It is amazing just how many overweight dogs you see. The owners and their family are unaware that they are killing them with kindness and it is really sad. I see these overweight dogs coming into our agility classes all the time and I make a point of asking the handlers if there is any veterinary reason why their dogs is so overweight. It is totally unfair and cruel to try and make a dog do physically hard work when it is obese.
Ask yourself, "If I weighed twice as much as I should, would I expect myself to happily run a 160 meter long obstacle course?" I then ask the owner if they are prepared to put their dog on a strict weight loss diet.
It is very easy to establish whether or not your dog is getting to be overweight. Looking at your dog from directly above, can you see a change in shape front to back? You should be able to see the flanks, just behind the ribs, dip inwards. Looking at the dog from the side, is there any change in shape front to back? The stomach area, just behind the ribs should dip upwards. Grab a good thick layer of skin from the dog's side, just at the end of the rib cage. Whilst letting the skin slide through your fingers, try and feel if there is a second subcutaneous layer between the fold of skin. If the dog is overweight you should be able feel that second layer slip through your fingers. When you run your hand over the rib cage, can you feel each individual rib?
If you cannot see any shape, (yeah, yeah, I know. Round is a shape) and you can feel that second layer and cannot feel the ribs, then shame on you for you have an overweight dog.
I own border collies with which my wife and I do a lot of agility competing so they are fit and trim. Our male is tall at around 540mms at the withers and weighs in at 23kgs. No border collie should really weigh much more than this. I have however recently met a border that weighed 38kilograms. My youngest bitch is 485mm at the withers and weighs around 18 kgs. She could probably lose a kilo.
A slim and trim Labrador would not be very much taller than my male but may be a little heavier, maybe around 28 kilograms.
So you have now established you have an overweight dog and you have agreed to put him on a diet. Where do you start? You need to be totally committed to the diet program, as must the rest of the family, your neighbours and friends. No point in having a diet if the dog is getting treats and tit bits from everywhere else. All between meal treats and feeding of scraps from the dining room table are to be stopped and any other pet food, such as the cat's food, should be put right out of reach. Do not leave any uneaten dog food lying around for him to eat later. Human food must not be left where the dog can reach it and refuse bins must be secured.
I know some people feed their dogs a raw diet. Minced meat and vegetables is common. Some people cook this minced variety. Some buy commercial varieties of meat and veg (BARF loaves)and yet others rely on commercial dry food (kibble). It does not matter what you use as long as you give the dog less. You must immediately cut the amount of food being fed to the dog by at least half.
I have been using Royal Canindog for the last couple of years and every now and then, I need to adjust the quantity my dogs are getting as their weight fluctuates up or down. Generally they get 1 to 1.5 cups of dry kibble a day, once a day in the evening, only, thats it, no more than that. Occasionally they may get an added treat of a spoon of chicken mince mixed in with the kibble. Remember to adjust the main meal quantity if you have done some dog training with the dog and used food treats. If you use a handful of treats, take a handful of food out of the main meal.
Now we are all aware that to burn calories faster we need to do some form of physical exercise. Us humans can do some callisthenics in front of the TV, or do yoga, Thai chee or whatever. Dogs cannot, and an overweight dog will certainly not over exert itself. You need to get your dog working out. By far and away the best exercise is swimming. Get your dog in the swimming pool or down to the beach or your local swimming hole by the river. They need to swim for at least 10 minutes a day, every day. If you decide to join your dog on his diet then taking him for a jog will do you both good, but you need to do no less than 10 kilometers. Buying a treadmill and teaching the dog how to run on this is becoming popular but be sure you buy a unit that will not allow the dogs toes to get caught, and cut the fur between the toes so he has a better grip on the rubber mat.
If you have access to an underwater treadmill then you are on a winner. This is a unit that has a treadmill belt built into a water tight tank. The tank is filled with water up to the dog's elbows and the dog then is made to walk and jog so that the water is providing resistance. If you have a retrieve mad dog then getting him retrieving a ball for 10 minutes is adequate as long as the ball is going around 40 to 50 meters and the run out is preferably up hill. You can use a tennis racket or a "Chuckit" to get that ball sailing away from you.
OK. So now you have cut the food intake, got the dog exercising, and he has lost as much weight as you need to lose. Maintenance of this weight is important so you need to continue being vigilant about what food is around and only feed him what his metabolism will use. Increase or decrease the volume of food he gets to maintain his weight at a healthy level.
Continue his dog obedience training program and get him into agility. This will ensure you are motivated to keep his weight under control.
Nev Allen has been training dogs for 30 years and wants to help you to make your puppy a good canine citizen. If you want to understand all that is involved with dog obedience training, clicker training and dog ownership then you can read articles and watch videos about these fascinating topics at dogobediencetrainingblogs.com dogobediencetrainingblogs.com.
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