General Chat

i had to get strict with my 2 half yr old chi, we had him spayed and he seemed to eat more so we cut this down, then the crafty thing would perch half on the sofa n half on me shoulder, and as the fork or spoon was approaching my mouh he would gulp it, at fist i found it hilarious but soon realised he was gaining weight again, we use royal canin now its about 11 pound a small bag, they were on bakers dried

........and its true vets sell whats on promotion, not always whats bestx

thats very interesting about thyroid problems ANTIE SHERLOCK, neer thought of that before,i know thats labs are greedy but we are haing problems with our lab jumping up and taking food off the kitchen tops(hes never ever done that before)if i didnt know better i would have said he has worms)but i know he doesnt because we have never missed a treatment.
sorry to highjack this thread with my own lab problems. :-D :-D
please ignore spelling mistakes,some of my keys are not working. :-D :-D :-D :-D i can spell :-D

As you have guidance from your vet I would imagine you have ruled out any possible other medical problem. We have a lab who was very overweight and who ate like a pig. He has been diagnosed with a thyroid condition and is now on medication. The change in his eating habits and weight is amazing. He has lost about 11 kilos.

The info about including rice and vegetables is a good idea. Also google what not to feed your dog. There are several foods which are not good for them, onions, chocolate and sultanas are three which spring to mind.

Our vet also told us that dogs do not understand different types of food. Somethings they won't eat but on the whole food is food and it does not matter what the brand, texture, or the pretty label on the can looks like.

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP

my lab is 3 now and is overweight(they are very greedy dogs) vet first told us to use special dog food(from the practice)£2.50 per tin.and then a friend su,ggested a diet of chicken and pasta,and thats what we did.buy bags of chicken £9.00 for 3 bags which i boil and put into bags in the freezer,pasta is the cheepest from tes-- 25p per bag. 2meals a day and plenty of walks and runs in the fields,it took about 4m before he was normal weight,but ive kept him on his chicken and pasta,he likes it and it keeps his weight down,he also likes rice but i find to much rice gives him the runs.x good luck. :-D

Thanks PatinCypru will have a look at that

know you've had lots of ideas but our dog had problems with his hips as a young dog of 4.

Told by vet we needed to reduce his bulk in his muscles and to stop giving him dried food as the cereal content bulked him out. He was not overweight at all.

I was advised by vet to buy tin dog meat without cereal, said all dog food was good as it had all the nutrients the dogs required. Found one called Choice, he loved it. 4 flavours they did in the 1990s. Very often on special offer, 4 flavours packaged together, buy 4 for the price of 3. Used to stock up when it was cheap.

Our dog dropped weight around his joints very quickly and went on to enjoy 8 more very active years.

Pat

thanks for all your help Bon likes carrots best she also likes white bread.I am trying differant foods had some funny looks in Asda as i line the diet dry food up and read all the lables the Asda one looks bettter that the others os am trying that the veg and the fish in oil for a couple of week to see how much she lose's and instead of taking her down the counrty park for a hour in the morning and out after tea we are going out four times for shorter walks till she gets thinner

i didnt know myself till a couple of years ago and stopped then
mine also like carrots best out of vegs
mind theres not much he wont eat

but bread is his very favorite plain white
and if given with meat he leaves the meat and eats the bread first

Thanks for that JoyBoro....l have often given Madoc broccoli stalks, just checked it out and they are toxic.....quite a few websites out there about fruit and veg for dogs!! His favourite is carrot:)

jude :-D

my dog is 68 kgs of solid muscle
if he gets above this

i just cut his normal food down and add more veg
but never broccoli as thats poison to dogs

and i exercise him more

if a dog has joint problems i would also give oil of primrose caps
or cod liver oli

Hello Valium

Our Madoc was 27kg when we first got him 2004, he now weighs 22k.He's a Lab x Pointer and now 11yrs old.
He has Hyperalergenic (sp) dry food...chicken or rabbit & rice, approx £21.00 15kg Skinners Field and Trial. He was very itchy, hence the hyperalergenic foods.
We just had to cut down the amount for some months , he's on a cup full now and raw veg or cooked as treats, or we always have a small dish of his dried food to hand!!...he adores his veg. An egg every now and then and tinned fish every now and then. He does'nt have our food apart from the odd crust....unless Vic sneaks a digestive.

Hope you can find the best thing for your dog:)

jude :-)

If if we didn't have kids and animals to worry about - life would be so simple - but dull!!

Chris i used to give that to the pups to fill them up there was eight of them

Chris she has been on it for four years she only has two smalll cups in a morning one at tea time she loves veg she gets that too and apple she gets them off the tree hershelf. Carol and Penny we had to give one of are old dogs rice, veg with chicken or trip years ago thank you all

Tins of sardines/pilchards/mackeral available in Lixl/Axdi at much cheaper prices and they are good - we eat them and enjoy!

Used to give tin of fish mixed with wholemeal bread occasionally to our dogs and they woofed it down!

sounds like you have a good vet. Good luck with the dog.

Are vet told me to look on line as it is cheaper than thire's which was good of him and will not chrage fee to see how she is as it will be an on going illness which i thought was good but have used them for years thank you .

Several years ago we had an overweight lab & were advised by our vet to add rice & vegetables to a smaller amount of her usual food.

It's something they seem to be terribly prone to. DId you get them scored?

Its about the age where it starts to show, but if you can get the weight right down the effect can be startling. One tip about dried food - change the brand every few months, as lots of them, even the expensive brands, can allow toxins to accumulate over a period of time and cause additional problems. And don't forget that vets are as prone as any other business to the marketing ploys of the animal food and drug industry.

You wouldnt believe the number of reps handing out freebies to veterinary practises. I always just ask for the prescription and get any drugs off the internet. After all, if you went to your GP and they tried to sell you their own drugs at four times the price of the ones at the chemists, where would you go?