# I need some input on Chloe...



## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

With the rescue dogs, we just cut back there intake of food and treats, and step up there exercise, we do add green beans some will eat them some wont.


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

Maggies mom said:


> With the rescue dogs, we just cut back there intake of food and treats, and step up there exercise, we do add green beans some will eat them some wont.


Thanks Mary, 

The vet said 2 cups of her food would be enough with some green beans, she loves the beans, heck she love all kind of food..LOL

As for the exercise there is not much more I can do, they get a lot each day!


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

Green beans was the first thing that came to my mind. 4 cups sounds to be on the lavish side to me depending on what you are feeding.


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## GoldenFan (Dec 14, 2009)

thats exactly what i've been doing with my overweight rescue and its working...same food, just less and a spoonful or two of greenbeans, peas and/or carrots in it to make it a little more interesting...frozen green beans as treats...she loves them, especially right after a long walk when she's hot!


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## BayBeams (Jan 3, 2010)

Four cups a day is really quite a lot. It depends on the food for how many calories you are actually feeding. Just think not only will you be saving your dog's joints you'll also be saving money.
Adding pumpkin to your meals is another way to help with wt loss. Unfortunately, it has become increasingly difficult to find so green beans should be fine and are less costly.
When I need my dogs to lose a few pounds I reduce their food to about 1.5 cups of Wellness a day. The maintenance level is slightly less than 2 cups a day divided into 2 meals.
My pups also get some very small pieces of chicken for training so I take that into account as well. small pieces of apple or carrots can make great treats.
Ask your vet if you can bring your dog in just to weigh him to see how successful you are in managing the food. Most vets won't object and will not charge you for that. Then when you get to a point where you can feel the ribs and see a defined waist you're set.


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

Kind of an aside here but BayBeams I am loving having you as a member here. You have spot on advice. 



BayBeams said:


> Four cups a day is really quite a lot. It depends on the food for how many calories you are actually feeding. Just think not only will you be saving your dog's joints you'll also be saving money.
> Adding pumpkin to your meals is another way to help with wt loss. Unfortunately, it has become increasingly difficult to find so green beans should be fine and are less costly.
> When I need my dogs to lose a few pounds I reduce their food to about 1.5 cups of Wellness a day. The maintenance level is slightly less than 2 cups a day divided into 2 meals.
> My pups also get some very small pieces of chicken for training so I take that into account as well. small pieces of apple or carrots can make great treats.
> Ask your vet if you can bring your dog in just to weigh him to see how successful you are in managing the food. Most vets won't object and will not charge you for that. Then when you get to a point where you can feel the ribs and see a defined waist you're set.


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

BayBeams said:


> Four cups a day is really quite a lot. It depends on the food for how many calories you are actually feeding. Just think not only will you be saving your dog's joints you'll also be saving money.
> Adding pumpkin to your meals is another way to help with wt loss. Unfortunately, it has become increasingly difficult to find so green beans should be fine and are less costly.
> When I need my dogs to lose a few pounds I reduce their food to about 1.5 cups of Wellness a day. The maintenance level is slightly less than 2 cups a day divided into 2 meals.
> My pups also get some very small pieces of chicken for training so I take that into account as well. small pieces of apple or carrots can make great treats.
> Ask your vet if you can bring your dog in just to weigh him to see how successful you are in managing the food. Most vets won't object and will not charge you for that. Then when you get to a point where you can feel the ribs and see a defined waist you're set.


Thanks so much, yes she is to be weight in next month to see if we lost any weight and no they don't charge me to bring her in.


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## nixietink (Apr 3, 2008)

I agree- 4 cups is A TON of food. Cut her back to 2 cups, give her some unsalted green beans, and up the exercise.


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

I fully agree with everyone else. That is a _huge _amount of food. Four cups is 2 days worth of food for our dogs. Cutting back to 2 cups a day and upping the exercise should help tremendously.


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## msdogs1976 (Dec 21, 2007)

I feed my 75 lb lab 2 1/4 cups a day. Each cup has 425 calories. I do give a couple of treats a day so he consumes around 1100 calories. As others have said, add green beans for a filler.

Good luck!


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## Joanne & Asia (Jul 23, 2007)

Asia gets 3 cups of low fat food. It is medi cal and you can only get it at the vets. It is the only food I have tried that she does not gain weight on. I also add green beans or brocolli and carrots and she gets a good amount of exercise. Our vet said Goldens are notorious for beong piggies and having weight issues! I'm sure cutting back and changing the food will help. Good luck!


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Finn, Tally, and Tango each get 1 cup 2x a day, and they get tons of exercise.


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## Sienna's Mom (Oct 23, 2007)

Sienna gets one level scoop two times a day- one in the morning, one in the evening. Little treats here and there... maybe a stuffed kong around midday.

