Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 4:36 pm Post subject: Lottie is officially a fatty...mortified!
I nipped into the vets today for something and decided I'd just weigh Lottie as she was in the car. OMG she is 27kg. She's a really steady 25kg and fit as a fiddle. Anyway I just cannot work out why because nothing has changed but she will be back to 25kg before she knows it !
My question is this. She's on Arden Grange Chicken and Rice. The guide for 25kg is 309 to 340g. She has always had 300g. How low can I go...is 260g too little to start with. I'm not messing about with light food or changing brands or anything. She'll be on both my dog walks at lunchtime from now on and less food!! Little fatty.
My husband said last week she looked bigger. I spend so much time with her I don't notice but we've been house sitting next door for 3 weeks and he's not seen us much!
I've got to be very strict as she has elbow OCD so can't carry extra weight.
I would say 260g is fine. Once the extra weight has come off, then you can take it back up to a maintenence level, probably just below what you're feeding her now.
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I just cannot work out why because nothing has changed
Has she recently been spayed? Or has she calmed down indoors a little lately? As all these sort of factors add up.
Mojo's weight bobs up and down with the seasons, which is probably due to her spending more time in the garden hoolying about with the others in the summer, as walks are much the same length. I have to keep her weight down because of her elbows and poor feet too, but hers can shift easily between 26kg and 28kgs. I just make sure it never goes above or below those two weights.
Luna is 'supposed' to have about 320g of Skinners Salmon a day according to their guidelines. She gets about 180g when I last weighed out her food. She gets leftovers, training treats and biccies each day too.
When she has to rest for a length of time then she gets less food again. Occasionally in the winter when she looked rather lean I upped her portion a bit. As it heats up she is less active and can gain weight (did last summer!) I try to keep her below 26kg (she tends to look heavier at this weight) and above 24kg (couldn't believe it when she was this low but she did look good on it!)
Luna tends to let me know when she needs more energy by getting irritable and barky and she demands her food times earlier! Whether I agree to feed her at that time depends on how lean she is looking!!! She's been doing quite a bit of swimming lately which is burning off some calories!
Thanks ladies,I am wary of over exercising Lottie because of her elbows so have been walking her on shift one (my first walkie dogs) She doesn't do that much tearing about with them. Two are spaniel sisters who she would love to play with but they only have eyes for each other.The other is 12 so plods a bit. I'm going to take her with shift two who are all young labs...she has a much better time and runs all over the place. The weight will drop off.
She has carrots..I know they have some natural sugars but they're ok aren't they? Treat jar is empty so will stay that way...
Will go with 260g and see...I feel a few reservoir swims coming along too,now the weather is so much better.
As the summer is almost here, I would do your changes very slowly, we noticed the differance between the seasons dramatically, if they are swimming the weight drops of very quickly.
When I was concerned about the weight loss with the summer months, compared to the winters increased weight, I was just like you, panic'd a little, but upped the food slightly, and made a trip to weigh Mischa weekly at the vets, on route to her walk, I kept a chart, so I was satisfied her increase was slow, when she reached her ideal weight, I kept her intake steady [abit like weight watchers for us] now I know I can walk in and do a weight check anytime, I have found it a great help to keep her weight steady, between 25/26 kg.
So her problem was the opposite to yours but I did feel in control once I took over the managing of her weight.
We don't do so many visits for a weigh these days, as I am managing to do it by eye, as others on here often say they do , thats why I am so grateful for their input, have picked up a lot.
She has carrots..I know they have some natural sugars but they're ok aren't they?
Depends how many carrots she is having daily. I think there is about 30 kcals in the average (about 7 inch long) carrot, so I doubt one carrot a day will do a lot of harm .
Thanks Jules,I thought I'd chop one up and use slices for treats.She doesn't realise they aren't fattening!! She adores them and probably has about half a day.
Thanks June,I do weigh her pretty regularly.I have always taken her in the vets when I'm passing so she doesn't think it's such a scary place. She loves it now. I've not been for about 6 weeks and my OH noticed immediately that she had grown! Will keep bobbing in. I've just started cleaning my vet's house so will be there much more now.
Swimming definitely will help and we do loads in the summer,as it's great for her elbows too.
Hi, Arden Grange is quite a high calorie dog food compared to some so to drop to 260g a day should do no harm.
If you think shes getting hungry on less then you could just switch to the light version as its still a chicken one so shouldn't cause any stomach troubles, or maybe even consider the senior version as its not as low in calories as the light, still a chicken feed but also has boosted levels of glucosamine etc so could be even better for the elbows!
My Murphy who has ED has the lamb version and can get away with 350g a day without gaining weight, think he just has a fast metabolism!
Cadbury too is now on a diet. His weight has slowly gone up, and suddenly rocketing with having the pup here and him stealing all the treats the pup gets
I hope it goes well with Lottie and she is back to being a svelte model lab soon.
Does she look like she has put on weight? is she looking fat?
I never cease to be amazed at the amount of people who 'nip into the vets' to weigh their dog and then are surprised by the results - if visibly she has not gained any weight and is not looking fat - it could be natural growth or development - and 2kg off may make her look skinny as opposed to slim and fit.
I weigh mine sporadically to keep the vet happy - but I don't think I've ever been surprised at a weight being higher than anticipated - if it is - it's because I've noticed a visible change in the dog and therefore expecting them to be heavier than 'normal'.
Normal in our house ranges from 25kg to 34kg across the seven of them, and 6 are never overweight (sadly, the same cannot be said for Clover whose daily diet is 200g)
ETA - While a very good food, I have found AG is not the best food if you have a dog prone to weight gain - we even tried their AG light at one point, and without exception, every dog put on weight - the only time ever I have had them all carrying more weight than I would like.
JWB in my own experience is even worse - either going straight through them, or putting weight on almost faster than I can blink
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, thats why I am so grateful for their input, have picked up a lot.
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