingernail.

And keeping on walking - can you incorporate some really active play into that, like retrieving a ball?

[Memphisbelly]

Thanks for advice. I give 200g of food twice a day (I was giving 300g twice a day)
I have a 5yo ds and he plays contantly with him and a ball and dh goes jogging with him too.

He doesn't look fat but you can't feel his ribs. My vet said its a lot of weight he needs to lose I am just baffled that I seem to be doing everything right but he is still classed as big?

[tabulahrasa]

Obviously it'll depend on the food...but that sounds like a lot of food to me.

My dog is usually about 39kg...that weight means you can see his last rib and he has a visible waist and undertuck.

He gets 250-300g of food split between 2 meals depending on how active he's been that day.

[basildonbond]

You should be able to feel his ribs with light pressure

It's very simple, unless he's on steroids or there's some other medical reason why he finds it hard to lose weight, if he weighs too much then he's eating too much for his level of activity

6kg on a dog that size is a lot ... you can cut the amount you're feeding gradually so it's less of a shock to his system (i.e. each day feed him 10g less) but it will take time and consistency. Any treats need to come out of his daily allowance.

And definitely weight the amount you're giving him as people nearly always underestimate how much they're feeding

[basildonbond]

And like tabulahrasa I think 400g is an enormous amount of food for a dog his size - that's more than twice what my dog gets and he's the size of a medium collie (he weighs 17kg)

[Lovelydiscusfish]

I guess, just like for humans, it's eat less, move more.

When you say two really good walks, how far do you mean? Could you increase them? Can he be off lead for longer? Does he currently tear around much when off lead, or does he walk sedately to heel? If the latter, worth looking at what you can do to encourage him to explore more.

Re the jogging, I am fully prepared to stand corrected but I thought it was not advisable to go running with your dog? Because the dog may need to stop and rest when you don't? I imagine there might be a particular risk for a dog who currently needs to build his fitness (and especially in the hot weather), but I gather it's a bit risky fir any dog. This is what dh assures me - hence why he both runs miles himself a day, and also separately walks the dog for miles twice a day, rather than combining the two (time consuming) activities. He could be wrong, but worth checking out.

I'd just like to say, at the risk of sounding patronising, good on you for confronting your dog's weight problem, and doing something about it. Round here (in the countryside!) we are surrounded by overweight dogs, and the owners all either in denial, or don't care.

My own dog looks too thin to me, tbh, but we're assured by our vets that she's just the right weight for her breed and size. She's nine, but so playful and active she's often mistaken for a puppy! So it's well worth the effort of getting and keeping the weight off, I would say. Good luck!

[Memphisbelly]

Wow it looks like such a small amount ok I will cut it down gradually. I was only told 2 weeks ago to help him lose weight And for one week of that he was in a kennel.
We only used to give him a couple of gravy bones on a weekend as treats make make his backside stink so I am thankful he isn't used to treats.
I really appreciate all of your help

[tabulahrasa]

Lovely - there's no reason not to run with a healthy adult dog, yes you'd need to do it gradually rather than just going for a full on 10k run one day, but other than that it's fine.

[Memphisbelly]

X post lovely dh jogs with him over a field, not huge distances and he is off the lead (we are rural too) so he isn't pushing him, he sometimes overtakes and sometimes strolls behind. When we walk he gets walked on a lead to the fields then gets let off and we throw a ball for quite a while, he 'tells us' when he is tired as he refuses to give the balls back and starts to walk back across the field.
Not patronising at all there are lots of dogs here that look overweight and I even met a woman in local shop this week buying creme fraise (sp?) for her dogs daily pudding 'as he gives her lots of joy so she wants to repay him' I want our dog to be healthy in the long run even if he will be giving me evils over his dog bowl for a fee weeks.

[MehsMum]

Re running with dogs, you need to be careful in hot weather, as dogs retain heat more easily than humans and find it harder to lose. If you get home and your dog seems to be panting excessively, chuck a wet towel over his back to cool him down and keep a close eye on him until he's back to normal.

