# Overweight



## Knell (Oct 21, 2010)

My 3 1/2 yr old, Tillie, has been gaining weight lately. Over the last year she has gone from 85 to 95 pounds. I exercise her often (swimming/walks) and limit her to kibble twice a day (no treats). She has had GI issues in the past causing me to go through a bunch of foods (high end/low end and everything in between). About 4 months ago, I started her on blue buffalo basics salmon and sweet potato, and she has done very well on it. It's listed as 377 kcal/cup and based on her ideal weight of probably 80 pounds, I have been shooting for 1500 kcal/day. That puts her at about 4 cups a day. I tried to cut that back to 3 3/4 when i started to worry about her weight and she acts like she is starving. I discussed this with my vet and he recommended cutting her 4 cups by 25% and supplementing with brown rice to fill the stomach and take away the hunger. I just don't feel right about that, b/c I feel like I'm just filling her up with excess carbs. I'm really worried about her weight but am kind of at a loss at this point. Should I consider a thyroid testing? Any suggestions would be appreciated.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

It sounds like you're overfeeding her pretty significantly. Just cut back on the kibble bit by bit until her weight stabilizes and goes down to where it should be (probably more like 65 pounds, which is the upper end of standard for a Golden bitch).


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

Goldens often act like they are starving. Four cups is too much food if she is gaining weight. I have read about replacing a portion of the kibble with green beans to help the dog lose weight. It fills them up but is low in calories. 


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

The thyroid test is a good idea. Make sure it's done fasting--my vet said that was more accurate.

But the best thing is to cut back her food a bit and then ignore those pleading eyes. You CAN fill in with frozen no-salt or fresh green beans, but IMO that's not even necessary. If you could cut her back by 25%, give it a couple weeks and weigh her again. Then cut back a bit more until you have her where you want her. When she turns those brown eyes on you, keep reminding yourself that she will live longer and be healthier if she's lean.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

OutWest said:


> When she turns those brown eyes on you, keep reminding yourself that she will live longer and be healthier if she's lean.


This can't be said enough. Lean dogs live, on average, almost two years longer. They also experience a delay in the onset of many geriatric diseases. You're talking about _two more healthy years_ with your dog than you might otherwise get. I cannot tell you what I would give for two more years with any dog I've ever loved, and you can do it with a measuring scoop.


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## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

Our Rose is on the Wilderness Blue Buffalo Salmon formula and she only gets 1 cup a day of that. In the morning she gets a half a cup of canned Blue Buffalo mixed with a half a cup of kibble, in the evening she gets a half a cup of home cooked ground beef and rice mixed with a half a cup of kibble. So technically she is getting two cups of food a day. The rest is bananas, apples, carrots as snacks.


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## Knell (Oct 21, 2010)

All good advice. Is calorie counting accurate or even necessary? Say I cut her back 25% and start giving her 3 cups a day. This can be a wide variety of calories depending on the food used. I guess my question is, what is an ideal calorie per day to shoot for?


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## Jingers mom (Feb 10, 2012)

My Jinger has been overweight and she gets a cup go food in the Am and a cup of food in the Pm. There are days she only eats one cup a day. And her weight bounces back and forth. Still trying to get some weight off her. I thought for sure she would drop weight since we got 15 months ago because they play all day. Good luck... I'm still trying.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Calories per day is so dependent on the dog's personal physiology and activity level that it has limited helpfulness. It can be simpler to focus on body condition. If a dog is overweight, she's getting too much food. If a dog can't lose weight while on a surprisingly small amount of food, health tests are in order, but most overweight dogs are simply eating too much.


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## Max's Dad (Apr 23, 2012)

I think 1500 calories is too much for a 80-90 pound dog. Max gets 1400 calories of Acana Wild Prairie per day. He is maintaining his weight which is more than your dog. I would suggest 3cups per day. The dogfoodadvisor.com has calculator for figuring how much to feed. 


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I can't imagine feeding my guys more than 2 cups a day. 

Because they are in training for competition (and are family dogs as well), they get a lot of treats throughout the day. 

Jacks would be obese if I so much as fed him 3 cups a day. Not even talking 4 cups! Obese (in my brain) is 20+ pounds overweight. 

Bertie is about the same way. I could not get away with feeding him double what he eats now.


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## Wyatt's mommy (Feb 25, 2011)

Knell said:


> All good advice. Is calorie counting accurate or even necessary? Say I cut her back 25% and start giving her 3 cups a day. This can be a wide variety of calories depending on the food used. I guess my question is, what is an ideal calorie per day to shoot for?


4 cups is alot IMO. I would start with 3 1/2 cups a day and increase her exercise. Weight also depends on how the dog is built. Not all dogs are created equal. my Wyatt would look skin and bones if he weighed 75 lbs. She can also have fruits and veggies for treats.


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## lhowemt (Jun 28, 2013)

Canned pumpkin (not pie filling) is a healthy low calorie food filler. 4 cups sounds like way too much. 


