# Beau is not losing any weight!!! So Frustrated



## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

I have some questions about feeding overweight dogs. As most of you know, Beau has been having weight issues and has been on a diet and has the thyroid issues. He is eating the Wellness Core reduced fat dog food. He gets two cups a day and doesnt even eat it all. I guess it isnt very appetizing.
I have been looking at other foods out there and found several foods under the Merrick brand that have just a few more calories like 25. He does like this food but I was wondering if there are any ingredients in the lowfat foods that I should be looking for to give him or staying away from?
I am just so frustrated because he eats less and less and none of the weight is coming off. The vet says his thyroid is at the right levels from his last test done thru Jean Dodds clinic. 
If anyone has any thoughts or good recipes I can try, I would appreciate. He likes the Cowboy cookout flavor of the Merricks.


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## LOVEisGOLDEN (Jan 4, 2008)

sorry Carol, I'm no help! Just wanted to say I think about you and Beau everyday & hope you find something to help him. i know he isn't able to exercise much & that makes it hard. He sounds like me, i could eat nothing for days & still not loose an ounce!


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

My understanding is that the grain free foods (Wellness Core, Taste of the Wild, etc) are more calorie dense so you need to feed less of it. I know for a fact that when I was feeding Merricks, I was having to feed more of it to my dogs than I am having to feed with Taste of the Wild.

Jasmine has hypothyroidism and she is walked at least 10 miles a week with approximately 2 weekends a month up at the lake off leash and swimming, so she gets a good amount of exercise and I am only feeding her 2 cups of food a day. She is just about at her ideal weight of 76 lbs (her all time high was 96 lbs!). It is so hard to get that weight off, just like it is for me, so I try to keep her lean now.


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## Faith's mommy (Feb 26, 2007)

have you thought about trying the green bean diet for him?


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

Carol,

I've also been trying to get some weight off Penny and Maggie. And, like you, I have them on the Wellness Core Reduced Fat..... however, they only 3/4 c. twice a day. Then a spoonful of pumpkin on some days and every 3-4 th day, they get 1/4 can of Trippetts Tripe..... the smelliest stuff ever, but they LOVE it and it's supposedly very good for them. I think they would eat ANYTHING if I put some of that in the bowl too. Anyway, they have had great success with this plan. So, you may try cutting his kibble a bit more and adding a spoonful of tripe ( I get the original.... all tripe )


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## Ash (Sep 11, 2007)

Many dogs mine included can easily maintain themselves on 1 1/2 cups a day not a feeding. My advice would be to maybe change the food if he does not like it. As another poster mentioned the grain-free foods are higher on Cals then some others. For weight loss I find the Caindae Platinum is one many dogs have success with. For weight loss cutting back to one cup of food a day and adding 2 spoons of pumpkin or 1/2 of thawed green bean work great. Hope you find something that helps kickstart him along.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

Tucker does very well on the Canidae Platinum.


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## Bailey & Bentley (Feb 25, 2007)

Sorry to hear that Beau isn't having any success. I don't have much advice to offer you, but I have heard that Science Diet is great for getting the weight off. I know it is not as great of a food, but I didn't know if you had heard anything about it being good for weight loss.


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## HovawartMom (Aug 10, 2006)

On an only grain diet whether it is reduced or not,I usually reduce the normal intake,by 1/2 a cup.For Priska who is 63pds,i feed her Evo reduce,1 cup and 1/2 a day.
Also losing weight,takes time so please don't lose patience!.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

I personally have never fed a reduced calorie food to take weight off a dog - I just feed less of whatever the dog was eating and liked. Two cups sounds like a lot if you're trying to take weight off a dog. I'd try switching down to not more than 3/4 C twice a day and see what happens.

When I was feeding kibble, both my dogs each ate a cup a day. That's the 30lb Whippet AND the 42lb Golden. While he outweighs her by 12 lbs, she still ate more than he did. Now that we feed raw, they still eat the same amount - 1 pound per dog per day. You'd think he'd be skinny or she'd be fat since they are different size dogs, but they are both just where they should be.


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## Ash (Sep 11, 2007)

You would also be shocked if you put 1/2 cup of food in some water and watch it expand. There is no need to feel guilty about feeding 1 cup a day.


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## moose (Dec 7, 2007)

I dont have any advice on what kind of food to give him but two thoughts that came to mind were, how many times does he get treats for being a good boy, and could you up his activity level with more exercise? There ya go thats all I can think of. Hope you figure something out.


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

Carol for our rescues that are over weight and thyroid issues, we always feed them the same food they always ate and just cut it down. They usually eat 2 cups a day and we added the green beans. The older ones who couldnt exercise as much as the younger ones can they took longer to get the weight off. we had one that needed knee surgery and she was 20pounds over weight, it took her 9 months to lose it. She had to get the 20 pounds off before they would even touch her for surgery.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

He only gets 3-4 small milkbones a day. And that is when hubby leaves and comes home and when I get up and maybe a fourth sometimes. 
Unfortunately he cant walk far or do more exercise because of his heart. And like I said, he doesnt eat all the food. Like this morning he only ate maybe half of his breakfast. I put a small amount of the Merrick and water in the bowl to make a gravy. So maybe this will help. I just dont know. Now that we are warming up, I hope to be able to get him in the pool soon. Maybe that will help him some.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

Milk Bone Dog Biscuits - Small 20
Milk Bone Dog Biscuits - Medium 40
Milk Bone Dog Biscuits - Large 115

Kilocalorie Content per Unit


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

If he's not really exercising much at all, then he can get by on less food. I'd probably try 1/2 C kibble with some green beans as filler twice a day. If you're able to exercise him with swimming in the summer, maybe then he can support more food. Right now, if he's sedentary, he doesn't need much going in.


