Discussion
Our nearly 3 year old cockapoo has been piling on the pounds and is a bit of a fat boy. The weight seems to have crept on since he had the snip in September last year. I reckon he needs to drop 15% of his body weight.
Apart from the obvious (feed less, walk more) is there anything else that could help shift it?
He gets a good walk at day care Mon-Fri and gets 2 walks each day at the weekend totalling circa 90 mins. He’s never been an uber energetic dog and chooses to walks to heel most of the time, even off lead in the woods. At home he’s usually chilling on the sofa or licking one of his many soft toys (I’m convinced the Mrs is trying to re-enact Noah’s ark).
I’m not keen on special weight loss food as he’s historically been a fussy eater and we’ve finally got over that.
Apart from the obvious (feed less, walk more) is there anything else that could help shift it?
He gets a good walk at day care Mon-Fri and gets 2 walks each day at the weekend totalling circa 90 mins. He’s never been an uber energetic dog and chooses to walks to heel most of the time, even off lead in the woods. At home he’s usually chilling on the sofa or licking one of his many soft toys (I’m convinced the Mrs is trying to re-enact Noah’s ark).
I’m not keen on special weight loss food as he’s historically been a fussy eater and we’ve finally got over that.
ctdctd said:
Feed less, walk more and if he gets treats, allow for these and reduce the normal meals further.
Weigh all food so you know what he's getting - don't guess!
Thanks, fingers crossed with reduced food and more walks it gradually drops off.Weigh all food so you know what he's getting - don't guess!
Fortunately we buy food from tails.com which comes with an adjustable scoop which I’ve reduced to a smaller size.
condor said:
Does he really get a good walk at day care? I'd have thought with all the other dogs enjoying day care that they'd all play together - so should be worn out by the time he gets home.
When he comes home in the week he eats dinner then usually just goes and sleeps. He definitely gets a good walk there because she puts up videos of her walks on social media too - but he’s always walking beside her! I took him out this evening for a 15 min stroll round the village and I could tell he was tired when we left the house so just did a quick loop, he hasn’t moved since we got back at 8.
I’ve found a dog swimming pool nearby and might take him there this weekend as it’s only £15 for half an hour.
Use digital scales and measure food every feed DON'T USE SCOOPS/Cups-these are unreliable for accuracy usually by about 20% and nearly always 20% too much! reduce food by 15/20% of feeding guidelines (which should have been done straig ht after neutering)
Exercise obviously, make sure he is actually running around rather than bimbling along.
Most important, stop treats!! They are the worst culprit, use his kibble as treats if you need and an occasional carrot.
Your vet should have a vet nurse who can help check his weight, measurements and assess his body condition score line. This should also help with moral support, advice and encouragement to continue.
It will take 6 months to achieve a good loss it should be about slow and steady bit it is often quicker initially then slows a bit.
I understand the reluctance to change food hopefully that won't be necessary but if you are not seeing a decent loss over the next few months even with the above you may have to. He does not want this excess weight when he reaches middle age.
With the swimming, he should only do about 10 mins to start build up to half hour over a few sessions as he needs to build his fitness level.
Good luck!
Exercise obviously, make sure he is actually running around rather than bimbling along.
Most important, stop treats!! They are the worst culprit, use his kibble as treats if you need and an occasional carrot.
Your vet should have a vet nurse who can help check his weight, measurements and assess his body condition score line. This should also help with moral support, advice and encouragement to continue.
It will take 6 months to achieve a good loss it should be about slow and steady bit it is often quicker initially then slows a bit.
I understand the reluctance to change food hopefully that won't be necessary but if you are not seeing a decent loss over the next few months even with the above you may have to. He does not want this excess weight when he reaches middle age.
With the swimming, he should only do about 10 mins to start build up to half hour over a few sessions as he needs to build his fitness level.
Good luck!
Edited by bexVN on Monday 16th April 22:12
Edited by bexVN on Monday 16th April 22:14
This suggestion might sound a bit crackers but could you consider getting a 2nd dog?
