Poor Laddie is fat!

L

Laddie's Mom

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UGH, it is my fault, my Laddie is getting "fat" no two ways about it, he looks pudgy when I look down on him. So, he is on a diet. The bag says one cup for a pup his age and if he weighs 10 pounds, well, he did weigh that in June, but now I have no idea, so, I am doing the one cup once a day as the bag states.

Any other ideas will be appreciated, he is too young to be heavy, and I am sorry it snuck up on me.
 
If it were me, I'd cut back on the concentrated food and substitute some raw meat; chicken or beef. No heavy treats (I give Dickens pork rinds for casual snacks; they're almost nothing, but give him something to crunch on); no simple carbohydrates, and as much exercise as he can take. This is what I did with my last dog when he got about five pounds overweight, and for what it's worth, it worked for him.
 
Have you still got him on puppy food? It's probably time to switch him over to the less calorie and fat rich adult diet.

I wouldn't worry about changing the number of times you feed if it's not interfering with your schedule. My dogs would go silly if I fed them only once a day.

You'll probably find once we get through winter he will lose a bit of the podge. I cut my dogs' food down at certain times of year when we were less active (and when it was really hot). So you might consider having a routine of cutting down the food for winter if that's when you are less active.

Best way to lose weight - cut out the treats. They are a huge contributor to weight. Most have sugar, and things like pigs ears have an extremely high fat content. If he is only slightly pudgy that may be enough.

Otherwise there's a few things you can do. I feed my dogs one 'token' meal and one full meal. The token meal might be a chicken neck or I'd hold back something from their last meal. If Laddie's looking hungry when you cut back you can always bulk his meals with vegies. There is a dog diet that agility people use called the pumpkin diet - basically you replace part of the their daily intake (usually 1/3 or 2/3 if they are really fat) with pumpkin or sweet potato (easily digested). Tully is on half pumpkin/potato and half her normal food atm as I need to get the weight off for surgery.

I do agree it's much easier to moderate weight with moist food than the concentrate in kibble. I cook the meat though.
 
Our vet recommends feeding "twice" a day. I would consider feeding him 1/2 cup twice a day. Mally eats in the am and in the pm.

ps Plus the feeding twice a day might help him to burn it off.
 
It is strange, he should not be fat at all, he does not eat much when I think about it. I started yesterday to give him just one cup of his kibble in the morning, this morning, there was at least still a half left, so, I am going to cut back even more. He is so active too, hope he does not have any metabolic problems.
 
Also, just as a note I wouldn't worry too much about what the bag recommends that you feed. Every dog is different and their metabolisms vary. If he weighs too much, cut back. If not enough, add more.
 
Laddie's Mom said:
UGH, it is my fault, my Laddie is getting "fat" no two ways about it, he looks pudgy when I look down on him. So, he is on a diet. The bag says one cup for a pup his age and if he weighs 10 pounds, well, he did weigh that in June, but now I have no idea, so, I am doing the one cup once a day as the bag states.

Any other ideas will be appreciated, he is too young to be heavy, and I am sorry it snuck up on me.
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Maybe he is not too heavy, if he has not been weighed since June.

A lot of times fur can be deceiving, or from the angle you are looking at him from?
 
I guess my baby is not that fat after all. I noticed that when I put my arms around his middle, it is thin, so, either the extra walks are helping, or his fur is just really thick. I think sometimes the color in certain areas can give that illusion as well.:wink2:
 
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