Need To Loose A Few Pounds

[Walliered]

Does anyone have any suggestions on a "less calories" food? I think both of my hounds could loose a little weight ( 4-5 lbs). Has anyone used Iams in the blue bag for this? Thanks

[JAJ2010]

Just substitute some green beans instead of kibble. That way their bellies don't feel empty. Along with that some longer walks should help.

[Hubcitypam]

The green bean diet does work. I've spend many hours in the dog food aisle wrangling with myself on buying Iams blue bag, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I don't really mind corn meal in food, but not as the first ingredient and I don't really mind chicken by products, but not as the first protein. That's just me and my tin foil hat.

 

Buddy came with Purina One Smartblend weight management (turkey #1 ingredient) and lost well over ten pounds on it over several months. Here it costs about $4 a bag more than Iams. Poodle used to eat Natural Balance Ultra Light but would be expensive for 2 greys.

[RedHead]

Personally, I would just cut back on their regular food and up the exercise if you can. If they are getting overweight it likely just means they are eating too much. From my experience, lower fat foods often substitute in lower quality ingredients for meat. If your pups are hungry, try the green bean trick.

[Feisty49]

Personally, I would just cut back on their regular food and up the exercise if you can. If they are getting overweight it likely just means they are eating too much. From my experience, lower fat foods often substitute in lower quality ingredients for meat. If your pups are hungry, try the green bean trick.

 

I agree with the above about cutting back on regular food. Of course, the question is: how much do you feed them now, including treats? Do you look at the caloric content of dog food? It could be that 1.5 cups of "this" food has more calories (good or bad) than 1.5 cups of "that" food. I've never compared so I don't know. My girl weighs 67-68 pounds and she gets 1.5 cups of food twice a day plus a few mini-size biscuits and some small training treats when we do training. She very seldom gets people food in order to help keep her weight down. If I can't see those two back ribs and her hip bones, I play back in my mind what she's had the past week in the line of treats and cut back if necessary.

Edited December 3, 2012 by Feisty49

[Walliered]

OK, I tried the green beans tonight. Lady ate them with no problem. Da Vid turned up his nose. I am going to out wait him. If he skips his food tonight, it will not kill him. He weighs about 78#. His racing weight was 74#. He cannot do any running and must be leashed walked. Lady weights 60#. I do not remember what her racing weight was. She is 7. Da Vid is 6. We are starting hydro therapy this Thursday. Will be taking him to Charleston once a week and see if this helps with his back pain. She wants to do laser therapy on him too. Don't know anything about it so I have not decided. I can add therapy to the Trupanion policy for Lady at $30.00 per month.

[JJNg]

I agree with the above about cutting back on regular food. Of course, the question is: how much do you feed them now, including treats?

 

Ditto. If they just need to lose a few pounds, I'd just cut back a little on the regular food and/or treats. If they're getting a significant amount of 'extras', cut back more there. If they really don't get much treats or snacks, then cut back on the regular food. I usually only recommend switching to a lower calorie food if the dog needs to lose a large amount of weight, or if cutting back on regular food results in an unreasonably small volume that won't satisfy the dog and may even be deficient in nutrients.