overweight....

Tikeya is over weight again.. by three pounds grr... Everytime i put her on chicken soup for the dog lovers soul she gets chubby. she is suppost to weigh 35 to 50 pounds. she weighs 53 lbs.. I seriously have been having the worst luck with dog foods... she gains weight on every food... it is so annoying..

what do you feed your dog/s?

Baby and Oscar are on iams... ick, but my mom doesnt care.... :rolleyes:...

I buy Tikeyas food. I have her on Nutro senior and chicken soup adult, mixed. I Only feed her a cup and a half a day..

I feed LucyBelle Nutrience.
For Merlin,, he ate at his paws since we put him on that one,, so we switched him to Science Diet

I also only feed them 2 x's a day,, I never leave the bowl down so they can graze....

Is 35-50 according to the breed standard? The standard for Shelties says 14-18 pounds but there is just no way that Kai could be healthy at 18 pounds. The Vet said Kai's ideal weight would be 35ish or so... standards aren't always that reliable.

But if she does look a bit overweight to you, try reducing it by just a smidge and adding maybe 5 extra minutes to her walks. In the long run, it'll probably help her lose the extra couple pounds.

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what do you feed your dog/s?

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They're back on raw. :D I'm going to weigh them today to see how their weights are doing.

yeah i am goin to take her on an extra long walk today... my poor gurl. she is a senior now, it is depressing :(. i miss my puppy .....

My guys are all on Eagle Pack Holistic Chicken & Rice.... I love the food, they all do GREAT on it.

www.eaglepack.com

Like others have said I wouldn't go by the breed standard. It sounds like maybe you are. ?? My female is way over the standard both in height and weight. Female Giant Schnauzers should be between 70-75lbs. Mine is 92lbs and at a perfect weight...for her. I feed her by her needs(ie activity level, etc) She eats 5c of ProPlan Performance a day and she does very well on it. Have you tried the "rib check method"? What does your vet say?peteducation.com

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Originally posted by tikeyas_mom
yeah i am goin to take her on an extra long walk today... my poor gurl. she is a senior now, it is depressing :(. i miss my puppy .....

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Also...I wanted to add this. Making a dog workout extra right from the start is not good. Especially since she your dog is older. They need to be worked up gradually to get into shape.

The best way to judge if a dog is the right weight or not is by putting your hands on them.
You should be able to feel your dogs ribs easily with just a little pressure.
Make a loose fist with one hand. Now with your other hand run a finger over the back of your fisted hand. If that's what your dogs ribs feel like then she is probably overweight. Now run your finger lightyly over the knuckles of your fisted hand. If your dog's ribs feel like that she is too skinny. Finally run your finger over the fingers of your fisted hand. This is approx what you should feel when lightly running your hands over your dog's side.

One other thing is that I wouldn't determine if Tikeya is a senior just by her age. If she is acting like normal and isn't gaining weight easily then I wouldn't feed senior food. Most dog foods classify dogs 7 and older as seniors. By their standards then Emily would be a senior, but she's as active as ever.

I hope this helps.

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Originally posted by binka_nugget
Is 35-50 according to the breed standard? The standard for Shelties says 14-18 pounds but there is just no way that Kai could be healthy at 18 pounds. The Vet said Kai's ideal weight would be 35ish or so... standards aren't always that reliable.

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FYI there is no standard weight for a sheltie. Not in the actual ACK or CKC standard. So anything you've read about shelties having to weigh between a certain ammount was just written by someone who pulled the numbers out of their...umm "hat" so to speak. ;)
http://www.akc.org/breeds/recbreeds/shetshee.cfm

Grace and Luke are both on the raw food diet which so far has worked great for them.

You have been given some good advice Jynelle :). My kids are back on raw aswell (With a small ammount of dry food), and they are doing great clover is nearly at her perfect weight 29 kilograms and Elvis could do with losing about 500 - 700 grams.