hiya!! Now to the forum and needing some advice. I already have a yellow male lab, Rocco, who is in brilliant shape. I'm considering taking on a 3 year old choc bitch who has basically been killed with 'kindness' not exercised at all for a year, just put out in the garden and fed endless amounts of food almost as a way of compensating for the fact they don't have time for her. As a result she is obese, not just chubby, she's at the top of the body chart. I'm pretty sure I'd be able to manage the food aspect, however I'm worried about how much exercise would be safe for her given her size. Rocco is very active and I don't want him to lose out. Any advice greatly received X
Hi there, and welcome to the forum! I don't have a lot of expertise on this other than use your common sense! I guess the main part of this is to reduce food intake (I was shocked to be told to reduce my lab's food by one third when needing to slim for HD, thought that was a lot, but she really didn't bat an eyelid!) Just day to day running around in play with your boy will soon help knock her into shape. And keeping to short walks and gradually building up over several weeks to acclimatise her, just as we would do ourselves. I'm not sure if there is a scientific answer here, just "rule of thumb". I am sure she will be up to speed with Rocco before you know it. jac and Lilly
Hi and welcome to the forum from me and Juno. I think the die and exercise regime should be under vet direction, at least in the early stages to ensure that the exercise is appropriate to her weight and fitness but gradually increased. Are there any health issues relating to the obesity?
You are right to be careful with a dog that is overweight, and probably very unfit. My dog has never been overweight, but I have built his fitness up - twice - after very long periods of rest. I was hugely helped by being advised by some good people, but the basic principle is exactly the same as for humans, really. You start slow, and push a bit further every day, and the steps are smaller than you think. So, with my dog we extended his walking by a few minutes a day and built that up and up (until he was brisk walking for 2.5 hours in 30 minute walks), then some of that went to trotting, then trotting up hills...plus hydrotherapy which started at 30 seconds walks on a treadmill, then a little off lead time, then a few retrieves, then swimming in a river....but all very gradually over a period of about 3 months. He was slim though. If I was also needing to reduce weight by a significant amount, I'd go more slowly....
Hello and welcome, from Poppy and me. What a great thing, to take on this dog who hasn't been looked after properly. If you do take her on, it would be really great to see photos and maybe you could keep a log and update us on her progress in losing weight and gaining in physical strength.
Hi and welcome What a great thing you are doing . I would also recommend coming up with a plan alongside your vet. When I fostered a rescue, I took Harley (my dog) on walks on her own and walked Spero (rescue) separately as even though he was very very skinny, he was very unfit. We started at 5 min on lead walks and over 6 weeks built up to 45 min on lead - re all was really poor so couldn't go off lead except at home Good luck and please do let us know how you get on
I agree with discussing this with the vet. A lot of vets run weight loss for dogs programs and they are the health experts. I think Obi's mum serves one meal of steamed veggies a day as it is filling. But I may be speaking out of turn and anyway I reckon that should be discussed with the vet too. It will be great to see "before" photos and the transformation photos.
Hello and welcome! You've had some great advice, but I want to add my voice to the call for before and after pictures if you do take her on. Well done for considering helping this girl find the joy of a fit and healthy life.
I'm sure she has a much better life ahead of her! She will be so much happier. I agree to work out a plan with the vet. You can go too fast with these things - I'd expect it will and should take months to get her to a normal weight and fitness level. I do feed some meals of steamed veggies if my dog is looking a bit roly poly but it's only every third meal or so and only if he's in need of losing half a kilo (he's a pretty good weight really, so he is never actually roly poly). The vet may say there's a place for veg, or may not. I'm sure she'll be a different dog 6 months from now
