Help - Frank STILL putting on weight!!!!!

[Pippin]

Please can we have some advice.

Frank had his monthly weigh-in at the vets and has gone UP this month to whopping 42.5kg. He's supposed to be going the other way aiming for a more gentle and easier on his hips 37kg.
He gets two 3/4 hour walks a day, one of which is sometimes with a ball, plus at least one half hour+ walk during the middle of the day. At the weekend he gets his normal two plus extras such as a couple or three miles in the country or a good swim with his ball at the beach. He gets exactly 300g dry food per day bulked up with Farm Foods diced swede - 2.5kg per week. He also gets a few dog biscuits a day as treats, probably about 4-5 if were are feeling mean or if he has been naughty, or 7-8 otherwise - we break them in half so he thinks he's getting lots through the day. He also gets a couple of small rawhide chews each day, are these very calorific?. Can we cut his main food down further, or like me, does he need more excersise? Actually he's putting on the weight me and G are losing!!!!!!

Any advice gratefully appreciated

Thanks

D n G

[LabRes1]

what food do you use?

When ben was 50+ kg we couldnt get him to loose weigth- we had him on Hills Diet Food - it was a fortume but you would think that it should do the trrick wouldnt you - until the vet told us to look at the fat and oil content
we soon changed him over to wainwrights adult lite (25% less fat) and he started to loose weight -

[playpen]

Tubby Taffy had the same problem when we fed him Hills rd and we also tried Hills light with no success.

We ended up feeding him diced swede plus one of those small square trays of meat that they feed to what I call "Handbag dogs" on ie.(Ceasar's)plus training treats per day.

He has one hour "off lead" and shopping trips exercise per day.

He lost a kilo a month for three months and is now at his fighting weight.

Having said that, Taffy is in the 25 kilo class and a lab would proberbly need twice that amount of meat to stay healthy.

Hope this helps.

John

[choccielover]

when we got oscar in sept 07 he was over 53kg. he now weighs in at just under 32kg. I've fed him on james welbeloved senior/light. he has 2 or 3 walks a day (during the week he has a 3rd walk when hubby comes home lunch time) - but his weekday walks aren't usually that far - prob 20mins first thing, out for 10-15 mins at lunch time and then I try to be out for longer in the evening. At the weekend I aim to do one of his two daily walks at 1hr +. Oscar has the occasional treat on a Sat/Sun evening - maybe a pigs ear or a chew of some sort but other than that he just has his dried food. I'm feeding him 150g twice daily now. When he was 'dieting' I fed him the food appropriate to a lower weight - so for example when he weighed 45kg I fed him at the 40kg weight. Now I don't want him to lose any more so have upped it just a bit. Helen

[kathryn]

Every dog is different as is every human, is he nuetered at all ? if so then his metabolism will be very slow, as it does slow down in nuetered dogs.

My Paddy is on a diet he is a big dog but we have used every food we can went back to the vet and had a chat and they suggested going back onto hills RD but give him less than the recommended dose,also for a treat give him a Ryvita as these are only about 25-30 cals each.Basically if he is putting it on, then his metobalism is just getting enough food to keep at that weight...

Went back for our weigh in and Paddy has lost 3kg in 6 weeks so it working for us..

HTH...

[Simon]

Jess came to us and she was a very unhappy 45kg! Poor girl and was immediatly put on a very strict diet. I have always fed my dogs on Arden Grange. I know discussion is endless on dog food but it has always worked for my beaties. Target weight was 35kg and I added another KG on because of the her being spayed. I notice that you give treats, I have to say I have not given any extra treats what so ever. If Jess and now Paddy have a small reward it is a few kibble from their next food allowance - so all in all they take in no more than the prescribed amount. Maybe the treats need to go - I see a dogs diet like a medicine really, as it is urgent to get their weight down. In addition to the dry food I have given one egg a week and one tin of tuna a week. It all sounds really mean, but Jess was very used to tit bits when she came to us, and now does not fly to the kitchen when she hears the toaster ping!

As Kathyrn said each dog is different and maybe you might need to change the food, to suit your chap! Are you giving him the amount of food for the desired weight? If you really felt that his food was not substantial enough, then some fresh veg will bulk it out. BUt I do think all those treats have to go straight away, as they could be undoing all that lovely exercise he has been getting.

