Has Anyone Ever Put Their Dog on A Diet?!

[Toots]

I took my 2 year old basset mix to the vet on Saturday for her yearly shots. Guess what, she weighed in at 73 lbs and the vet said she was F-A-T. He said she must go on a diet. She gets a ton of exercise (2 walk a day) and premium dog chow. However, she does love her peanut butter and I do give her treats. The treats and peanut butter goodness has stopped immedately. The vet said I should give her one cup of dry chow mixed with one half a can of green beans (feed this twice a day) and to give no other treats, except she can have ice chips and baby carrots.

Lily is not a happy camper. I thought she would wolf down the green beans but she turned her nose up at them. My other little guy (Buster, 25 lb terrier) devoured the green beans.

So I know this is going to take a long time but I'm hoping the new diet, plus the removal of Lily's treats and peanut butter will help her shed the pounds.

I feel terrible about this, I knew Lily had put on a little weight over the winter but I had no idea she was so overweight. Lily never gets people food or table scraps and I'm not a bad dog mommy.

Its going to take alot of willpower on my part to ignore her sad hound dog eyes.

 

[pacanis]

In answer to "Has Anyone Ever Put Their Dog on A Diet?!", the answer is yes. When my one dog had knee surgery I brought her down to 88-90 lbs from 94-96. She looks lean, but not skinny. There just isn't any fat on her. My GSD I reduced by 5 lbs, but I did that over the course of 5-6 months because it was something I wanted to do and not immediate health related. It was hard to see she had gotten a little heavy because of her coat. My bad.

I don't really understand your vet's recommended meals, I only hope you are at least buying sodium free canned green beans if you are following that "interesting" advice.

Was there any reason you just couldn't feed less? Or reduce your dog's meals to make up for the treats you were giving (only in lesser quantities for the diet)? Or feed a reduced protein and fat dog food? Did he/she feel the sugar found in canned green beans would increase her metabolism?

 

[sattie]

Booter at one time was a 20 lb Chihuahua. Poor guy, we realized that he was in trouble when we went for a walk one day and realized that Booter was not behind us anymore. Turned around and found him sitting in the middle of the path panting. We knew then we needed to do something.

At the time, we were just feeding them by keeping food in the bowl at all times. (Big mistake!)

So Booter is now down to a healthy 9 1/2 lbs and we did it by serving 2 meals a day, portioned controlled. It is the best thing I could have ever done for both of my boys. Boots gets about 1/4 cup of Nutro for senior dogs and Binks gets slightly less Blue Buffalo for younger doggies.

I will say that the diet above is odd, but I think you can achieve the same results by feeding quality food, portioned controlled at set times of the day. If they turn their nose up at it, take the food up and then feed again at the next scheduled time. They will eventually eat when they get hugry enough. Also limit treats. I only feed treats maybe once or twice a week.

Keep us posted on your furbaby's progress!

 

[sattie]

I will also mention that it took over a year to get Boots down to a healthy weight. But when we took him back to the vet, they were so amazed!

 

[buckytom]

i wish the person that lets their dog crap on my lawn would put the beast on a diet.

holy crap! literally!

although, it does make a good flaming paper bag filler.

 

[expatgirl]

Never owned a dog but own 4 cats and was told that one of them was overweight (mind you she is 11 years old and in perfect health ( I paid for a $70 bloodworkup that said so) and she lives both indoors and outdoors and is still very active....the other three are at normal weights...how do you monitor that.....well, I don't....they all eat from the same bowl and it's food for senior cats though the other 3 aren't there yet and we don't feed table scraps though one of them does supplement his diet with lizards-yechhhhhh!

 

[expatgirl]

Sorry if I went off breed here.......

 

[Angie]

I had to put my Kika (the little one in my avitar) on a diet by reducing food and treats.

Now we have had to watch Kenzo's weight (the big one in my avitar). He's on prednisone during the summer for his bad allergies and has gained some weight. About two weeks ago we switched their food from Candidae to EVO to see if that will help with his non-seasonal allergies. We also cut out all treats during this 30 day trial. I'm hoping this will help with his weight as well.

I've been fortunate with my dogs. I've never had to portion control them. They only eat when they are hungry (except for treats), and really don't eat that much. Since I switched them to EVO, they eat a lot less.

Just remember, you are doing this for your pups health, as much as she may give you the sad Basset eyes!! Good luck.

Oh, mine don't like green beans either!

 

[Toots]

I thought the green bean diet sounded weird too, so when I got home from the vet's office, I googled it and turns out that is a common recommendation for helping your dog lose weight. Lily is getting a reduced amount of dry chow and the rest of her meal is being replaced with green beans. Right now she is getting low sodium green beans (canned) but I think I'm going to get some frozen green beans and microwave them. If I cut the beans up really fine, she'll eat them.