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## AndyFarmer (Jul 9, 2007)

I vote for zero milk-bones a day. Mine only get one a week, maybe. I actually don't even think about giving mine treats because they are wasted calories. Maybe that would help, along with the decrease in food and increase in exercise. Let us know!


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## maggie1951 (Apr 20, 2007)

Hi Carol
I can feel for you and Beau as i had the same trouble with Sadie she only started to lose weight with Hydro and i fed her fresh cooked chicken and vegetables.

Maggie


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## MaddieMagoo (Aug 14, 2007)

Have you tried Green Beans Carol? Maddie has lost A TON from it...at the vets when she got her Lyme's blood tests..she weighed 60 pounds...I suppose from being sick? Not sure, but maybe feeding a different food...what about...the Canidae? I saw it at the Pet Expo this weekend..a sample but I had too much samples already!

Another food to try is...Instinct by Nature's Variety...no corn, wheat or soy...and is kinda like Natural Balance in a way.


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## RileyStar (Mar 24, 2008)

I had alot of sucess with Caniade Platinum overweight/senior formula. My older Shep/Chow mix has lost about 15 lbs in about 3-4 months. We take her on a daily walk for about 20 mins. I feed her 1 cup a day and sometimes I will throw in some quinoa or cooked rice with alittle less kibble. Adding water works great too! My grandma and mother continue to give her small snacks in the morning and after dinner, which drives me crazy but just changing the kibble has seemed to work great!

EDIT: Her coat has changed too, very shiny and full!


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

I buy the Old Mother Hubbard puppy sized biscuits for my dogs. They get 4 each at night, which is about the size of a milkbone medium sized biscuit. They think they are getting huge wonderful treats, though!


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## Goldilocks (Jun 3, 2007)

Pippa gained about 6 pounds very rapidly in Jan - Feb. I took her right in to get her thyroid levels tested and the results came back at a really good level, the best yet actually. So...we've been cutting back and trying to walk more. She has lost a pound and a half in the past 2 weeks on Orijen Senior. I had reduced her portions of the regular formula and nothing was happening. She is not quite 3 years old but this formula is reduced fat and a fair bit lower in calories than Orijen's regular adult food without any fillers like Wellness has (i.e., no pea fibre, tomato pomace). It actually contains the exact same ingredients as the regular Orijen adult formula except chicken fat appears lower down the ingredient list and there's more glucosamine in this formula. I asked the company that makes Orijen if it's ok to feed my young dog this and they came back with the response that all their formulas are balanced for all life stages and another benefit of feeding this Senior Formula would be the additional glucosamine and condroiten (sp?) which I had figured out anyway.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

I was giving him the green beans but he always picked them out and spit them out on the floor. Got tired of stepping on them when picking his bowl. The milkbones are the small size ones like the puppy ones. I decreased his food tonight and he cleaned his bowl. 
And I am going to take him back to the vet to get another blood test to retest his thyroid. Just to make sure he is ok. It has been almost three months since his last test.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

BeauShel said:


> I was giving him the green beans but he always picked them out and spit them out on the floor. Got tired of stepping on them when picking his bowl. The milkbones are the small size ones like the puppy ones. I decreased his food tonight and he cleaned his bowl.
> And I am going to take him back to the vet to get another blood test to retest his thyroid. Just to make sure he is ok. It has been almost three months since his last test.


If he's not gaining weight on two cups a day + four biscuits, you've found his weight maintenance threashold. You'll need to cut back further to get him to lose weight. You may want to cut him back to 1/2 cup in the morning and 3/4 cup in the evening.


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## TheHooch (May 9, 2007)

Carol I thin I would cut the treats to one a day and Swampcollie's suggestion is a good one on the amount of food. You might want to cut back slowly if you feel uncomfortable with the dramatic cut.


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

With KayCee's bad knees, surgeries, recoveries she jumped up to 85 pounds and what worked for her was Science Diet r/d. As SOON as she was back down to about 68 ounds I took her off and ut her back on her on her regular food and she remains at 67-69 pounds. I take her in for weighings about once a month. If she has gained, I give a tad less food til next weighing. if she drops below what i want her at, I add a tad of food. She is on Taste of the Wild High Prairie and also the home cooked chicken stea I make for them. She has maintained this wieght for 5 years.


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## arcane (Sep 18, 2007)

Penny & Maggie's Mom said:


> Carol,
> 
> I've also been trying to get some weight off Penny and Maggie. And, like you, I have them on the Wellness Core Reduced Fat..... however, they only 3/4 c. twice a day. Then a spoonful of pumpkin on some days and every 3-4 th day, they get 1/4 can of Trippetts Tripe..... the smelliest stuff ever, but they LOVE it and it's supposedly very good for them. I think they would eat ANYTHING if I put some of that in the bowl too. Anyway, they have had great success with this plan. So, you may try cutting his kibble a bit more and adding a spoonful of tripe ( I get the original.... all tripe )


another thing the dogs love is pacific jack mackeral (in water) this could replace the tripe on occasion. I agree 2 cups may be too much of the high protien diets. Once I have Adi changed over fully I think Ill add green beans/tripe/mackeral on a rotating basis.


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