Hello everyone, I am new to the forum and I would like to say hi. I would also like to ask the following questions: my puppy was obese so I put him on a diet. Currently, he is in great shape. I very strictly control the amount of kibble he receives. One thing that bothers me, however, is this - how do I take into account the calories from treats I give him during training? First of all, I don't know the amount of calories per 100 grams, because I buy these biscuits in bulk. I have checked some packaged biscuits, but there is no information regarding calories on them as well. And finally, even if there were, I would also have to take into account the nutritional value in terms of carbs / protein / fats / vitamins etc. . I suppose, 100 KCals of kibble is not nutritionally equivalent to 100 KCals of dog biscuits. Currently, after a training session I reduce the amount of kibble I give to my puppy by 5 - 15 grams, depending on how much treats I have given him, but I mostly use grams for my calculations and not calories / nutrients. How do you deal with this?
Re: How to take into account calories from treats? Hi Alex and welcome. How old is you pup? Personally I reduce Harley's (5 months old) kibble for meals by 35g per day to allow for treats on a walk. I adjust this if she starts looking too lean or getting a bit pudgy. I'm sure some others more experienced members on tend forum could give you more advice on this
Re: How to take into account calories from treats? Welcome from me too Its a hard one to call , but as said , reduce by about 30/40 gramms as a good starting point . I guess that if he now looking good , then what you are feeding is right, but if he starts to look a little overweight again , the reduce a little more
Re: How to take into account calories from treats? Thank you both for the quick replies. My pup is 3.5 months old. What bothers me more is not so much the absolute amount of calories, but the benefits from the nutritional quality he forgoes when I exchange kibble for biscuits. Aren't biscuits (even "good" ones) kind of junk food for dogs? I think this is especially important in the growth phase.
Re: How to take into account calories from treats? [quote author=Alex link=topic=4124.msg48614#msg48614 date=1390225111] Thank you both for the quick replies. My pup is 3.5 months old. What bothers me more is not so much the absolute amount of calories, but the benefits from the nutritional quality he forgoes when I exchange kibble for biscuits. Aren't biscuits (even "good" ones) kind of junk food for dogs? I think this is especially important in the growth phase. [/quote] I think it is important. At one point, I was swapping so much out for training treats, I was hardly feeding kibble at all. My solution was to switch to fish4dogs treats - I found some with a similar nutritional make up as the kibble. I also try to use kibble for training treats where I can, but kibble often doesn't cut it. I'm also an obsessive dog weight watcher. I calculate the calories in treats and kibble. I write to customer service depts if I can't find the info. The treats I use have a calorific value of 25.85 Kcal/10g. Calories in some kibbles can be found here: http://www.dodgecountycanine.com/files/Dry_Dog_Food_Calorie_content.pdf (there are also other sites if you google it).
Re: How to take into account calories from treats? Hello Alex and welcome, I have a dog who is very food motivated, so most of the time I just use her normal kibble as her training treats... this means it is just part of her daily allowance. Having said that, the kibble that I use for training I cut into smaller pieces, so it goes further. Yes, really. At this point I should probably point out that I am not working at the moment - otherwise standing in the kitchen quartering kibble would seem frankly ridiculous.... Okay. Even more ridiculous. : Clare
Re: How to take into account calories from treats? ;D Hi Alex, welcome from me, too. At least one of the forum members opted to "hand-feed" their dogs and not use a feeding bowl at all. Essentially this means that all their food is spread evenly over the day, and they "work" for each bit of food. That might seem a bit harsh, but is worth considering if you really need to watch weight, if you are doing a lot of training, AND if your boy will work for his kibble I do a modified form of this, in that days when we train or go swimming, we either put all her food in her treat bag for rewards or give her half her breakfast, and use the other half in training (or to bribe her to swim better : ). And normal tea at night - Lilly at 3 and a half and needs her weight to be kept down because she has hip dysplasia (and OH gives her far too many treats : : to give even more for training) Just a thought. I am sure you will get loads more suggestions too. Jac and Lilly
Re: How to take into account calories from treats? Just a quick add to what I said earlier - I, like Julie, also use fish4dogs treats and small kibble (you can buy sample packs for 50p each), each pack lasts me 2 days walking/training. It is kibble, but smaller and Harley goes mad for it because it is so small, I find I can do a lot of training with it
Re: How to take into account calories from treats? Hi from me and Hattie 6 years and Charlie out rescue 3 years. I use Hattie & Charlie's kibble for training and Fish 4 Dogs treats also dried sprats which are very low in fat but high in Omega 3 oils, at the end of the day they get whatever kibble is left over. When I am training something new they get chicken, sardines etc. to help and I just deduct a little kibble from their meal. Good luck x
Re: How to take into account calories from treats? these treats are 1/7 of one calorie each .... http://www.thelabradorforum.com/index.php?topic=3904.msg45190#msg45190
Re: How to take into account calories from treats? I too am quite vigilant about Molly's weight. I think it is unwise to let a dog get overweight. It is not like they can enjoy passive pastimes like watching TV and reading. I understand it is especially important with a Labrador. Reading posts about other puppies weight it appears that Molly at 27lbs for 17 weeks is quite a lightweight. However, she does have energy to spare so I figure I'm giving her enough. I go for the mid point of the suggestions on the back of the kibble bag. I always feed good quality food. You don't need so much and the upside of that is you don't have so much poo to clear up. I make her work for a put 60% of her food. She enjoys a Buster Cube and I enjoy the stuffed Kong that she munches whilst I have my meal in peace. We have several short training sessions a day which uses up a fair bit of kibble. I don't understand about special training treats. It all goes down so fast she cannot possibly taste it
Re: How to take into account calories from treats? [quote author=Mollly link=topic=4124.msg48700#msg48700 date=1390243450] I don't understand about special training treats. It all goes down so fast she cannot possibly taste it [/quote] Yes, I think you are probably right! After all, meals are vacuumed down rather than chewed. However, something that smells strongly can up the anticipation... Lots of commercially available dog 'treats' though are made to benefit the manufacturer's bank balance, not the dog... Clare
Re: How to take into account calories from treats? Once again, thank you all for the answers. At the beginning I was using Kibble as rewards during training and was reducing the food rations accordingly. Many people have told me however, that one should not use the the food that the dog normally eats for rewards. I never heard the reason for this, but now I see that many people actually does use regular kibble for training. Could anyone point out some reasons why anybody would not do this?
Re: How to take into account calories from treats? Hi Alex I use kibble as training treats so i take it out of their daily ration but I also have some other treats which I use as jackpot rewards. For example if I'm training something new or if I've recalled from something very interesting and they've come : I will give them a jackpot treat something they find more rewarding, interesting and exciting than their kibble. That might be why some people don't use kibble some dogs won't see it as an incentive to work for. Like Clare I cut up the kibble i take out as treats so it lasts longer. I use a pill cutter they sell in chemists much easier. Jen
Re: How to take into account calories from treats? Our trainer also said that you shouldn't use normal kibble. It depends on the dog, the task, and perhaps also the tastiness of your kibble! Definitely need some jack-pot style treats!
