Any suggestions on how to take 7 lbs off my girl???

[MagsMom]

Maggie was just diagnosed with hip displaysia (left hip) and the vet said she was fat. I was mortified!! I thought she looked great. He said that losing the extra weight (she weighs 72 lbs) and getting down to 65 lbs would be ideal for her and would definitely help her hip. He had me order some food from a company in California (waiting for it to arrive) and said to give her raw fruits and veggies as treats as opposed to her "cookies". She loves snausages. This dog is no dummy. When I say "Want a Cookie" and toss her a hunk of broccoli. She promptly tosses it back and looks at me like I'm an idiot. Anyone know of any low fat snacks that are good for dogs that they actually like?
Thanks,
Candice

 

[harleyboxer]

I work for a vet office and they tell their clients to give canned green beans and carrots. You can give them as much as they want in addition to their diet portion of food.

 

[Jan]

Try adding cooked green beans to part of her food. Start by replacing cup of kibble with a cup of beans. Apparently they quite like them. I haven't tried them myself.

Try making you own biscuits and treats and then you can be sure that they are low fat. Check out the dog recipe forum for ideas.

Good luck!

 

[Cami]

I pretty much would also throw back a piece of broccoli if you gave it to me when I am used to chocolate! LOL

There are all sorts of different options that you can try. Apples, oranges, carrots, green beans, bananas, strawberries, rasberries, blueberries, etc.....(no grapes). Cheerios are a wonderful thing as well, Cami goes nuts over cheerieos in her treatsie ball. She will roll this around for hours getting out her cheerios and gets some extra exercise too.

 

[SoleilBxrs]

we had the problem w/ Cassius over summer. (he was sneaking his sisters food, and it was too hot to do any real exercise) We started crating Nikki when she was fed, that way we could regulate his food intake. We feed premium food, so he got the lower end of the feeding scale. he was down to a cup in the morn, and a cup and a 1/2 at nite. (we did the green beans every so often) No more table scraps no matter how those big dark eyes begged and pleaded. (this is key) And cookies and treats were cut down to 2 little pieces a day. Healthy treats are good, just like Cami mentioned. But above all, exercise needs to be done too. With your girl's hip displaysia, this might be a bit harder. I would say maybe a good run/play on a grassy area, so as to be less stress on the joints than on concrete. Good Luck, 72lbs is definately a bit heavy for a female (but i guess it depends on how tall she is). Cassius is a tad over 25in at the withers, and was up to 78lbs at the peak of summer.. WAY too heavy.. He's down to 69lbs, and he looks great. Good Luck!

-Kat

 

[Oscar's Mom]

Candice, I'm in the same situation. The vet told us Oscar needed to drop about 10 pounds, that would get him down to 82 lbs. He just had his second knee surgery and at our checkup he had lost 3 pounds. :D
We did many of the things the other posters recommended. Lowered food intake and not so many treats. Since he isn't allowed any exercise yet it's kind of hard.

Good luck with the weight loss.

Myra

 

[JacobsMom]

Jacob had gotten a bit "pudgy" (OK, plump) at one point. What we did was put him on a premium diet food & ONLY fed the low-end of the recomendation on the bag. I also changed to low-fat peanut butter for his bone & Kong. The hardest thing was "NO SCRAPS". He didn't understand & I'm sure he was very confused as to what he did "wrong", but he did loose the weight & we've been careful that he does not gain it back.

 

[nanabear]

You might want to try a "Lite" kibble. I was having a problem with Mack and tried all of the things mentioned above....but when I kept up with those good suggestions AND switched him to a LITE kibble - we got results.
We used NUTRO LITE. Do I think it's a great food? No - but it worked and he seemed more satisfied.
After he got closer to what he should be, we changed back to our usual, but now healthier way of eating.
They are amazing. Mack is in the "high 70's" - my just adopted rescue girl is 42 lbs and they eat the same amount at each meal. She is nice and svelte with lots of muscle tone - Mack is just one of those "Big Guys" without much definition.

 

[RoxMyWorld]

My Roxy is also about 72 lbs. according to her last vet visit and the vet didn't say she was too heavy but I think she's a bit chubby! But she's also a major couch potato! Thanks for the great suggestions on treats. I had no idea we could give her such a variety of "human food." She loves Chewy Louies and I hate to give them to her because they have molasses (sp?) and some suger in them. She also likes Scooby Snacks. We feed her Wellness Lamb & Rice. Maybe I need to cut down the amount of her food and slip in some healthier treats. Does anyone know of a book where I can get some good info on what "human food" is okay for our doggies? I am pretty sure what not to feed her (onions, garlic and grapes) but I think she should get a "human treat" once in awhile. We are pretty good about not giving her table scraps. Thanks.
P.S. MagsMom - Good Luck.

 

[LeedsDevil]

Green Bean Diet

I had to place Cookie on the "green bean diet" last spring after she had gained quite a bit of weight after her spay surgery (she had comlications and was on strict crate rest for 8 weeks).

What I did was replace 1/2 her dry kibble with green beans and cut back on the amount of canned food we added to her meals. She dropped the weight in no time flat! We did increase her excercise a bit, and that helped as well. But she never "complained" about being hungry, which she had done when I tried just cutting back the portion size of her meals. And yes, the hardest part was NOT giving into those big brown eyes when we were eating her favorite people foods. I never tried the low-fat peanut butter, but I am sure that would help too!

Good luck with the diet!

Jennifer & the not so plump anymore Cookie Monster!