The amount of exercise mine get per walk more than doubled when the 2nd dog arrived. This is the field down the road from my house, sometimes all I do is let them off the lead and watch them for 15 mins and they come back knackered.
https://youtu.be/-jxSQKS5JCw
A dog on it's own just wouldn't be doing that.
Obviously you have to match the dogs to each other so that they're both active breeds that enjoy running together but the dogs get so much more out of a walk when they play together like that. Mine both eat like pigs and get fed treats daily yet are nice and trim. Just a thought
The amount of exercise mine get per walk more than doubled when the 2nd dog arrived. This is the field down the road from my house, sometimes all I do is let them off the lead and watch them for 15 mins and they come back knackered.
https://youtu.be/-jxSQKS5JCw
A dog on it's own just wouldn't be doing that.
Obviously you have to match the dogs to each other so that they're both active breeds that enjoy running together but the dogs get so much more out of a walk when they play together like that. Mine both eat like pigs and get fed treats daily yet are nice and trim. Just a thought
Thanks all for your replies.
@bexVN - Good idea about weighing food. Have started this today. Treats have been cut right back, the only thing he gets is a denti stick when we leave him at home alone for an extended period of time (he had bad separation anxiety and this solved it). Thanks for suggestion about 10 mins swimming.
@mids - Would love another dog but not practical for us at the moment, we need to move house first and get a bigger garden. He spends all day Mon-Fri with other dogs and even in huge fields when they are running wild he's walking to heel 90% of time. Your two are great!
@HTP99 - I think/know this has been the case. He sees the Mrs as a weak link and targets her when we're eating and I'm having to make sure he doesn't get anything from her.
@bexVN - Good idea about weighing food. Have started this today. Treats have been cut right back, the only thing he gets is a denti stick when we leave him at home alone for an extended period of time (he had bad separation anxiety and this solved it). Thanks for suggestion about 10 mins swimming.
@mids - Would love another dog but not practical for us at the moment, we need to move house first and get a bigger garden. He spends all day Mon-Fri with other dogs and even in huge fields when they are running wild he's walking to heel 90% of time. Your two are great!
@HTP99 - I think/know this has been the case. He sees the Mrs as a weak link and targets her when we're eating and I'm having to make sure he doesn't get anything from her.
cv3hd said:
Thanks all for your replies:
@HTP99 - I think/know this has been the case. He sees the Mrs as a weak link and targets her when we're eating and I'm having to make sure he doesn't get anything from her.
@HTP99 - I think/know this has been the case. He sees the Mrs as a weak link and targets her when we're eating and I'm having to make sure he doesn't get anything from her.
Same here with me, the wife is the weak link when it comes to table tit bits; Barry isn't interested however both Daisy and Daphne hang around her when we are at the table, she's like "why do they hang around me?" Err I wonder! She doesn't feed them from the table now as it made me really cross, but she she used to and I think they still hang around "just in case", but then I don't know what goes on when I'm not home.
I also religiously weigh their food, when we were young and foolish we had a Pug, we didn't really know/think about nutrition for dogs and would just bung a handful of Bakers (yes I know!) in his bowl in the morning and late afternoon.
When we got Daisy (4.5 years ago) she came with Wainwright's kibble and this got us thinking about dog nutrition, I still didn't weigh the food but it started to get us thinking about it.
Now I'm anal about what they eat and how much, I weigh each portion out; all 3 have the higher amount recommended as they are so active, the vet always comments favourably about their condition and health (saying Daisy is the healthiest Frenchie that they have on their books), however the wife has had the odd negative comment or remark from fellow dog owners when out on walks about them being too thin, this has been mentioned to the vet and he said they are all in fantastic condition and the problem is many dogs are overweight and this is being seen as the norm.
HTP99 said:
Same here with me, the wife is the weak link when it comes to table tit bits; Barry isn't interested however both Daisy and Daphne hang around her when we are at the table, she's like "why do they hang around me?" Err I wonder! She doesn't feed them from the table now as it made me really cross, but she she used to and I think they still hang around "just in case", but then I don't know what goes on when I'm not home.
I'll be weighing his food every meal now and see how we get on.