4 cups is a lot of food.... maybe wean her off of the 4 cups by adding the green beans and gradually make it less and less. Saving money is a wonderful added bonus.


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## HovawartMom (Aug 10, 2006)

Whoa,4 cups is a lot,for a dog that is not that active.
2 cups a day should be enough with some green beans!.
Congrats on taking that 1st step!.
Would love to see pictures of the before,during and after as it could be a great insentive,for other people,to do the same!.


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

2 cups of food a day is what I fed Sam and feed Ike now. Sam was a huge boy, while Ike is within the breed standard, yet 2 cups was/is appropriate for each.

Are you feeding all the dogs 4 cups a day, or just Chloe?


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## amy22 (May 11, 2008)

I feed MIsty 2 cups a day of Nutro Lite Lamb and Rice. That is what I fed my last golden girl, Sandy too. Sandy fought with her weight so I would some days give her less food and add green beans. Chloe will be fine..cut back onn the food and she will lose the weight and you will save money!! Good luck and give us an update next month. 
Also....how are those beautiful puppies doing???


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

I just switched Daisy to Purina Pro Plan reduced fat. She gets a whole 2-1/2 cups a day  So far it seems she's doing really well on it. 

Be careful with the exercise until Chloe loses some of that weight, her knees are very vulnerable.


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

I agree with everyone else. 1 cup morning, one cup at night and add green beans till she adjusts. She will surely lose fast with half the food!


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## jealous1 (Dec 7, 2007)

We just got back from the vet's with our rotweiller (~10 yrs old). We thought we were doing really well w/ weight maintenance (we've been keeping him right at 115 pounds the past 4 years after a high of 150) but due to arthritis she has advised we need to get about 20 pounds off of him (she also put him on metacam for the arthritis). She wants him on Purina Canine OM, 1 cup 3X a day (he was actually getting 1 cup 2X day but Ultra lite) and to use rice cakes and carrots as treats. 
I just looked up ingredients in the OM and not too crazy about but cannot find any reviews on it so we are going to give it a try. 

The vet explained to us that spreading out his food into 3 or even 4 feedings a day would get the weight off of him quicker than feeding the same amount 1X or 2X a day. She applied the same w/ his exercise--4 walks a day of 10 minutes duration would help him better than 1 walk a day of 40 minutes duration.


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## Taz Monkey (Feb 25, 2007)

lol when I saw she ONLY gets 4 cups a day I was like . 
My golden and my lab mix both get 1.5 cups a day or Evo, which is about 530 calories a cup.


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## shortcake23 (Aug 15, 2008)

We feed Mia 2 and a half cups of food a day. 4 cups does sounds like quite a bit...

Hope the new diet plan works for her!


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

For every 10 calories you cut back you will see a difference. 2 cups a day is all Tucker can eat, which is about 750 calories. Shadow needs more. If you cut back, you will not need a low calorie food. I have found that the Duck and Chicken formulas of some foods has less calories than others.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

When Flora weighed in at 65lbs I decided she needed to lose about 5-8lbs (she most likely has HD, so I want her to be on the thin side). I was feeding her 3 cups of food a day, so I cut her down to 2 cups of food a day (1 cup a.m., 1 cup p.m.) + probably a 1/2 cup of green beans w/each meal.

I brought her into the vet's 2 weeks later for boarding, and she had already lost 2.5 lbs! So trust me, once you cut back on Chloe's food intake you will see remarkable change. 

Good luck!


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## Kirby'sMom (Feb 26, 2007)

What about going with a raw diet? I've been researching as I wanted to start cooking for Kirby and Cosmo. I am very impressed with what I've read about raw.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

YIKES! 4 cups is way too much food! I'd cut to 1 cup twice a day with some green beans thrown in.


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## Garfield (Apr 7, 2009)

What are you feeding 4 cups a day of?


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## rappwizard (May 27, 2009)

"*Only*" four cups a day? I'm sure Mac would want to move in with you.

I would go with whatever method your vet recommends, but I will chime in and say that even if it's a gradual cutback, I would think your golden could maintain a good weight on half of that amount.


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

Taz Monkey said:


> lol when I saw she ONLY gets 4 cups a day I was like .


LOL! That was also my initial reaction. Even when our dogs were just puppies, they got no more than 3 cups per day and once they were about 6 months old, they were weaned down to 2 cups a day. We literally just weaned Tyson off his second meal of the day, so now he gets 1 cup in the morning and then 1 cup in the evening like our other 2 dogs. We have them on Fromm Duck & Sweet Potato, which is lower in calories and they're doing wonderfully on it. I can't say enough good things about Fromm. 

