I need some dog food advice again.

[My Peanuts]

Here's my situation. I give my dog’s Chicken soup for the dog lovers Soul. I love this food. It makes their hair shiny and I love the ingredients. Plus they seem to like it. Here's the problem... Harley and Morty are trim, but Sylvia is over weight. All three eat about the same, but Harley eats the most and all three are pretty active, but Harley is the most active. I've heard other people say the Chicken Soup food makes their dogs’ fat. My dogs are used to free eating, meaning they almost always have food available within reason. If they eat all their food for one day I just don't give them more. Since their food is dry, it can stay out all day. They have never abused the system. No one dog, even Sylvia, just keeps eating.

Anyway, I'm considering changing their food so Sylvia can lose weight, but all three will be switched. I'm looking for a good, premium food with ingredients simple to the Chick soup food. Can anyone recommend anything? It doesn't necessarily have to be light food.

[caseysmom]

I absolutely love california natural chicken and rice. There coats are shiny, their poops are small and there aren't many ingredients in the food. Casey is on weight management.

[My Peanuts]

Originally posted by caseysmom
I absolutely love california natural chicken and rice. There coats are shiny, their poops are small and there aren't many ingredients in the food. Casey is on weight management.

How much is it? Also, do you know anyway I can find a place near me that sells it? I know the Chicken Soup food has a website that shows stores that carry it. Do you know if California Natural has anything like that?

[lv4dogs]

You can try to experiment with different foods but remember it may take up to a few months to see any results and switch them over gradually.

But I would think that you may have trouble no matter what type of food you go with.
It seems as if Sylvia's matabolism may be different than your other 2. You never know but logic says to me that the only way it would work is to limit her food or to keep them on different diets.
But since you did say that CSFTDLS makes some dogs fatter it may just be that food, but why wouldn't your other 2 be fatter too?

California natural is a good food too.

I feed mine Nutro natural choice & never had any problems.

[beeniesmom]

How about mixing in vegetables into Sylvia's food (carrots, green beans).
Just mix it in with the dog food you use.
It will be lighter for her.
Just a thought.

[caseysmom]

Here are the stores in Ill.

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=store-results&country=USA&state=IL&phone=&city=&name=&x=15&y=5
I don't remember what I pay, its not cheap.

[My Peanuts]

Thanks, one of those places is only 8 minutes from my house :D

[caseysmom]

I am thinking when I bough 40lbs it was about $28 and when I bought 20 lbs it was around $20, that is just an estimate.


Casey is very prone to vomiting and diarreah, this food has been really easy on her tummy.

[My Peanuts]

That's not a bad price. The Chicken soup food is about $16 for 16lbs I think. 40lbs around here would last about 2 1/2 months :)

[caseysmom]

Yeah I stopped buying the 40lbs because it just takes casey too long to eat it and bubba gets the puppy food. Just make sure to check the dates on the bag because they don't put too many preservatives, I have never had a problem.

[Giselle]

Honestly, I don't think the problem is the food. Actually, I think you should reconsider free-feeding. Free feeding has often led to obesity (surprise surprise ;)), bloat, and, acutally, boredom with the kibble. I would HIGHLY encourage you to feed twice a day VS free feeding before you try a new food.

I feed CSFTDLS to Giselle and she adores it! She has always maintained a healthy 57-ish pounds and we're pretty lazy, LOL. Here's a link to free-feeding:
http://www.lucythewonderdog.com/free-feeding.htm


For most dogs, getting two meals per day is ideal. (Puppies and lactating females should get one extra meal per day.) Because dogs will often overeat, free feeding (leaving a full dish of chow out all day long) can lead to obesity, the number one nutritional problem for pooches today.
-http://www.pamperedpuppy.com/features/200409_feedingpt2.php


Free Feeding

Some dogs go their whole lives eating without a schedule, having food left out all the time. Several things can cause this to suddenly become a problem, though.

If you add another dog to the household, or another dog comes to visit, you'll need to separate the free feeder from the other dog whenever they eat. The free feeder will suddenly not have constant access to the dish.

Dogs can develop medical problems from going too long without food. The free-feeder dog is of course not aware of needing to eat every so many hours. As a result, these dogs become candidates for things like seizures from hypoglycemia.

Free-feeding dogs often become overweight or underweight after awhile, resulting in the need to adjust food amounts. You'll need to convert the dog to scheduled feeding then.

