over weight golden

[jessiesmom]

i just read some of the replys about dogs being overweight i didnt realize the harm its doing to them.im really concerned about my golden girl shes about 95 pounds and i know shes overweight but i didnt know about all this bad stuff that could happen to her.i take her for atleast one big long run a day and then somedays 15 -20 min walks a day and she only gets 3 cups of food a day as well(pedigree) i really dont know what im doing wrong .

if anyone has anything they think i could possbly do to make her in shape i would really apreciate it.i dont want my baby to grow old and be sick!! :cry: :cry:

[DogPaddle]

Well first off I would switch to a food lower in carbs, really high carbs can bulk up some dogs and not with muscle, just make sure it isn't a really fatty food. I know most of the brands I prefer don't have light versions.
There is Healthwise Weight Control, it is associated with Innova/Nutra
[url]http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=product-detail&pxsl=%2F%2Fproduct%5B@id%3D%27548%27%5D[/url]
Anyone know anything further about this product.
Also have you considered that your dog might have health problems causing it to be overweight, it doesn't sound like you overfeed and it does sound like you get some decent excercise with her. Maybe check on diabetes, thyroid and whatever else your vet thinks of.
Golden's are generally 55-75lbs when not oversized, so your girl could stand to loose some weight but I wouldn't call her obese, just overweight.
Good for you for addressing the issue and not just letting it continue on.

[TDG]

thyroid would be the first thing i'd have the dog checked out for.

i also agree with dogpaddle that a better food would make a huge difference. pedigree is a popular food, but unfortunately not great quality - unlike the commercials want to make you believe.

overall i wouldn't even go for a "light"/"diet" food but just feed a reduced amount of a high quality, normal adult kibble (innova, canidae, wellness, solid gold, natural balance...there are many nice brands, and what you pick largely depends on what's available in your area). if your dog has difficulty dealing with a reduced amount of food, bulk it up with some canned green beans (make sure they don't have any salt added) or coarsely chopped, fresh veggies, either raw or lightly steamed if she won't go for raw ones.

the reason i do not like "weight loss" types of food much is that they contain even more carbohydrates than regular foods, mostly in form of starchy grain products that cause relatively strong glycemic responses and cause the dog to feel hungry much sooner than on a diet with less carbs but more protein and a moderate amount of fat.

[Nancy B]

I agree that having a thyroid panel done and switching to a higher quality food would both be good ideas. Also....three cups of food a day is a LOT of food! My female Dobe weighs in at 58 pounds. She gets 1 1/4 cups of food a day. If I feed her more, which she would love to have, she packs on weight. In order to fill her up, I add veggies to her kibble. I used different varieties but, mostly green beans.

Dogs can't digest the veggies unless they're processed in some way to break down the cell wall so, if you just add whole beans to their food it fills them up and sorta just "passes through". No nutritional value for the dog but, that's not why I'm adding them.

If you do choosed to add green beans or carrots or something else, be careful about what kind you add. I use fresh most of the time, frozen sometimes and also canned sometimes. If you use canned check the can....if salt has been added you need to rinse the beans carefully before you add them to your dog's food.

My girl is very active. We train in agility several times a week....not as often as my male but, she certainly gets more of a workout than the "average" dog does. It would also be a good idea if you could raise the activity level of your dog. Will she fetch balls? Spending 15 minutes a day throwing a ball for her to retrieve would really help. Walks don't really do much for dogs with regard to activity. Yeah, theyr'e better than nothing but, a dog needs to RUN and really get it's heart pumping.

[Black GSD]

[quote name='Nancy B'] Also....three cups of food a day is a LOT of food! . [/quote]

Depends on the DOG. (And the food.)
My 1yo GSD pup eats 4 heaping cups of "premuim" kibble a day (Not including the other stuff I add to it.). And he is still thin. BUT, he is more active than most dogs. Think of a Border Collie on CRACK and that will give you some idea of how active he is. He is a dog that does NOT sleep or even relax AT ALL during the day. (If my adult female GSD ate 4 cups a day, or even 3, she would explode!)

In the case of the "fluffy :wink: " Golden, I would also agree that a change of food is a good idea. As well as less of it. And MORE exercise. (And a vet check.)

[DogPaddle]

BlackGSD wrote:
Nancy B wrote:
Also....three cups of food a day is a LOT of food! .


Depends on the DOG. (And the food.)

True. My BC who is 40lbs eats as much as I feed my Lab who is 60lbs, they are on Canidae and eat around 2 cups a day each.

[courtnek]

I agree - first stop the vet. However, I had a Golden that topped out at 95 lbs...but he was way large for the breed, and a purebred. They tend to be laid back dogs...prefer sitting in your lap to anything else. So the ball fetching idea is a good one...get his heart pounding for 15 minutes a day and burn off those calories.

Also, definitely change his food, and add veggies to it without salt.

My foxhound is 61 lbs and eats twice as much as my 75 lb Lab, so it just depends on the dog. Like people, they have different metabolism's....

:)