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

I don't count calories. A good starting point for the _average_ GR is about 2 cups, depending on her ideal weight and activity. Before my girl started field training, she was 54 lbs, eating 2 cups a day. Now she is down to 47 lbs and too thin, so I have upped her portion to 2.75-3 cups a day so I can get her back up to 50 lbs. She was still losing weight at 2.5 cups a day. I don't ever look at calories. I go by how she looks and feels and give more or less if necessary.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

Buddy is 95 pounds and he only get 2 cups of kibble daily (820 calorie). He gets a total of 1,000 calories daily on average. He gets veggies/fruit and real people food daily plus he is still a countersurfer. My previously golden, Lucky, was 120 pounds and he got 2 cups of kibble daily for a total of 950 calories. It total daily intake was 1,100-1,200 daily. No thyroid issues for either. Both are just big boys. I feed the dog not the bag- You could easily feel ribs on Lucky and people tell me Buddy looks too thin which he isn't. If I fed based on bag instructions than Lucky should have gotten based on his weight 4.5 cups which would have been over 2140 calories from kibble alone- He would have been a blimp. If I feed Buddy based on the bag he would get 5 cups of kibbles daily which would be 2050 calories from kibble alone- No treats daily.

I think 4 cups is way too much. I know super active field goldens that don't eat 4 cups a day. I would cut her food intake down to 2.5 cups at the most- 2 cups would be better because then she could get extras. Once she reaches her goal weight you can increase it as needed. The basic thing is feed less and exercise more.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

My boy gets 2 cups of food a day and a couple of treats, he weighs 75 lbs. 

My girl gets 1.5 cups of food per day, plus a couple of dog bones. She'll be 9 in Dec., she's less active than my boy is mainly because she does not tolerate the heat at all. 

She's more active during the fall months when it gets cooler. 

If you add Green beans to your dog's meals, be sure they are *UNSALTED.* The green beans work great, you'll see weight loss fairly quickly, maybe within a week. I've had to put my girl on a diet before, I added the green beans, cut her food in half, added a 1/4 cup of green beans. Weaned her off the green beans and now she only gets 3/4 of food twice a day. 

My guys like a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, I give them whatever is in season, such as watermelon, cantaloupe, zucchini, squash. Sometimes I steam the veggies, but most of the time I feed it to them raw.


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## GoldenOwner12 (Jun 18, 2008)

I'm still battling with Shelleys weight. Trying to find the right food she does better on. So far my dogs are doing better on raw food, My dogs have only been on raw for 2 weeks and already Shelley looks to have lost weight but gained muscle, same with my chihuahua. I kept switching from kibble to raw back to kibble, I think I'm sticking to raw. Shelley my golden and Rascal my chihuahua always act like there straving, Shelley only gets about 400grams of raw food a day and Rascal 90grams. I also have noticed there energy has come up since being feed raw.


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

Tayla is of a pretty good weight at 65 lbs. She gets 1 cup of food in the morning and slightly over that in the evening. I'd actually like to see her drop to 62 lbs. We are just having an exercising issue because this summer has been unusually stormy in central Florida and walking her in the evenings is hit and miss. She hasn't gone for a walk right now in almost a week. She has only been in her pool once. Every night strong storms that last for hours roll through. I can't wait for fall and drier times.


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## Keragold (May 9, 2008)

tippykayak said:


> Calories per day is so dependent on the dog's personal physiology and activity level that it has limited helpfulness. It can be simpler to focus on body condition. If a dog is overweight, she's getting too much food. If a dog can't lose weight while on a surprisingly small amount of food, health tests are in order, but most overweight dogs are simply eating too much.


I agree. Calorie counting is a poor way to go not only because of the dog's makeup and lifestyle, but also because digestibility differs so much between foods. One cup of a 477 calorie per cup food can give you totally different results than another food with the same calorie count just because of the digestibility factor. Body condition is definitely the best way to gauge.


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## Artnlibsmom (May 8, 2013)

Pretty much echoing everyone else. My boy is 90 pounds and maintains that with 2 cups of food per day. He also munches on a few low calorie treats. My Rainbow girl ate the same thing and maintained at 70 pounds. She did end up having a thyroid problem at about 3 years old so that isn't out of the question, but cutting back on food is probably what you need to try first. DON'T LOOK INTO THEIR EYES.....LOL


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## Helo's Mom (Oct 16, 2011)

Helo gets 2 1/2 cups per day plus a few treats. The bag said he should have 4 cups and he'd be huge if he ate that much. He holds steady at 74-76 pounds. He is also on thyroid pills. My vet always suggests slowly decreasing the food if a dog needs to lose weight. Helo loves food and could eat all day long if he had the opportunity.


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## The_Artful_Dodger (Mar 26, 2009)

Dodger gained a bunch of weight over the last year. I found out my fiancé was giving him large slices of cheese and whole pieces of lunch meat :doh: 

We cut his food back to 1 1/4 cups twice a day (from about 1 1/2 cups twice per day) and give him carrots for treats (and no more shared lunch meat or cheese). Over the last 12 weeks he has gone from 91 lbs to 80.8 lbs. He still has a few more lbs to loose, but just cutting the food a bit, and replacing the treats has been working very well.


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