Some boarding situations will require that your dog be able to eat on schedule rather than free-feeding. This would be especially true if a friend or relative with a dog needed to keep your dog for you.

Free-feeding a puppy makes housetraining more difficult. When a dog eats on a regular schedule, bowel movements occur on a regular schedule. That helps you figure out when your dog will need a potty outing.

-http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1549&S=1&SourceID=47

So, my advice is stick to CSFTDLS if it's obviously working for you. Just feed according to a schedule and watch how much your *individual* dogs are eating. Remember, when you free feed, you're dumping around 3-6 cups in a single dish allowing your three dogs to pick and choose who gets most. As far as we're concerned, Sylvia could be eating 3 cups while your other two pups are eating a single cup each. Good Luck with Sylvia and update us on her condition!

[dukedogsmom]

I've always heard that dogs shouldn't be free fed but that's just me. Duke eats once or twice a day, depending on his hunger. He gets a can of food at night with his dry. If he's hungry in the morning, he eats the dry that's in his bowl. He's on a special gastric food. Purina EN.

[AllAmericanPUP]

Switching the dog to a different food isnt going to help her/him lose weight....even if it's a "weight loss" food..

You need to reconsider the free feeding, because your dog has access to food all day they are allowed to eat more than they should wich is what makes your one dog fat...

if you feed a set amount and feed twice a day, your dog will lose weight.:)

also increase exercise

[finn's mom]

Hey, did you decide what you were going to do about the food issue?

[My Peanuts]

I was looking into the California food, but now I'm rethinking the free feeding. To be honest, Sylvia really doesn't eat more than the other two. I'm pretty sure Harley eats a lot more than Syl. There is always someone home with my dogs and everyone says they never see Syl eat. She literally eats two little pieces of food then walks away. Harley crunches down a whole bowl at a time and he’s a perfect weight. I know it's weird, but I think it's her metabolism. I'm going to talk to my family about getting them on a schedule. They have a potty schedule which seems to work, so a feeding one should work.

[Suki Wingy]

I read a study done with a litter of goldens or labs, half were free fed and lived to about 9 and half were fed twice a day and lived to about 14 or something.:(

[Giselle]

Originally posted by Suki Wingy
I read a study done with a litter of goldens or labs, half were free fed and lived to about 9 and half were fed twice a day and lived to about 14 or something.:(
WHOA! I've never even heard of that! Hmm, were these guys tested in laboratories or were they in loving family homes? I know Wysong tests family pets, instead of of actual Labs in labs. :(

[cali]

it does not matter if she eats the same amount as the other 2, if she's overweight she is eating to much, plus she does not exersize as much as the other 2, so she wont work it off like the other 2. the amount of food you feed should corrolate with the amount of exersize the dog has had BEFORE the meal. for example, if a dog has lots of exersize one day they should be fed enugh food to make up for what they lost, and if the dog gets veryt little exersize one day then that day the meal should be smaller.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Originally posted by lv4dogs
It seems as if Sylvia's matabolism may be different than your other 2.

That's what I think too. Pugs are prone to obesity and JRTs aren't. JRTs in general have a high metabolism therefore wouldn't be as likely to become obese.

I too recommend no longer free feeding. Offer them their food (each in their own dish) and take up anything that isn't eaten after 10-15 minutes. Green beans with Sylvia's food is a great idea. I would also go with a reduced calorie diet for her. I'd keep the other two on their regular food as long as you are happy with it.

[My Peanuts]

Ok, here's what I did. I am going to stick with the Chicken Soup food for the time being, but there are a few other changes. Sylvia, Harley, & Morty are on a schedule now. They eat at 10am and 8pm. I get them to eat all their food at once instead of walking away from it with baby food. I take 1 small jab per meal (they like the chicken dinner one) and I mix it with water. Enough water to make gravy for all 3 bowls. Then I heat it up and put it over their dry food. They love it. Plus, each can is only about 40 calories and that gets spit 3 ways. We will see how long this works with these picky little guys! :p

[Giselle]

That sounds greyt! Good Luck with the diet and remember to exercise Sylvia no matter what. Exercise will help burn off a lot of that extra chub ;) My Peke was starting to put on a little chub way back when, but I started bringing him along Giselle's walks and he's burnt off a good 2 or so pounds. You could also hurdle Sylvia (not necessarily agility). That ought to give her some good exercise! :) Good Luck!