Loose weight

[Raz_Taz_88]

How do you get your pet to lose weight. my dog daisy is 10 pounds over weight. she is such a sweety but nothin works

[KYS]

How do you get your pet to lose weight. my dog daisy is 10 pounds over weight. she is such a sweety but nothin works>>>>>>

This is a silly question, but have you tried feeding her less and walking her more etc.?
They have foods on the market for
low energy dogs.
If the answer is yes, you might want to
mention it with your vet to make shure she does not have a medical problem such
as thyroid.

[carrie]

Check with your vet to meke sure she is healthy. Split her food into two meals and reduce the total daily intake by an eighth. Give her no extras at all. Up her excersise time and encourage her to run when she is off the lead. If she isn't losing weight in two weeks reduce her food again by an eighth. When she has lost the weight increase her food by very small amounts every week until she is on an even keel and stick to it.

[Raz_Taz_88]

It's hard to split her weight cause we usaly leave the food out all day and she eats when ever she wants to. Also we have another dog whos not over weight.

[ownerof3dogs]

when I had to get my dog to loss weight I put my dog on Purina Fit and Trim split into three different meals through out the day along with exercise.

[lhg0962]

Raz Taz...
I think leaving the food out all day for her is part of the problem. Lilly, our larger Golden Retriever, was gaining weight too. Our vet told me that as puppies, you should just keep food out all the time, but once she hit about a year old, he suggested feeding them one time a day. He said they will learn to eat it when it is there. I have two dogs, almost the same age, one that wasn't overweight. Lilly's weight gain stopped and she actually trimmed up a little. I make sure that when I do feed them in the mornings, it is a GREAT meal ! They actually stand there by the empty bowl, waiting for me to feed them. My vet assured me that they are getting enough. I do give them a Milk Bone in the evenings as a special treat. Sometimes they make that morning meal last all day as they know they aren't going to get anymore.
Hope this helps.

[ktreva52]

Well, you don't mention how old the dog is, so this may not sound too weird, but you might switch her to a senior food. This is specially formulated for older dogs, but is also lower in fats and protein so the slower metabolism can handle it better. However, do check with your vet first, get a clean bill of health, switch her gradually and I would really urge you to put her on two feedings per day so you can be aware of how much she eats or even if she's eating at all. Frequently, going off the diet is one of the early signs of disease, but how can you tell if she nibbles throughout the day? It is not difficult to switch her to two feedings, simply start out putting a measured amount into her bowl in the morning and then another measured amount in the evening. Ordinarily, I would say to take the bowl up after 15-20 minutes, but at this point I'd only recommend it for the evening feeding. It won't take Daisy long to figure out that she better get in there and eat or it'll be gone. I know free feeding is more convenient, but you wouldn't do that with your children, so why do it with someone that cannot tell you if things are not okay with her? Observing her food intake is one of the ways you can know and also one of the ways to regulate the weight -- and overweight is no better for dogs than it is for people, but they usually have less choice about it.
Also, NO PEOPLE FOOD AT ALL!!!! It isn't all good for us and even less so for dogs as they have a slightly different physiology than we do. My dog currently gets 2/3 of a cup of premium food twice a day. Yes, I actually scoop it out with a measuring cup because at one time she was tremendously overweight and on the wrong food. She was diagnosed with bladder stones and they wanted to operate ($600 for the surgery). I got her switched to a senior premium food, cut out the people food and cut back on treats, and she is eleven and a half now and was diagnsed with the stones when she was about four. No evidence of them now. We had another dog that was overweight and when we switched her to senior premium food, she lost the weight and looked and acted like a two-year-old at the ripe old age of 12+. Lymphoma did her in. Good luck.

[This message has been edited by ktreva52 (edited December 07, 2000).]