All that said, our big dog LOVES running: if anyone appears in their running kit he starts leaping about dementedly. He regularly does runs of 3m (me) or up to 15m (DH): he and DH did work up to those distances gradually, but now DH gets back knackered and MehDog is raring for more...

[ender]

Just feed less. I don't think exercise makes much difference.
My lab put on weight after he was neutered at 3yrs, so I cut back his food by a third and its stayed at that amount for the past 2 yrs. He lost the weight quite quickly and he's stabilised at 28kg which is perfect for him.

[Toomuch2young]

If your dog is hungry on reduced ration you can add some bran or some butternut squash. Both are high fibre so he feels full but low fat. You can also dehydrate butternut squash in the oven to make chewy treats for your dog.
Weigh the food out in a tub the night before and once that is gone it's gone. I'd give a third for breakfast, a third for dinner and a third for treats while training.
No extras. Tooth brushing is better than any chew for teeth hygiene so consider that.
If he eats quickly then consider feeding out of balls or scatter feeding to slow the process of him
eating, he will feel more satisfied that way also.
Ball throwing is very high impact for a dog who is overweight and prone to arthritis. The running fast and the sudden stops are high impact. Swimming is great for fitness and weight loss.
Good luck.

[BertrandRussell]

When we first got out dog she put on weight because we were used to feeding cats so just put food down when she asked for it . Now I weigh out a day's worth into a plastic box and that's it. She lost the weight very quickly. We add leftover vegetables to it to bulk it out a bit and use little bits of leftover cooked chicken or meat for treats rather than the bought ones. she loves curry though and always has a spoonful when we have a takeaway

[BertrandRussell]

Gosh- 400g seems a lot! Are you sure that's right?

[Battleshiphips]

I never give our dog the amount of food it tells me to. It says he should be eating 2 trays a day but he just about eats one and he is a very healthy weight. He is a rescue dog and the only dog food he will eat is aldi ones in the trays! If it's "human" food though he hoovers anything down!

[PUGaLUGS]

My dog has lost 2kg. Not a lot but she is little.

We have done his by longer walks, less food, no treats apart from the odd strawberry or raspberry (which she loves).

Her food is weighed out about every 10 days into small bags. The vet didn't try and sell me any diet food, just said to cut down and by how much and to put her on a "light" version of her own food. She gets 1 1/4 oz morning and evening.

[ender]

Don't feel guilty if your dog seems hungry all the time, he's a lab cross and labs are always hungry.
Mine found 2 dead ducks out on the river mud and I was forced to watch as he ate the lot, beaks, feathers, everything. He still expected his dinner a few hours later and spent the evening whining and looking at me accusingly because I wouldn't give it to him.

[KinkyAfro]

I think you're feeding him too much. My dog is on 300g a day which is split into 2 meals so 150g per meal and she's a lab and weighs 38 kg

[MarcoPoloCX]

Do not over feed by being kind. Eating healthily, right amount and exercise is key. Heavy weight put stress on their joints.

[Adarajames]

My girl was obese when she arrived as a rescue foster and bouncing off walls hyper as fed bakers = utter crap! I switched her to raw food and even on suggested amount for dog her size without reducing it, the weight came off easily and she was far better behaved too, and no signs of constant hunger either. She loves the raw food too

[Memphisbelly]

Just wanted to thank everyone for advice and update, he has already lost 3kg just by cutting down his food. Vet says to weigh again in 4 weeks and reckons he will be at 30kg by then.

He has been ok on the reduced food but did guilt trip my mum, we went out for the day and she went in to walk him and spend a bit of time with him and he was banging his bowl with his paw, she gave him a full cup thinking in our rush to leave we had forgot to feed him he got double his allowed amount that day!

[PUGaLUGS]

3kg is great. Brilliant news.

Ddog is with my parents for three weeks whilst we are on holiday. I weighed out 42 bags of food to go with her. My mum is a sucker for ddog's eyes when she sits opposite my mum when she is eating. Mum says she feels guilty for not giving her anything.

[Loafliner]

Cutting down on carbs helps humans lose weight....is it possible that dogs are gaining due to all the carby fillers in dog food.
I feed my dog a raw meat diet - what seems like enormous amounts of meat and he doesn't put weight on. All his treats are dried meat too.