how much is too much???

[Claudine]

I am having a really hard time trying to get Bob Barker trimmed down. He doesn't get as much exercise in winter (he won't go out in snow or rain) although we do get Bob and his sister Lucy & brother Hootch out every day if it's not bad weather. My husband really RUNS them all over the neighborhood! I've had the three of them on Wellness (canned) for about a week now & I swear I think Bob is looking even heavier! Am I feeding him too much? He eats 4 oz. about 7:00a.m. and then gets another 4 oz. about 6:00 p.m. I no longer give any human food or treats in between. He won't eat kibble at all. How much should be enough? Help!:confused: :confused: :confused:

[LexieLuvr]

Can't help you with canned - I feed my crew of two 1/4 cup of Natural Balance Reduced Calorie with 1/2 can of green beans, 2x a day, make sure they get their daily walk, and they are staying slim and trim. I'm sure others who feed canned will give you some advice. Sorry!

[Jen]

Not sure about canned but Tasha gets 1/4 c (2 oz) of dry in the am plus 2oz of raw in the evening. She's a 14 lb tweenie. If he's gaining weight, trying cutting back on his food slowly--and you can add lower cal filers like green beans (Tasha likes thawed frozen ones) or canned pumpkin.

How much should Bob Barker weigh according to your Vet? Tasha is a 14.75 lb tweenie with a lot of muscle. She gets walked 60-90 min per day.

[Alex's Mom]

Alex is a 24 pound standard, and she gets 1 can of i/d per day broken into 3 meals. She's at a good weight, and gets lots of treats (dentabones, meditreats, carrots, apples, whatever is on her mom's plate at any given time :rolleyes:); feding this much doesn't result in weight gain with her (of course, this is a bit misleading cuz she's old and not very well, and is actually kind of hard to keep weight on! She also is in the latter stages of congestive heart failure and so doesn't get a whole lot of exercise, maybe a 10 minute walk and a bit of playing around the house). My :angel7: Maxe was much smaller, 14 pounds (although she weighed a wopping 17 pounds after my dad babysat her for 6 weeks while I was away with work), and she got about 1/2 can of meat a day, plus treats. I trimmed her back down to a good weight with lots of walking (45 minutes most days), and cutting back on the treats. How much does Bob Barker (still :hearts: that name!!) weigh now and how much is he supposed to weigh?

[Claudine]

Bobby weighs 13 pounds right now and for him ( very short legs, barrel chest & runt of the litter) that is way too much. He waddles when he walks & has no definition to his waist. My vet said for his stature I shouldn't let him be more than 10 lbs. I like the idea of crunchy veggies & am going to slowly add more veggies & less canned to his total intake. Probably will do the trick. Will do the same with Hooch, who actually has a very pretty profile, but could stand to lose a pound or two, as well.

[Jen]

Oh, and NEVER go by the recommendation on the can. Its usually 2-3 times what the average dog needs! I think Tasha would be eating a cup per day if we followed the bag. :faint:

I think cutting back the food (maybe 4 oz a day total?) and adding veggies so he doesn't feel deprived will help. If he's 13 and meant to be 10 he's nearly 33% over his desired weight. Good for you for addressing the problem now! :appl: :appl: :hug99: As someone with a doxie who has had back issues, I can't repeat enough how important keeping them trim is! And he might be more willing to exercise once he's shed some of the weight. :)

[catstamm]

Wellness canned is very expensive and about 85% water as is all canned food...that's pretty expensive water LOL not to mention I don't do canned food
When I rescued Jen Jen she weighted 22 lbs!!!! As of last night she is down to 15.5!!!!
She gets a flat 1/4 cups x times a day of Wellness kibble for weight reduction OR Canidae Platinium for weight loss.
For treats she gets carrots once in a while and green beans....
The walks are key!!
Carlee is one of those lucky girls...that we all hate!!!
I had 2 people tell me she was to skinny this past weekend...I think she is a lean muscle machine :) Of course the people that said that ..... I asked them if they were comparing carlee to their doxies...since your doxies are OVERWEIGHT! ;)

Claudine...he WILL eat kibble if you don't offer him other good stuff ...he is manipulating you.....Give him 3 or 4 days and I guarentee he'll be hungry enough to start eating the kibble....and since he's overweight , 3 days of holding out will help his weight loss.

[Claudine]

Thanks for all the great tips on how to "slenderize" Bob Barker. Now that spring is just around the corner I intend to spend lots & lots of time every day walking with the pups. I need to lose WAY much more weight than all the pups together, so it'll be great for me too! Will try the Wellness dry & the Canin diet food. I may have to dampen it with meat broth (home-made...the canned or cubes are too. too salty) until he gets used to it. He will not eat it dry. Will start adding plenty of veggies, too.

[catstamm]

I'm tellin ya Claudine....he will eventually eat it DRY...it will take time....squirt a fish oil tab on it instead of moistening it.... my girls would eat cardboard if there is fish oil on it :)

[Jen]

Good advice. Salmon oil is great for their coats and Tasha thinks its yummy!

[LexieLuvr]

Don't feed broccoli, and watch the carrots for the natural sugar content but I'm sure you've got a list of do-not-feed-to-dogs somewhere, right? I just recently learned that broccoli is a no-no. I pretty much stick with green beans, a few carrots, cauliflower, and occasionally a can of mixed veggies (without onions). Green beans are our staples for keeping slim and trim - I'm always on the lookout for veggie sales! (3/$1 lately at my local Super 1 Foods.)