The allowance for Charlie is 300g a day of kibble plus one small rice or rawhide chew. I weigh out 200g of kibble, and then make up 100g of treats, rice and fish biscuits and so on (the vet would rather I use carrot batons here but that's not going to work) I’ll use 2 x 40g of treats on his lead walks. (We’ll meet dogs and distractions, and he is super excited right now, so need treats). He’ll get about 50g of kibble around the house for basic manners training throughout the day and evening – stay on mat, don’t rush the doorbell, cuddle training with OH etc. I’ll use 90g of kibble in 3 kongs because I have to leave him for a while tonight (this is his supper). So that leaves me just 60g of kibble and 20g of treats for all his clicker training, and (normally) his main training - which isn't very much at all, I run out. And if (as I would do if he were doing proper training) I swap some of this out for chicken or cheese, I have even less, so would have to skip the kibble in kongs and give him frozen stock or something. How do you manage to feed your dogs meals in bowls? I can't see how I can do it and stay on the food budget most days. I wonder if the kibble I use is particularly heavy or something...
Re: Where does all the food go? ;D Riley gets a mug of food in his bowl morning and evening. Then he gets treats depending on what I have available and what training we're doing. Some days he gets no treats and others he gets cheese, chicken......and I reckon it all evens out. Then of course there's the lizzie factor and how keen she is on her lovingly prepared food (or not!) as he sometimes gets leftovers or dropped food from her - jackpot!!
Re: Where does all the food go? [quote author=bbrown link=topic=3556.msg39475#msg39475 date=1386230997] ;D Riley gets a mug of food in his bowl morning and evening. Then he gets treats depending on what I have available and what training we're doing. Some days he gets no treats and others he gets cheese, chicken......and I reckon it all evens out. Then of course there's the lizzie factor and how keen she is on her lovingly prepared food (or not!) as he sometimes gets leftovers or dropped food from her - jackpot!! [/quote] Maybe I just use too many treats...
Re: Where does all the food go? I probably used a lot more treats when he was younger And I've been very fortunate in I've never needed to watch his weight. He's very greedy with treats but not at all with his kibble so he's always been pretty lightweight. He won't accept kibble as treats so I use minuscule cubes of cheese and chicken or toast mostly.
Re: Where does all the food go? I think that using up the ration as training treats is the way to go. He still gets the food, you get the behavioural payoff. Don't worry if he doesn't end up with much in his bowl as an actual 'meal'.
Re: Where does all the food go? I was thinking more about this while we popped out for our morning turn. On the list of priorities a well trained Charlie that is also the right weight is far, far higher up the list than the satisfaction you might get by feeding him two meals a day It's the easy option to feed him meals but you're taking the right path and training him so he's everything he can be and he's not starved
Re: Where does all the food go? I use Hattie & Charlies' daily meals for training and when I use cheese, sausage etc. I just deduct a bit of kibble just to even it all out.
Re: Where does all the food go? Dex is back onto tapas meals when his tummy is properly right Julie......we are upping our game in getting him hooked and trained on retrieving ,so I'll have to start adjusting quantities again to accommodate that ....you know I've said this before I can't cope with him not having bowl meals....it's silly though and unnecessary as long as he is getting his correct food requirement.I just can't cope with the looks from him when he doesn't understand he's not getting something in his bowl......it's habit though. I've also realised that Dexter drops weight really quickly ,I could see it in 2 days this week whilst he's had the upset tum and he dropped a couple of kilos through his ops.....Does the very think he's too heavy again,he never looks podgy to me,he looks like a well covered young dog.....I know this management is a big part of his and your life... Also,whatever you do ,please don't cut the allowance for cuddle training...that would break my heart ;D x
Re: Where does all the food go? [quote author=Dexter link=topic=3556.msg39493#msg39493 date=1386237342] I know this management is a big part of his and your life... [/quote] He has just ballooned over the last week or 10 days . No exercise and a huge amount of clicker and manners training. He is difficult in the house when he has hardly had a walk. He's not square or anything (when I see over weight labs, they always look like a rectangle viewed from above) but I can see he is heavier. So got to do something about that, as it's much harder if it builds up. [quote author=Dexter link=topic=3556.msg39493#msg39493 date=1386237342] Also,whatever you do ,please don't cut the allowance for cuddle training...that would break my heart ;D x [/quote] No chance, if OH runs out of cuddle kibble, he just gets more from the kibble bin. : : : Which probably doesn't help. I don't think it's a huge factor though, really.