In all seriousness, I really think that once you cut her daily food portions in half and gradually increase her exercise, you'll start to see her trim up a bit. Four cups per day is just way, way too much food. I'm actually surprised that your vet even wanted to check her thyroid once he/she found out how much food she has been getting. Even our dogs, who are extremely active, do just fine on their 2 cups a day. Like Jo Ellen said earlier, just be careful when introducing exercise because her knees, elbows, and hips are carrying so much weight on them. Good luck!


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Same here, Brady and MacKenzie only get 1 c. X 2 a day and treats, and MacKenzie is very active, that is with Wellness Core.

Goldens will always act like they don't get enough.


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## Lisa_and_Willow. (Dec 18, 2007)

Do all the dogs get the same amount of food Claudia? What do you feed them? 

Willow gets 2 cups a day and Diesel gets 3 split into 3 meals.

I bet it will come as a shock to Chloe when you cut back her food but it will be better for her (and more money for you!)

Good luck.


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

Lisa_and_Willow. said:


> Do all the dogs get the same amount of food Claudia? What do you feed them?
> 
> Willow gets 2 cups a day and Diesel gets 3 split into 3 meals.
> 
> ...


Yes they all eat that amount and the others do really good on it, Jack and Sadie could even gain a bit more in my opinion, Chewie is just right.

I feed Purina One..I cut her down to one and a little cup today with some green beans and she did good.

As for the exercise she is use to a lot of it...however you can tell she gets tired more easily then the rest of them...:doh:

Ok here is some before pictures..LOL


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## Jax's Mom (Oct 16, 2009)

Might be hard to cut her back to 2 cups a day from 4 cups. I would start by decreasing to 3 cups for a week or two then 2 1/2 cups for another week or two, then down to 2 cups. Maybe try giving her 3 meals at 1 cup each time, with the added beans. Feeding her more often with less food might be easier to keep her hunger satisfied.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

I don't mean to sound like I am piling on, but I only feed Danny 1 1/4 cup twice a day and he is an extremely active boy. Jasmine and Jasper get a total of two cups a day. Try to cut her back to 1 1/2 cup a feeding to start and aim to cut her back to two cups a day. Good luck! I brought my Jasmine down from 96 lbs (on Purina One) to 65 lbs (on California Natural). It took about a year, but her energy level has soared since she lost that weight.


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

fostermom said:


> I don't mean to sound like I am piling on, but I only feed Danny 1 1/4 cup twice a day and he is an extremely active boy. Jasmine and Jasper get a total of two cups a day. Try to cut her back to 1 1/2 cup a feeding to start and aim to cut her back to two cups a day. Good luck! I brought my Jasmine down from 96 lbs (on Purina One) to 65 lbs (on California Natural). It took about a year, but her energy level has soared since she lost that weight.


I appreciate all the input, she did fine on the food today..tonight we had some good baby carrots and she loves them. 
Will see how she does tomorrow, I'm giving her just a bit more then a cup twice a day..with about a half cup of green beans and a little ball of wet food with her BOG.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Heidi36oh said:


> I appreciate all the input, she did fine on the food today..tonight we had some good baby carrots and she loves them.
> Will see how she does tomorrow, I'm giving her just a bit more then a cup twice a day..with about a half cup of green beans and a little ball of wet food with her BOG.


That sounds awesome. I think she will normalize her weight that way even without lower calorie food. 2 cups and a little wet food is good.


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## Abbydabbydo (Jan 31, 2007)

Look at it this way Claudia, she doesn't really know how much she is eating. I'm sure the bumpasses would eat 8 cups a day if I gave it to them. But they are fine on 1C twice a day. Plus liver treats and maybe a milkbone and some veggies. Chloe won't be suffering, just getting used to chewing less!

And it really will be best for her.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Abbydabbydo said:


> Look at it this way Claudia, she doesn't really know how much she is eating. I'm sure the bumpasses would eat 8 cups a day if I gave it to them. But they are fine on 1C twice a day. Plus liver treats and maybe a milkbone and some veggies. Chloe won't be suffering, just getting used to chewing less!
> 
> And it really will be best for her.


Lol, Flora would eat the whole bag if it was made available to her! :


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

kdmarsh said:


> Lol, Flora would eat the whole bag if it was made available to her! :


Chloe would too...LOL:

She did really good today again...no whining for food yet..lol


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Ranger wants to live in the world where he'd get four cups a day! He's on Innova Evo which is super high calorie so he only gets 2 cups (or less). He's about 70 lbs and if I feed him anymore he gets too plump. I'm actually thinking of changing food since I'm laid up with a bum ankle so there's less exercise but I can't feed him any less...he's already being a little moochy around people eating.


