More on Dogs- Diets

J

Jcrew3082

Cathlete
My little Mikey will be seven this September. I think his health is very good, and I haven't seen any signs of aging aside from some cute gray hair under his chin. He still plays with his toys and runs around the park now and then.

One major problem, though- his diet. He just eats way too much! You know when they look up at you with those big eyes that it is hard to resist giving them a treat, but I've come to a point where I can resist because I know that his health could be better if he didn't eat so much. He's a pug and weighs 32 pounds. He's actually really tall for a pug and higher off the ground than most (seriously!). I think a good weight for him would be 25 or 26 pounds based on his height. He doesn't look obese, just a bit overweight.

So, this really concerns me, especially as he enters his senior years. I love him so much and want to keep him around as long as possible. The vet told me to put him on a diet of only dog food. He said that if he turns his nose away and won't eat it, let him "starve" foir a week until he comes around. This doesn't sit well with me.

I think that if his portions were reduced and fewer treats were given (plus some longer walks), he'd lose his extra weight. If he were my dog, I'd do this in a heartbeat. But, he's the family dog, and I can't seem to get anyone else in the house on board. My mother in particular overfeeds him all the time.

For those of you who have been in similar situations, any hints on how to go about this?

Thanks so much from me and Mikey lol!
 
Hi,

I'm sure the issues are different with a senior, small breed dog but some of this might be helpful. I have an 3 year old, 87 pound Yellow Labrador Retriever who was once 102 pounds. This is the dietary plan that my dog's vet recommended: One cup of weight management food and 1/4 cup plain, lowfat yogurt in the am. Her evening meal again consists of one cup of the weight management food, mixed with 1 can of no added salt canned vegatables (we use peas, carrots, beets etc.) or we nuke a sweet potato and mix it with her food after it has cooled. She loves it (or at least she's resigned to it). We increased her exercise and she seems to be doing well, she's lost a couple more pounds, I think. She is a big, blocky lab so she will always weigh more than an average lab.

If you haven't already, make sure your vet checks her out to make sure nothing else is going on (thyroid) and see what the vet recommends.

Good luck. It's just as hard for them as it is for us. :)

--Lois

"Don't forget to breathe!"
 
My dogs needed to lose a few pounds, too! I used a measuring cup to dish out the food at set times, 2 times a day. I'd decrease the amount by about 1/4 cup until I got to the portion size I wanted. For my 29 pound dog who is now 23 pounds, we went from 3/4 cup down to 1/4 cup in a couple of steps. That's helped a lot.

The other thing we did was establish a treat maximum. I have a dish and I set out the dog's treats for the entire day. Since that's all she gets, I dole them out carefully. Each of my dogs is limited to 4 treats per day and one rawhide every other day.

The hard part is getting the family to comply. Could you put the puppy snacks in a secured location while leaving out a treat dish?

Or you could guilt your mother into complying by telling her she's going to be the one to get your poor puggy so fat he'll have a heart attack. I vote for guilt, but you'll have to choose your own path to household dominance. LOL!}(
 
I agree with the others. Some breeds are worse than others for putting on weight and Pugs are typically bad for that. Although I do hope you don't free-feed because for the majority of dogs that is just bad, bad, bad.

One simple suggestion regarding treats is they don't seem to be aware of the size of it. I never give an entire treat but give it in small bits. In fact my Keeshond was so nuts over food I could brush crumbs off a plate and she acted like it was the greatest treat. For some overweight dogs I'll also hold back some of their food and use it as treats throughout the day - this works for most dogs but not all...some just can't be fooled.

Good luck and all the best.
Trish
 
Your family really needs to cooperate with this endeavour. Without everyone on the same page, your efforts may be fruitless.

The suggestions above are perfect. According to my vet, one bone per day (we use milkbones for our dogs), is MORE than enough (point of reference - they are 80 and 100 pounds). He suggested, as someone did above, that we break it in half and give at two times per day. At some point, he wanted my female (80 pounds) down to half per day.

Also you mentioned "dog food only." I fyou are giving (or your family) "people food," that is just plan bad for a dog. They are meant to eat dog food and it gives them what they need. giving them people food only disrupts their system and screw up their digestion. My mom always gave our do soup, leftovers and even tomato sauce - oh, that poor dog!

Good luck,
Christine :)
 
I would start Mikey on a Senior formula dog food - the one I feed my dogs is Science Diet Advanced Protection Senior. Not only is it a senior formula with fewer calories and more fiber, it is packed with anitoxidants that will help Mikey as he ages. My dogs really seem to like it. I would follow the general rule of one cup/20# "ideal" body weight/day - so Mikey should get about 1 1/4 cups of food/day. There is a new product made by Iams that is lke a "gravy" additive for food. Perhaps a little of this on his dog food will make it tastier.

Also, try adding some veggies to his diet as a "treat" instead of dog treats. Green beans are great because they are filling, yet are very low in calories and no fat. There are also low-cal dog treats available.

I think you need to have a discussion with everyone in the house that in order for Mikey to avoid some disease associated with being overweight (diabetes, pancreatic disese, liver disease, certain forms of cancer, etc), they need to be more cautious of what he eats.
Perhaps they could take him for more walks instead of feeding him more!!

Good Luck!!
 
One more suggestion: call your vet. especially since they know his history and his breed, they can help you too!
 
Thank you so much everyone for the great suggestion!

