Overweight Pooch

[SausageDogNamedBrenda]

Went for a check up today as part of vet scheme. I knew our Lab had put on weight since being nuetured but omg he's 60Kg!!
He's only 5 years old, I stopped treats a few months back but habits creep back and he gets the odd titbit.
We have joined doggy fat club😀
He has 2 meals and 3 walks a day. Not sure how I can help him, he has a carrot mid day and a tiny biscuit at bedtime.
Any tips?

Photo of the chunk🥰

Petplan paid for mine, just needed a vet referral. Think it was for 10 sessions.

I echo others when they have said weigh food. Weigh every meal, don't think you can do it by sight because before you know it, his meals will have crept up again.

My old dog was as fit as a fiddle and never had an issue with weight. Our new girl is a different matter. Less active (a natural sloth) and spayed just before we adopted her. She gained a fair bit and I was surprised at how much and how quickly.

She has 2 weighed out meals a day, one natural treat a week (her meal is adjusted slightly to accommodate this).
She has 2 walks a day - the morning walk is a sniffy stroll, the afternoon walk is brisk. She can't be off lead but this combo of measured food and speed walking has worked a treat.

Good luck!

Update!
He hates celery 😃 wouldn't even entertain it, so a carrot it is.
He likes melon and banana but hates apple .
I discovered today they do a 'light' version of his food too

When our lab (now 9 years old) got neutered the vet gave us a post op care leaflet which told us to cut his food by a whopping 30% and monitor his weight, only increasing if he lost weight, we never had to increase it. He flucuates between 29-31kgs so we still keep a close eye on it.

60kgs is ridiculously heavy, especially as he doesnt look like he has the big head of a show line which can be heavier. Sorry to say it but you are right to feel guilty as he needs you to monitor his health, why on earth has the vet not mentioned it before now?

Cut right back on his meals and treat him with games instead. Take some kibble out of his daily allowance and put in a treat dispensing toy so it takes time to get out. If you feed him any leftovers etc always take them out of his weighed daily food allowance.

And take him to the vets every couple of weeks to make sure he is losing weight and keep doing it until he is a healthy weight. If weight not going down reduce weighed food further. It shouldn't cost to just pop in and use their scales.

When we took our spotty dog on , she’d was 5 and came from London . She’d never been off the lead in her life . She was 42 kilos , which is a LOT for a Dalmatian. We put her on specialist dry food , which was designed for severely obese and diabetic dogs , and measured out her daily amount into a glass jar . She was allowed a few as treats from the jar, and she was allowed broccoli which she loves, but that was it . We started her on gentle off lead walks , which we gradually increased as she got fitter , and when she lost a bit and then plateaued , reduced the food a little more so she would lose the weight a bit more again . It took 18 months , but she’s now under 30 kilos , and so , so much happier for it . She’s never going to be slim and elegant ( like her owner , she was born to be flumpy ) but she has a waist , and more energy , and is so better behaved as well .

There is no way he is 60kg!!!!!

Why do you think that?

He could easily be 60kg judging by that picture.

He couldn’t be!!! I’m not even 60kg. There is no way he could be that weight? Is there?

My uncle had a huge Bull Mastiff (like a lion) and he was only about 60kg

Dogs can be surprisingly heavy. Don't compare them to people as they're built very very differently.

Dogs should be slim - you should be able to feel their ribs when you run your hands gently down their sides and they should have a noticeable "tuck" at the waist that's visible from the dog - I would even argue that being able to see the last rib on your dog is a good thing too.

It doesn't take much for a dog to tip into the overweight category - an extra treat or two a day will do it. I say that as the owner of a beagle who put on a lot of weight post-castration 😳

Labs should, when healthy, weigh around 30kg on average - males a bit more, females less. Show labs will typically weigh more than working ones too.

My lab is very slim and not particularly tall and still weighs 26kg. This lab looks easily double her size so can believe he is 60kg.

Picture of a healthy lab which is probably around 29-30kgs. Notice the length of the legs, especially the back ones, when they are not very overweight. OPs lab should look like this instead of looking very short legged and barrel like.

He is actually a show lab with a box head, his dad is exactly the same. And yes he really is 60Kg!!
The vet only ever mentioned his weight when he was neutered, saying to be careful he doesn't put any on🙄
I can now see how easy it was for him to put on the weight, a bit of cheese here, a bit of ham there, a biscuit at bedtime.
He is our first dog and the bad habits started straight away at puppy class being encouraged to carry treats for recall etc.
Well that's all stopped now!
I've weighed his food, he was having 480g which is the recommended highest amount on the food packet, I'm now giving him 400g and will cut it down again.
The friends at the dog park have been asked not to give him a treat.
I'm going to start taking him to "doggy weight watchers" at our vet. It's a free class and I need educating and want to keep a close eye on his progress 🤞

He is our first dog and the bad habits started straight away at puppy class being encouraged to carry treats for recall etc.

There's nothing wrong with using treats and they're a great way to train your dog - you just need to take treats out of their daily food allowance.

So, now you've weighed out his food allowance, used that. Or, if that's not high-value enough for him, use a low-fat natural treat and reduce the amount of food he gets at mealtimes to compensate.

I would say 400g is still too much to be honest, but you can always reduce it further.

That was the mistake, he had treats on top of his allowance as a puppy!
I have started with 400g but will take it down again, I didn't want to shock him🤣

I glad you are going to go to weight clinic. He needs to loose nearly 50% of his body weight and to do this you need trained clinical support. The RVN will have studied nutrition during their training (they do a big unit on calculating energy requirements and calculating food consumption) and will be able to assist in the weight loss being safe.

@Lonecatwithkitten that's good to know.
I need support, I have been looking at old photos of him and I can't believe how suddenly the weight has piled on😒

Just an update if anyone is interested....
Took doggo to the vet today to be weighed and also as he has hurt his leg. He was running round the park and there are some potholes that the spaniels have created and he tripped down one and has apparently hurt a ligament in his knee 🤪
Weight wise he has lost 2.2Kg in 3 weeks.
Apparently we should be aiming for 40kg
And he also shouldn't be having carrots, as they contain too much sugar. He's been having 1 a day🙄

You're doing well with the weight loss. Have you considered things like broccoli stalks and radishes as treats?

Or really really tiny treats - you can get some minute ones. Just subtract what he's getting from his day's kibble.

I was just googling what other veg he could have, broccoli stalks is a good idea. Someone said fresh peas too?
Now he has to have 5 days rest so won't be exercising so i will have to be extra wary of what he's eating.

Congratulations on the weight loss, and well done for taking this seriously. Keep us posted!

Thankyou! I'm holding myself responsible for his weight gain so I have to help him get it off.
It's taken DH a while to stop him giving the dog titbits from his plate. I'm training them both😃
shame I can't follow my own advice and stop stuffing my face

I also have a dieting dog and you definitely win slimmer on the month 🏆! We had our vet visit today and he’s put on weight since last time (just over 3 weeks) 😫i was convinced he’d lost. He’s on steroids so vet did say it will be a harder slog.

My cat adores broccoli!

Can you have his meals in a kong or anything else to use his brain more and make his meals last longer like a puzzle feeder.