To save going to the vets every week do you think weighing him by weighing myself and then weighing myself whilst holding him would suffice?
You won't need to go every week. Fortnightly initially for a couple visits then monthly. Weight clinics for pets was my speciality clinic for many years and I had a lot of successes. They only work when the owner is determined as you are and with the nurse providing positive and encouraging support and advice when needed.
Of course you can do it yourself but it is a useful extra tool to be used. Clinics are usually free appointments. A good weight clinic nurse can be a brilliant advantage to you and your pooch. A bad one, not so much!!
I once had an owner change vets to us because her dog had lost 2kg and the nurse said. "Well it's a start.... " and was very disparaging to the owner about her achievement. The owner was gutted so I started seeing her. We built up a great relationship for the next few years. Her dog lost 18kg with my help and encouragement (she was a very big rotti)!
Of course you can do it yourself but it is a useful extra tool to be used. Clinics are usually free appointments. A good weight clinic nurse can be a brilliant advantage to you and your pooch. A bad one, not so much!!
I once had an owner change vets to us because her dog had lost 2kg and the nurse said. "Well it's a start.... " and was very disparaging to the owner about her achievement. The owner was gutted so I started seeing her. We built up a great relationship for the next few years. Her dog lost 18kg with my help and encouragement (she was a very big rotti)!
bexVN said:
You won't need to go every week. Fortnightly initially for a couple visits then monthly. Weight clinics for pets was my speciality clinic for many years and I had a lot of successes. They only work when the owner is determined as you are and with the nurse providing positive and encouraging support and advice when needed.
Of course you can do it yourself but it is a useful extra tool to be used. Clinics are usually free appointments. A good weight clinic nurse can be a brilliant advantage to you and your pooch. A bad one, not so much!!
I once had an owner change vets to us because her dog had lost 2kg and the nurse said. "Well it's a start.... " and was very disparaging to the owner about her achievement. The owner was gutted so I started seeing her. We built up a great relationship for the next few years. Her dog lost 18kg with my help and encouragement (she was a very big rotti)!
Ok thats good to hear. I'll call the vet this week to enquire whether they have a clinic. First and foremost I want to get the household in the routine of weighing food.Of course you can do it yourself but it is a useful extra tool to be used. Clinics are usually free appointments. A good weight clinic nurse can be a brilliant advantage to you and your pooch. A bad one, not so much!!
I once had an owner change vets to us because her dog had lost 2kg and the nurse said. "Well it's a start.... " and was very disparaging to the owner about her achievement. The owner was gutted so I started seeing her. We built up a great relationship for the next few years. Her dog lost 18kg with my help and encouragement (she was a very big rotti)!
That must have been a huge rotti!!
bexVN said:
We got her weight DOWN to 49kg. Yep she was a big roti!
We had the first weigh in tonight. He’s coming in at 13.5kg, when he was neutered he was 11kg but had been on intermittent hunger strike the preceding week (ref earlier comments re previous fussy eater issues). Will post an update in a couple of weeks! Fingers crossed...
bexVN said:
Remember slow and steady is key.Good luck
We have good news. He weighed 13.5kg in April and weighed in tonight at 12.3kg. He’s looking much leaner.I think the final loss is attributed to a stay at dog care whilst we were away so I’m going to monitor over the next couple of weeks on the same diet. On the 21st May he was 12.8 but then the following week went up to 13 and today was 12.3.
What is your suggestion to maintain his weight moving forward? Increase food slightly and monitor carefully to avoid gains in weight?
What is your final target weight for him?
Assuming between 11-11.5kg then when he reaches 11.5kg increase food by 10/20g and reck weight in two weeks.
You may find that the weight will naturally stabilise at target and no adjustment is needed.
Excellent progress btw, that is a good loss in the time, well done.
Assuming between 11-11.5kg then when he reaches 11.5kg increase food by 10/20g and reck weight in two weeks.
You may find that the weight will naturally stabilise at target and no adjustment is needed.
Excellent progress btw, that is a good loss in the time, well done.
Edited by bexVN on Tuesday 12th June 23:03
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