I spoke to my mom tonight, and it went much better than expected. She told me about a dog she saw at the park that is very old, overweight, and has trouble getting around. So, I started off by saying, "You know Mom, Mikey is going to be seven this year, and I think it's important that as he enters his senior years we keep him as healthy as possible..." I told her what I wanted to do about his diet, and she totally agreed. She said that if I'm not around to feed him to leave her a note with the specifics. I am so glad!!!

I'm defintiely going to try veggies for treats. We agreed to cut out cheese, as it is just not healthy at all despite how much he loves it! I said that maybe once in a while I'll give him a piece of veggie cheese for something special. I recently bought him chicken based dry food from Three Dog Bakery, thinking that he'd eat more of it because of the chicken flavor. Didn't work! When he finishes it up I'll switch back to the diet food the vet gave him. It had tons of fiber and seemed to keep him fuller longer.

Thank you again!!! I love that there are so many helpful dog lovers here!
 
Also, if he is really hungry you can add frozen (thawed) green beans to help fill him up. Canned are too high in sodium.

Good for you for being concerned about his health. Obestiy is a huge problems in most dogs and it does cut down on their lifespan.

My lab is almost 13 and my Vizsla is 7. Rather than feed a senior food which is often times more filler, I feed less of a regular food. I also don't feed corn or wheat.

Measure out his food for the day. Use his food for his treats. That way you can keep track of what he is getting.

Colleen
 
Coleen,

Adding the green beans is a good idea if the dog will eat it. My overweight dog is expert at picking out the stuff she doesn't want. I suppose if you mashed up the green beans that would work.

I have two chow/shepherd mixes. My oldest one has always been a low energy dog and tends to put on lbs. My younger one is always busy, busy chasing squirrels and lizards so she's burning up calories.

It gets even more difficult as they get older...just like us. I have mine on Hill's Science Diet senior from the lowfat formula and she's gained a couple of lbs. Next bag will be lowfat again. I need to make sure there are antioxident's included or add my own I guess.
 
We have a pug/fox terrier mix that has the same problem. He loves food and often finds ways to help himself. The vet calulated the number of calories he should have and you can get calorie info from the manufacturer. We do our best but not sure if he is losing. For treats we buy the Iams low fat ones and he loves the small carrots or pieces of celery, cucumber, sweet potato, apples...... Actually he eats anything but the carrots are a good substitute for other treats.
 
Is your dog able to stay outside for most of the time? Our dog is very healthy. She is an outside dog (yellow lab) and is very lean and muscular. Not a bit over weight. We have an invisible fence so she is able to run and play all day long. She loves it outside. Also, being outside, she very rarely gets table scraps.

Joanne
 
Hi Gina,

I haven't read the other responses, but I had the exact same problem with my Boston Terrier, Chelsea. She started putting on weight at about age 6 that wouldn't come off no matter how much we tried to increase her exercise and/or reduce her food intake. We were feeding her a premium food and tried several to see if that would help.

A couple of years ago our vet told us to feed her canned/wet food ONLY, 6 oz. per day. Not only did the weight come off quickly, but her energy level also increased dramatically. She's became a new dog!! She went from 26 lbs to just under 22 lbs.

Bostons, like Pugs, also tend to have breathing and snoring issues because of their shmooshed noses. The weight loss helped decrease her panting and snoring. If I'd known this method would work this well, I would have tried it 5 years ago.

Let me know if you want more info about what we did.
 
This is long! Somebody mentioned that people food is not good for dogs and that they were meant to eat dog food. I am totally not trying to offend anybody here but I don't agree. I actually think the complete opposite. When I got my little beagle I did so much research on this it was ridiculous. I wanted the healthiest stuff for my pooch. What I have found is that people food is much better for dogs. My dog gets a variety of food including lean ground turkey, brown rice, green beans, pease, carrotts, deer meat, plain yogurt, eggs, oatmeal (all plain and no seasonings of course). His normal dinner consists of lean ground turkey mixed with brown rice and peas. Oh we also put a little tiny bit of flax oil in there.

He is the perfect weight and has the absolute softest shiniest coat in the world. You will also notice when you feed your dog actual dog food they will have bigger poop. This is because their body is not using the food. When my dog eats the healthy stuff he has very little (gross i know but true) becuase his body is absorbing all the nutrients. Alot of vetrinarians actually equate dog food to people junk food. It has so many by products and alot of the brands are not even regulated which means they can put anything in there. Just my 2 cents. If you look it up on the interet you will find tons!!
 
Nowadays they do have pretty godo brands of kibble. Especially Evo, Canidae and Wellness to name a few. But I also fed raw for awhile using Ian Billinghurst's Give Your Dog a Bone and had great results...all "people" food. My dogs get people food for treats (tuna brownies, liver, cheese, chicken, etc.)

Colleen
 
Good thinking Joanne! Mikey's definitely an indoor guy, though. Now that the spring is here, he likes to be in the yard more, but our yard is basically a small patio. I would love to have some greenery for him!
 
Wow, Gayle, sounds like Chelsea did really well! We fed Mikey canned diet food from the vet for a while, and he seemed to like it. We switched to dry food because the vet said it was better for his teeth. That's another concern lately- he is just started to develop a little bit of brownness on his gums.

But anyway, I'd love to hear more about what you did with Chelsea! Email me anytime at [email protected]. No rush- and thanks!
 
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