Help! My 6 month old Holly is 67lbs. She was just spayed and the vet said she was obese. We used a lot of treats because that was recommended when trying to potty train, etc and she broke my finger on a normal leash so we implemented the gentle leader which required more treats. I guess we should only feed her the 4 cups of food per day and no treats.
Hi and welcome . My goodness , she is a heavy girl ! If you use lots of food in training , then make sure you reduce the amount fed at meal times accordingly , you must get top side of this or she will suffer health wise . I know , Labradors are greedy dogs and will scoff all you give them , but a strict regime is needed to keep them fit and healthy , good luck
Hello and welcome to the forum. Wow, she certainly sounds like a big girl! There is nothing wrong with using treats, but you must cut down her daily meal allowance to compensate. Even with that, 4 cups a day sounds like an awful lot - although it does depend on what brand you are using. Most Labs don't need anywhere near the amount stated on the packet. It's really important for your puppy - and eventually the adult dog - that you keep her slim. Extra weight is awful for their joints and, especially in a breed prone to joint problems, the advice to keep them on the skinny side of slim is good. When you run your hand along her side, without applying any pressure, you should be able to feel her ribs - and lots of people even recommend being able to see the last one or two, especially when she's bending, breathing hard, eating etc. It's luckily very easy to reduce your puppy's weight - she doesn't have any means of getting food that you don't give her, so harden your heart ad reduce her allowance by at least a third. Weigh it out in the morning and don't give her anything else except that. You can use her kibble as training treats if she's OK with that, otherwise use your head and put out her treats, removing what you think is an appropriate amount of kibble to compensate for the calories. Most treats are quite calorie-dense, so you'll probably be removing a greater volume of kibble than you are adding treats. Let us know how you get on.
When I first got Tatze I knew nothing about Labs and thought hungry puppies needed feeding. I went to the vet and told her I was feeding what was on the packet but she was still very hungry, should I up the amount? The vet laughed and said 'this pup is overweight, the packet always states too much - you need to feed her less, not more. She's a Lab and will always tell you she's hungry - even straight after a meal' I came on here and learned the Truth About Labs! She's now a healthy 26Kg adult. I give her 2/3 what it says on the packet and mainly fish cubes for treats.
I am at the other end on the spectrum- my pup is 6 months old next week and is 27 pounds! She is always hungry as well and could eat all day! She is on 200g of kibble a day; I weigh out her lunchtime portion of kibble and that is what I use for treats throughout the day, with a few small bits of chicken/sausage to up the reward if needed. I worry that she is too slim, but the vet says she is in good condition, her ribs feel like they are under a blanket etc. Do you use kongs? If not, it might be worth a try as they will take her time to eat and will make you feel less guilty about reducing her food! Lucy has 2 frozen kongs a day made up of her soaked kibble, a bit of grated carrot or apple and a bit of chicken/mince. These keep her occupied for half an hour at a time, she has one with her breakfast and one with her dinner. Good luck!
Harley is a small to medium sized pup and she now weighs 24kgs at 7 months. Luckily for us she is a picky pup and will happily have tonnes of treats but she will leave her kibble if she isn't hungry anymore. I say lucky because I enjoy feeding the family. But our vet has been very strict with us from the start regarding her type of food and weight. He said she is a healthy weight and she has lost a little weight because she hasn't returned to her pre-spay appetite yet. The vet said that we will do a lot of damage to her if we allow her to become overweight.