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

Ranger said:


> Ranger wants to live in the world where he'd get four cups a day! He's on Innova Evo which is super high calorie so he only gets 2 cups (or less). He's about 70 lbs and if I feed him anymore he gets too plump. I'm actually thinking of changing food since I'm laid up with a bum ankle so there's less exercise but I can't feed him any less...he's already being a little moochy around people eating.


Well Ranger can come to my house, Jack and Sadie still get four cups a day..LOL

Both are super skinny and lean and probably need to put on some more weight...just kidding, Chloe is on a diet and we are going to get her to a normal weight...I decided Chewie could loose about 5 pounds so he joined Chloe in her journey to loose weight.


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

jwemt81 said:


> LOL! That was also my initial reaction. Even when our dogs were just puppies, they got no more than 3 cups per day and once they were about 6 months old, they were weaned down to 2 cups a day. We literally just weaned Tyson off his second meal of the day, so now he gets 1 cup in the morning and then 1 cup in the evening like our other 2 dogs. We have them on Fromm Duck & Sweet Potato, which is lower in calories and they're doing wonderfully on it. I can't say enough good things about Fromm.
> 
> In all seriousness, I really think that once you cut her daily food portions in half and gradually increase her exercise, you'll start to see her trim up a bit. Four cups per day is just way, way too much food. I'm actually surprised that your vet even wanted to check her thyroid once he/she found out how much food she has been getting. Even our dogs, who are extremely active, do just fine on their 2 cups a day. Like Jo Ellen said earlier, just be careful when introducing exercise because her knees, elbows, and hips are carrying so much weight on them. Good luck!


 
I never said ONLY 4 cups, they been getting 4 cups, all of them and three are doing good and one is not...so we have to cut down


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## sifuyono (May 8, 2008)

mine gets 3 cups proplan performance/ day, its super high calorie food, but he never gain weight even without exercise... i guess every dog is different


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## Tinsley (Nov 11, 2008)

It looks like you have all your answers here now anyway but don't worry if it seems like the weight isn't coming off. My boy I felt had a few lbs too many on him, he is from working lines and so meant to be a slightly slimmer one anyway, but I cut him down to 1 cup per day for a while and it was very hard to tell if he was losing anything..! It seemed to all start to fall off at once but it was hard to get it started, he got there though!

I find that with dry food it has soooo much stuff in it, it seems really concentrated and so when it actually looks like not much food, I think it has more goodness in that it looks. I still felt really mean though as it looked like not much in his bowl at both meal times but he didn't go hungry and the weight did start to come off


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

It sounds like Chloe is adjusting well to her new diet. 
You could look at it this way too, you'll be saving money since their food is lasting longer.  There are times when I give Ike more food, especially in the summer months when he's more active. At one time he was underweight, now he could stand to lose a few pounds, but summer's coming on and he'll work 'em off.


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## NuttinButGoldens (Jan 10, 2009)

Yeah, Gilmour only gets 3, and he's very, very active.



Oaklys Dad said:


> Green beans was the first thing that came to my mind. 4 cups sounds to be on the lavish side to me depending on what you are feeding.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Also to add, when Ranger was a little fat in the springtime, I started swapping out a meal here or there with some raw. 3 days out of the week, he got a frozen ham bone/turkey necks/oxtail for supper instead of his kibble. His teeth were super white in 2 weeks time and he'd lost some weight BUT was always very full and content after his raw meals. Whereas after he eats his puny cup of kibble, he comes over and tries to stare at me while I eat my breakfast. Just a thought.


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## Augustus McCrae's Mom (Aug 14, 2007)

Claudia, just so you don't feel too bad, I feed Ace (my black lab mix) 4 cups a day. That's what's recommended on the bag for a dog his weight (well, it recommends 4 1/4 cups). He weighs 80 pounds and is not at all fat. What does it say you should feed for Chloe's ideal weight?

Here's a picture of Ace from Thanksgiving (I don't have any more recent pictures here at work). It's not a great picture, but you can see the tuck up and tell he's not fat.


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

Augustus McCrae's Mom said:


> Claudia, just so you don't feel too bad, I feed Ace (my black lab mix) 4 cups a day. That's what's recommended on the bag for a dog his weight (well, it recommends 4 1/4 cups). He weighs 80 pounds and is not at all fat. What does it say you should feed for Chloe's ideal weight?
> 
> Here's a picture of Ace from Thanksgiving (I don't have any more recent pictures here at work). It's not a great picture, but you can see the tuck up and tell he's not fat.


It does say 4 1/2 cups...lol for her size.

She is doing really well on 1 and a little cup with added green beans, can't wait to get a weight on her..I might take her Friday in a week just to see if it's working


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