weight problem

hi
my dog star shes 2 years old now , shes a bull mastiff and quite a big girl in both ways ,her sister storm was the same but cutting food down and changing to a dry complete and excersize seem to work wonders ,But Star hates excersizing and seems to laze around alot ,I take her out and in the garden she just wont run about she goes out to the loo then back in and goes to sleep again , Shes pinching food from everywhere , I realy don't know what to do , I cant seem to get that weight off her at all and as shes that size its playing havok on the back legs she lies down and limps when she gets up shes fine after a while , The vet told me to watch her weight on her legs but shes being difficult ,she's taken out on a harness and muzzle she's a softy in the home but gets very aggressive when outside so i cannot let her off her leash either, i feed her dry complete once a day and the children have stopped giving her snacks .
Any ideas?
thanks
carol

I'm shocked your vet just told you 'to watch her weight on her limbs' and didn't recommend/prescribe a food specifically for weight loss??:confused: Ask the veterinarian to do so! What does Star's daily diet consist of? What brand of food? Wet or Dry food? How much each day? How often do you feed her? According to the AKC, Bullmastiff's should weight from 100-130 lbs. How much does Star weigh?

You said she limps when she gets up? She could very well have arthritis in her hips/back legs.... If she was older (7-8) I would just think she was stiff from laying down for awhile when she got up. But she's only 2, so arthritis could be a possibility.

she has dry complete food once a day about 4 cup fulls , she weighs about 9 and a half stone to 10 stone about 140lbs in weight im only 8 stone so i cannot pick her up any longer to weigh her , Her sister limped a while back after getting up and the vet said it was a weight problem but sinse losing the weight shes now fine but star seems to be staying her weight ,you can clearly see shes to big by her back theres no curve at all :(
I wish i could let her off over the field but she gets to excited and runs off and people get very scared because of her size which i can understand so leash and muzzle need to be on her ,
The vet did'nt even tell me what food was best to feed her on just said watch her weight which is a disappointment , I've been told shes tall for a female bullmastiff to she's the size of a large male .
I walked into the kitchen earlier to find her taking food off the kitchen tops and quite happily munching away ,She seems hungry sinse her food was cut down and is always looking for food .

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Originally Posted by *LabLoverKEB*

I'm shocked your vet just told you 'to watch her weight on her limbs' and didn't recommend/prescribe a food specifically for weight loss??:confused: Ask the veterinarian to do so! What does Star's daily diet consist of? What brand of food? Wet or Dry food? How much each day? How often do you feed her? According to the AKC, Bullmastiff's should weight from 100-130 lbs. How much does Star weigh?

You said she limps when she gets up? She could very well have arthritis in her hips/back legs.... If she was older (7-8) I would just think she was stiff from laying down for awhile when she got up. But she's only 2, so arthritis could be a possibility.

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You need to give her a proper food, which will help her feel full. And somethin without fillers, additives and that sort of thing.

Take a look at the label for the Complete, see what it contains. Search around for a high quality food. That will make a big difference, not only in her weight, but also in her activity level.

Ask your vet how much she should weigh, and check your bag to see what it says to feed for THAT weight (not what she weighs now). Then cut that amount back just a bit as, some bags tend to be overly generous with the amounts.

Be sure to use a real measuring cup, not a coffee can, butter tub, or things like that.

To keep her happier try doing several feedings through the day instead of just one big meal.

If that doesn't seem to be doing anything for her, you might want to have her thyroid checked just in case that may be contributing to the problem.

Hi, I am by no means a vet or anything but I just had to take some weight off my epileptic girl, at 3 yrs old she was 97lbs and fat, faaaattttt, lol, but with her seizures I had to be careful about the way I went about a diet plan for her, so we went to a grain free kibble, she gets fed twice a day, but I cut each feeding to 1/2 and the other 1/2 of her feeding was thawed or fresh green beans. We started in April at 97lbs and 8 months later on the 19th of this month we weighed in and she is 65lbs. :D It is a huge difference and she is so much more active and can breath better now. I hope it helps, good luck with your venture, and someone said something about a better food with no fillers, that helps as well :D

hi
thanks :)
i might get her along to the vet after the new year and get them to weigh her and get them to advise on which brands to buy her , she sure doesn't seem happy on the dry food and is starting to look a bit depressed ,she's just not her happy self anymore , maybe when i go for walks i,ll try to run with her might get me fitter as well :cool:

The type of food she gets can really help her mentally and physically.

Whenever you look for foods the main thing you want to be looking out for is to stay clear of any food that contains bi-products, corn, or soy even if it does advertise it's Diet.