Good luck - and I am sure you will win Just Be Strong and resist those labeyes!!

Simon

[Glenys]

One thing that springs to mind here is if you are walking him all that time dont forget fat turns to muscle which still weighs and people like dogs will not all weigh the same

Vets have this ideal weight for labs which is sorry but is rubbish there is no blueprint for a lab some will be 28 Ks some will be 48 Ks some are big heavy bones some are light ones .
I wouldnt worry maybe take him swimming a few times a month.
Also add some bran into his meal,Ian got Ben down with cooked turnip i believe like people dogs are different sizes it his fitness that matters and he looks pretty good in the photo.

[Flinty]

Hi,

I know you will feel mean but cut out all of the dog biscuits and any treats and make sure he only gets his meals and nothing else.
When we got Minni she was huge (59.5KG) but we had her on hills and over about 10 months she lost just over 20 kg.
http://www.homealabrador.net/bb/viewtop ... ilit=minni
I did do some stuff for Hill as she was on Hills RD and the vet was saying that if you give your dog one extra biscuit a day over the year it would add 1 lb to them. If you want to give Frank treats then take a little of his dry food out of his daily meal and give him that.

Also as Glenys has said mussel weighs more than fat so don't think he is simply putting on weight. In human terms obese would actually apply to Arnold Schwarzenager because of the weight of his mussels while it's obvious to anyone that he isn't fat.

If Frank has a waist line and doesn't look fat then he probably isn't.

[jackie]

Agree the actual weight of the dog is not the only way to decide if he is overweight, all dogs vary. I always go by the body condition score chart rather than the actual weight as it is meaningless.

Here is a link to one which might help you assess Frank http://www.vetcetera.com/pdf/BodyConditionScore.pdf

I do agree with cutting back on treats too, one or two a day only and raw hides once a week maybe. Try giving raw carrots instead and I always use kibble for treats and then reduce that from their daily feed.

Good luck!

Jackie x

[Pippin]

Thank you very much everyone for all your advise we really appreciate it.

The body chart was a great help and has given us confidence as we think he falls between 3 and four so hopefully with us changing his treats to carrots and incorporating some bran into his diet Frank will be a "Loser" next weigh in

I have to say that we agree with Glenys that Frank has gained some muscle since we have had him, so that will definitely explain a slight increase but we must endeavour not let him get any bigger so let's hope he drops some kilos this month as he will feel happier (I ceratinly did!).

We adore the "Wee" lad regardless of his spare tyres and will be taking him on a new adventure walk tomorrow where he will experience a whole new world of smells!

We will keep you updated and once again thank you for helping us

G & D

[Pippin]

Thanks for the tips - Frank is now going the right way, lost 2.5kgs last month and just loves carrots to chew.
Getting fitter too been out safari-ing for 4 hours today and is now flopped on the rug.

D n G

[jackie]

Fantastic news - well done

Jackie x

[cheekygit]

i put young addy on a diet 3 weeks ago to get him fighting fit for the summer as i went to see a gundog training friend a couple of months ago and he said he was on the cusp of being over weight. in the last 3 weeks he has managed to pinch 2 full loaves of bread and a full tub of marge off the worktop, which is mighty impressive considering on all 3 occasions ive only been out of the house 10 minutes a time

[Diesel Kate]

i put young addy on a diet 3 weeks ago to get him fighting fit for the summer as i went to see a gundog training friend a couple of months ago and he said he was on the cusp of being over weight. in the last 3 weeks he has managed to pinch 2 full loaves of bread and a full tub of marge off the worktop, which is mighty impressive considering on all 3 occasions ive only been out of the house 10 minutes a time

SORRY Cannot help but



Sounds just like Balee

[jackiem]

i put young addy on a diet 3 weeks ago to get him fighting fit for the summer as i went to see a gundog training friend a couple of months ago and he said he was on the cusp of being over weight. in the last 3 weeks he has managed to pinch 2 full loaves of bread and a full tub of marge off the worktop, which is mighty impressive considering on all 3 occasions ive only been out of the house 10 minutes a time

Labs will be labs.
Bob's on a diet too as he needs to lose 3kg. He's turned to eating sheep poo.