Re: Where does all the food go? Julie, when I met Charlie, pre rest enforced days, he looked absolutely spot on to me, he had that little layer of fat on his back which is good but he had a waist , his coat is lovely and he just looked right for his age ;D Sam seems to eat quite a fair bit more than some of the other adult dogs on here, but isnt at all fat, quite the oposite, I guess theres just more dog to fill up :
Re: Where does all the food go? I was thinking about this yesterday too as I was doing some "leave it" training with the pooch. My hubby thinks I starve the poor dog but the vet said at his recent visit that he is "perfect" in terms of weight and how he looks, etc. I have to admit that I think that he does have a very lean and long look to him but I'm not sure if that's because he is not pure Lab? I just don't have a lot of experience with Labs to know what they look like normally, other than all of your lovely photos, so I am starting to get an "eye" for it. It's hard to tell with Simba, though...and Newfies are much bigger and stockier than Labs, so I would think that, if anything, he should fill out a bit more in the chest, etc. Anyhow I was doling out treats like mad last night, and wondering about weight, etc, too, so you're not alone, Julie! Simba gets two small meals in a bowl 2x a day, and then more kibble as training (doing Total Recall at the moment, so he is also getting roast chicken, nom nom)... PS I'm going to have to post a video of Simba and his "leave it"....I'm pretty pleased with the boy.....
Re: Where does all the food go? [quote author=kateincornwall link=topic=3556.msg39525#msg39525 date=1386249296] Julie, when I met Charlie, pre rest enforced days, he looked absolutely spot on to me, he had that little layer of fat on his back which is good but he had a waist , his coat is lovely and he just looked right for his age ;D Sam seems to eat quite a fair bit more than some of the other adult dogs on here, but isnt at all fat, quite the oposite, I guess theres just more dog to fill up : [/quote] We crash dieted before we met you! No, seriously, Charlie was slimmer in the summer, got far too much exercise on the beach (which hasn't harmed his joints, now we know) and probably less food - we were out and about, doing our early gundog stuff. Not clicker training indoors all day.
Re: Where does all the food go? Otis the dog dustbin, (can you beleive he tried to eat the skin off an avocado tonight !) gets two small meals, thats half a mug of kibble each meal, plus quite a few treats, and I gave him a small bit of chicken tonight raw, just to see if he would eat it, well of course he did ! I bought some fish for dogs fish skins, and they are going down very well to, so crunchy. Im not worried about his weight, because he looks fine, nice coat, and defined waist, although I will get him weighed soon, to see what it is. He has a variety of different treats, which I use on his walks, for training. Maggie x
Re: Where does all the food go? I wouldn't worry too much if Charlie is looking a touch podgy right now - he will lose it when you get back to your normal regime. You could always cut down on the 90g portion that he gets in his Kongs, as you mentioned. Kibble is energy-rich food and they don't need very much. What is the size of the kibble? What about using a smaller 'lite' kibble for training, so you get more treats per gram? That's what we do. We use Nutro Natural Choice Lite for treats on walks. We have a bag just for that purpose. (The rest of Obi's food is basically a raw diet).
Re: Where does all the food go? [quote author=Oberon link=topic=3556.msg39621#msg39621 date=1386277026] I wouldn't worry too much if Charlie is looking a touch podgy right now - he will lose it when you get back to your normal regime. You could always cut down on the 90g portion that he gets in his Kongs, as you mentioned. Kibble is energy-rich food and they don't need very much. What is the size of the kibble? What about using a smaller 'lite' kibble for training, so you get more treats per gram? That's what we do. We use Nutro Natural Choice Lite for treats on walks. We have a bag just for that purpose. (The rest of Obi's food is basically a raw diet). [/quote] I hope he'll lose it. That's a good idea about the kibble - the kibble we have is pretty chunky, it's supposed to make a labrador slow down to eat. : I used to have smaller kibble for training, but only because I bought it by mistake. I'll look into that again. Thanks. I feel the kongs are important. Since he spent nearly 3 months with me being there every day in Cornwall over the summer I don't think he is quite as good as being left on his own now. I haven't done a video lately, so I must soon. But just little indications - he doesn't seem to be as relaxed if he thinks I'm leaving. So I like leaving the familiar kong pile. It's true that it doesn't have to be filled with kibble. I'll experiment at the weekend with veggies and stuff.
Re: Where does all the food go? [quote author=Oberon link=topic=3556.msg39621#msg39621 date=1386277026] What about using a smaller 'lite' kibble for training, so you get more treats per gram? That's what we do. We use Nutro Natural Choice Lite for treats on walks. We have a bag just for that purpose. (The rest of Obi's food is basically a raw diet). [/quote] Good idea, Rachel!!
Re: Where does all the food go? The podgy little thief has just nicked just under half a loaf of bread and scoffed the lot. About 300 - 400g I reckon! I'm thinking unlikely to do him any harm (?) but he might need an extra poo or two! He is looking extremely smug. I know this is my fault for forgetting to put it away. :
Re: Where does all the food go? Oh naughty Charlie , sorry but its funny too, it wont harm him Julie, he might be a little bloated and make some rather unsavoury smells but in true Labby style, he will digest and rid
Re: Where does all the food go? i very often use bits of carrots for treats, jasper is more then happy with carrot only as a kong may be once a week, this is filled with cooked mixed veg, fish and a little kibble, .....my training treats consists of pea size, sardines, salmon, sausage,or carrot,.......unless its a jack pot treat