She is a big dog on little legs, and she is like her mama, she loves food!

Here are the sad dog eyes:

 

[sattie]

Awe Toots, what sweet babies!!! I can tell she loves here mama!!!

Lots of folks have no problems with leaving food in the bowl. But over time it could pose a problem.

Another good thing about having portion controlled set meal times is that it keeps your companion on a regular poop schedule. This is helpful for many different reasons since you know about when to let your dog out side or if they become irregular due to some illness.

 

[jabbur]

We replaced half a feeding of chow with a can of veggies and Olle went from 113 lbs to 93 in about 6 months. He loves the green beans and canned carrots also work. One of the reasons for the veggies is they provide bulk without calories so the dogs feel full but without the extra calories the chow would have. I've heard broccoli is another good sub for chow but if I'm making broccoli, it's going in my tummy not the dog's!

 

[pacanis]

I've heard broccoli is another good sub for chow but if I'm making broccoli, it's going in my tummy not the dog's!

That's a good place for it, jabbur. A lot of broccoli is not good for dogs.

 

[sattie]

Binks my youngest dog loves veggies, any kind I will let him have, he goes bonkers for it. Booter is a bit more picky about it, but he eats it cuz he sees Binks eating it. Goofy dogs!

 

[kitchenelf]

I was going to post about using frozen versus canned and using low/no sodium but that has already been covered. Frozen, IMHO, would be best. Frozen carrots is another option too. I use the defrost cycle of my microwave, which, doesn't really heat them too much.

 

[Jeekinz]

My dog (English Springer Spaniel) is on a constant diet. Not that she's overweight, but she can eat ALOT.

She usually gets veggie scraps when I'm cooking dinner (bell pepper, carrot, tomato) Then after we eat dinner I'll giver her maybe a cup of table scraps, like steak, chicken, salad and veggies. Sometimes she gets them, and sometimes not. After that she gets about a cup or so of Purina One kibble that she will either eat that night or in the morning. She's maybe 1-2 pounds over weight but it's more from lack of excersize than improper diet.

 

[karenlyn]

No dogs, but I think I might have to put my kitty on a diet soon. She's tiny tiny tiny, but her tummy (and her little kitty bottom) is getting bigger and bigger and bigger...

My grandmother has two very very very well-trained shelties, and they're always on a diet. I guess they're at a healthy weight, but they seem so THIN to me. They only get one little scoop of food a day.

I know how they feel... it stinks to be on a diet!

 

[plumies]

Both my dogs are piggies and pretty much will eat anything (kind of reminds me of...me ). We monitor their food intake fairly closely even though they get a lot of exercise. Sydney has hip dysplasia so we keep her on the lean side to reduce the stress on her joints. Cole, who's half English Springer Spaniel (and possibly some Lab, Basset and who knows what else), would probably eat until he's unconcious.

Sydney sort of goes on a diet every now and then. She has a tendency to gain weight (hmm, reminds me of...me, again ) so we weigh her every month just to make sure her weight is within the range specified by our vet.

But it is hard sometimes when they are looking up at me with those sad eyes, trying to convince me that they are starving or something...So I try to keep the snacking to veggies and and some doggie cookies. The only time they get peanut butter is when we cut their nails. Not that they enjoy nail cutting but they'll endure it to have peanut butter!

 

[sattie]

Hey Jeeks, read this link. Just concerned about the tomatoes.

 

[SixSix210]

I had a "well loved" (aka Porky) mutt in my house at one point and he did get stuck on a diet. I made him some guilty pleasures that were'nt so bad for him. 3 eggs in the kitchenaid, a touch of non fat dry milk (I'd guess around 1/2 cup) about a cup of fat free/sodium free/organic chicken or beef broth mix it well, then add in whole stone ground flour until it essentially turns into concrete or the kitchenaide complains loudly Use you favorite cat shaped cookie cutter to cut into shapes and bake for about 30 minutes or so at 375. Fairly low fat but four eggs spread over 30 or fourty cookies isn't that bad...no sodium, no chemicals, no nothing. I've also added fat free shredded cheese in and on these, and as a super bonus I've tossed in 1/2 a cup of peanut butter as well. My mutts never touched a "milk-bone" brand again. Would actually turn their noses up at them.

 

[plumies]

Hey Jeeks, read this link. Just concerned about the tomatoes.

I was curious about tomatoes since I have friends who grow them and their dogs eat them, apparently with no ill effect. I looked up a few more sites and here's a similar list from Humane Society, which led me to American Animal Hospital Association website, which had a list beyond food that I thought was very informative. Both sites only lists tomato leaves and stems as being poisonous.