Changing food to diet

[mustBcrazy]

hi all

had the girls at the vets .all's well but the weight department. isis is about 30 lbs, but the lab is 93. ok we spoil them maybe to much, but we're cutting that out, they have been eating taste of the wild dry food hi praire, and mix like a tablespoon of of blue buff can food in also. t/w doesn't make a dry diet food , was thinking of going to blue buffalo longevity dry food which seems to be a good diet food and see what happens ..ill be taking them on longer walks, walk them everyday in all types of weather ,any thoughts

[agilebasenji]

green beans. mine also BEG for zucchini. Substitute some of their food for veggies. this will help fill them.

my basenjis get about 1/4 cup 2x a day of Taste of the wild (more in the winter). I rotate the flavors. Jet the trying is almost 16 and somewhere around 27 pounds; Zest! is 6 and about 21 (should be 20). Make note if you do lots of training. Get thyroid tested if the dogs are over 5 or so. (Z was looking chunky and I decreased her food, but she was still chunky, so had her thyroid tested and it was low. She's down to 21 from 22 and looking better with better energy. no, 2 pounds overweight isn't a lot, but on a 20 pound dog, it's 10%).

[mustBcrazy]

thanks for the tip.worried about the lab thyroid fine, just lazy.. real lazy think isis is taking after her,the vet was saying that the xtra #s on the labs could tear up her knee/muscle and would need it surgically repair $$ hopfully if we get some #'s off them they be more active.. well in theory anyway
the lab always been lazy from the get go

[stash]

I find with Kaiser I have to watch the amount of treats I give him as he was getter heavy 13.9kg down to 12.4kg now on his special limited diet which also cuts out the more fattier raw foods, But still feel it was also the treats that I overdid and helped contribute to his weight. He looks really good now more waist and less fat over the ribs, think he is at a perfect weight for him. Good luck with finding a food that helps, had good results with the cat on raw he was hitting the 6.0kg mark and is now down around 4.5kg. Wish Kaiser would walk in all weather he refuses in the rain and even if it has stopped raining and it's cold and overcast he stops every few feet and looks at me to say "what are you thinking taking me away from my warm spot" and I always feel guilty for missing our walks but he copes well without exercise on those days he just snuggles up and sleeps so while he behaves I won't force him to walk by dragging him out in rain and just give him smaller meals on low energy days just like he gets more on dog park days, still learning to get his food amounts to suit his energy output but seems to be working at the moment.

Jolanda and Kaiser

[agilebasenji]

i should add that, as long as the hips/knees are good or excellent, I don't mind my seniors carrying a few extra pounds. years ago we had a lab who was dysplastic and I was very careful she NEVER carried extra weight. Jet's ideal weight is about 26 and he maybe a few pounds overweight. It's a little more difficult for the seniors to bounce back from any sort of illness and Jet's hips were OFA'd Good, so I don't worry about a little extra.

The veggies will add fiber to the dogs' meals and help fill them up. I would not use canned as it tends to be high in sodium. If they don't like the veggies, you may want to try to cook them in a little chicken broth to help the flavor. or you can decide if they aren't hungry enough to eat the veggies, they aren't really hungry.

My house is colder in the winter, so I tend to feed the b's 1/3-1/2 a cup 2x a day. And I tend to train more during the nicer days, so Z gets very little at meal time as I have to watch that. (I use lots of treats during training.)

But really, I would not switch to a different food just to reduce the weight. For Z I also usually use a puzzle toy for feeding her meals so it lasts longer.

For comparison, Zest!'s official measurements (for AKC agility) were 15.88 and 16 inches and I think she looks best at 20 pounds.