I have a 7 year old female nuetered Chocolate Lab who is obese. She tends to gain and lose weight, but she was never skinny. I feed her in the morning oats with water and her second meal is chicken or meat, boiled veges and a big spoon of lentil. I used to feed her rice but i stopped 10 days ago and replaced it with lentil. Her daily excercise id moderate. I need your advice please on how to make her lose weight cause I am worried about her health. I prefer home cooked food. Thank you for all your feedback
Feeding a home prepared diet is fine , as long as you get the ratio right and don feed too much carbohydrate . The oats are really not a good food for dogs and are fattening , she should be having two meals each day, breakfast and another meal late afternoon, both containing meat or fish, with vegetables and a filler such as cooked potato . The other thing to bear in mind is that in able to lose weight , this must be done slowly and must be a case of exercise as well as less food . At seven years old , your girl is still young , and needs to burn up the calories she is eating otherwise she will remain plump and unhealthy . Do you have access to good ready prepared dog food , the kibble type ? If so , it might be worth giving her kibble for breakfast and a home prepared meal later in the day . Welcome to the forum !
Hi, and welcome to the forum! I feel your pain; my six-year-old neutered bitch puts on weight very easily, we have to be soooo careful with what she eats, poor thing. But the truth is, it is completely up to you how much extra weight your dog carries around with her, and it is very, very important for her health that she is not overweight, both for her joints and for her heart etc. First of all, as Kate says, I would ditch the oats completely. If you want to feed her homecooked food, and want her to lose weight, then personally I would just give her cooked vegetables in the morning with a little bit of fish or chicken. With the second meal, I would drop the lentils - again, they are full of unnecessary calories for her. Otherwise, her diet sounds good - chicken or meat with lightly boiled vegetables. I would consider a vitamin supplement (I give my dogs a powdered vitamin and mineral supplement, to make sure they are getting everything they need). Best of luck - keep us updated!
Hi Nihal, welcome to the forum from me and my girl. When we needed to loose weight, our vet said to reduce Lilly's meals by 1/3. That sounds like a lot, but it did help a lot, and she didn't really seem to notice. BUT she was on a well balanced kibble based diet, and nutrients in home cooked food vary - the meals aren't of uniform value in the same way a portion of measured kibble. I would agree with Kate and ask if you have access to kibble. The other thing is, what may she be getting from you or other members of the family as treats outside of mealtimes? Things like bread are really "junk food" for dogs, and it is easy to accidentally increase what she is getting whether through training treats, leftover of your own meals, family members passing little bits of their food (accidental or deliberate) or even for some dogs, scavenging. Just like us, to lose weight your girl will need to increase exercise (slowly) and reduce calorie intake. jac
If you’re worried about her being hungry, you can add low-calorie veg - either cooked or raw. My boy adores steamed brocolli and raw carrots. I wouldn’t feed cooked high carb veg cos that will introduce a lot of calories. I personally wouldn’t feed cooked potatoes - too high carb. Have you researched what a home-cooked meal should include to ensure adequate nutrient intake? Dogs need calcium. If you don’t want to feed raw meaty bones, then as mentioned previously, you should include a mineral supplement that includes calcium and phosphorus. I must confess my boy adores lentils and chickpeas! Tonight he begged and begged for some - I’d cooked chickpeas in a hot curry sauce. He did get a little (as a treat) and licked the pan clean. He loves curry, too! I do worry about his tongue, but it doesn’t bother him (unlike warm food, he’ll only eat cooled food). I did give him yoghurt afterwards, however.
