# Overweight



## ROBIN OF SHERWOOD (Oct 17, 2018)

My Golden Retriever is overweight. We have tried grain free foods. We have tried food for fat dogs. He just will not lose the weight. He weighs approximately 100 lbs. and should weigh 80. We feed Robin twice a day. He gets a total of 3 to 4 cups of food each day. We tried to back him off to 2-1/2 to 3 per day but he wakes us in the middle of the night because he wants food. We are at a total loss as to what to feed him to help him lose weight. He turned 3 years old on October 11th. Need some advice.


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## Emmdenn (Jun 5, 2018)

Has he been checked for hypothyroidism? 

Our senior guy was gaining weight out of nowhere, after being on the same food and getting the same amount forever. Blood work showed hypothyroidism which can make dogs gain weight, lose hair and act more sluggish and tired. Vet prescribed meds for him and he is already losing weight, and has much more energy.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

A three year old dog should not be overweight, quite honestly. Even eating 3 cups of food (1.5 in the morning and 1.5 at night). As long as there's nothing wrong with their joints or thyroid and you are at least walking the dog a mile a day - your dog will be in the best shape of his life. 

It's only after they hit middle age that they typically start getting heavier if the owner isn't holding up their end of the bargain as far as getting the dog out for daily regular exercise. 

Being fed too much food for the amount of exercise the dog gets - is a negative factor which might cause them to become obese (which 100 pounds for a golden retriever is obese - 80 pounds even is fat). 

Would suggest getting the thyroid checked - but you might need to start getting that dog out for daily walks. Aim for at least 30-45 minutes per day. No running. Just walk. And get your dog swimming at least once a week. 

If you live in a 4 season climate and it's getting into winter - there's places you can take your dog for hydrotherapy. That's both running a treadmill in a waterbox (basically) and swimming in a pool. 

Because he's carrying so much weight - I'd get him on something like glycoflex to support his joints.

My adult dog eats 2 cups of food per day. The pup eats between 2.5 and 3 cups a day. If they wake me up at night, it because they have to go outside. Have never gotten woke up by my dog demanding food. The only thing you should be noticing really is him being more demanding about getting his food when it's his meal times. Or begging for your food. Waking up in the middle of the night because he's hungry, just don't know about that. He's probably training you.


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

Someone on here posted once that a Golden could eat a whole bag of dog food and still try to convince you they are hungry. Does he get chances to go out and run off-leash? Also have you tried filling him up with vegetables? Rukie loves green beans, carrots, zucchini, watermelon. You could try cutting back on kibble at meal times and feeding some vegetables. Does he get too many treats? Again you could substitute vegetables or turkey meat. I agree with Emma too. I would get his thyroid checked.


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

Feed your dog 10 calories per pound of goal weight per day. If your dog should weigh 80 pounds, he should eat 800 calories per day. For example, Purina Pro Plan Large Breed dog food is 417 calories per cup. He should therefore be fed 2 cups per day. One cup in the morning and one cup in the afternoon. We used this formula for our Max, who at about 2.5 years old was overweight. Using this formula, he lost 23 pounds over about 8 months. It is hard to do this. Max is a food hound but restricting the amount of food is the only way that he would lose the weight. He is a very large boy, and at age eight is 135 pounds and only gets 3 cups of ProPlan per day as his maintenance feeding. Also, watch the treats, which can add extra calories. Large Costco Milk Bone type treats can be 100+ calories extra.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

ROBIN OF SHERWOOD
(Love your user name)



Trip to the vet is a must. Not a bad idea to bring an anecdotal record of his activity and behavior. TAKE NOTES---BRING THEM TO THE VET.


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## puddles everywhere (May 13, 2016)

I fostered an overweight golden once and he needed to close to 60 lbs. After the blood work the vet gave us a script for Purina OM (overweight management) and we began our journey with walks and swims as earlier suggested. As the weight began to go down, the energy level began to rise so we could start including a ball toss or tug games and play time with other dogs.
Bottom line ... it took us 6 months of STRICT diet and exercise to get the weight off. I'm sort of a hard ass about this so no guilt on my part. I can't tell you how many dogs people brought to me to get their weight under control and every one of them didn't realize they were over feeding and not providing adequate exercise. Just 2 weeks with me and everyone lost a few pounds... very few maintained a good weight as people wanted to show their love and gave so many treats and stopped exercising. 
These guys don't go to the store to buy the food and/or treats. The pups don't measure the food they are given. The pups don't decide how much play/exercise time they get, all of this is under your control. It's up to you to make the change and keep the goal of health in focus, there is no place for guilt when anyone's diet. Dieting is so much easier for the dogs than it is for us, they don't dream about cookies or laying on the beach... that's a people thing.


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## Our3dogs (Apr 3, 2008)

As many have said - get his thyroid level checked. It plays a big part in weight gain and then in weight loss. Four cups sounds like a lot to me. Start cutting it back. When we had to get 15 lbs off of one of our girls, we cut back on the kibble and added green beans as the filler. We still do that for one of our Corgi's. We get frozen cut green beans at the store, microwave them for a bit to defrost and add to their meal. We also started walking them every day - no matter what. Even if it was just a short distance. Once they started losing weight, we increased the activity level. It was a win-win for both of us.  Good luck!


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## Mirinde (Jun 8, 2011)

Unfortunately, he will be hungry while you're making this adjustment. A very low calorie filler will help ease the transition, especially if it's in a food dispensing toy or during nosework and therefore coupled with a distraction/break from the routine of begging for food. Green beans and homemade chicken broth frozen in a kong, veggies scattered throughout the backyard, a couple blackberries mashed in water frozen in a food puzzle, etc. Time to find an array of nearly zero-cal veggies and fruits  Chewing on a kong, licking, etc. will release hormones that will help calm and satiate him. 

You say he eats 3-4 cups per day-- the lack of specificity here makes me wonder if he is free-fed and therefore picks at around that amount of food throughout the day? If so, that will also make the transition more difficult and I would recommend a feeding schedule (3x a day would probably be best for awhile, if that's something you can swing). 

I would also ask your vet to test for diabetes -- I'm wondering if waking you up has more to do with bladder over-activity than food seeking.


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## Goldens&Friesians (May 31, 2014)

First, as others have said, rule out health issues. After that, simply lower his food intake and don't give in when he acts hungry. No table scrapes, no treats-these are major culprits for weight gain. You can give a few veggies like green beans as they are low calorie and may help him feel more full. But he is a golden, and my experience with goldens is that they ALWAYS think they are starved. If he is getting exercise, keep it up and maybe work on increasing the amount of exercise. If he's not getting exercise, start doing short leash walks and gradually increase the distance and get him in shape. Maybe I'm a heartless meany to resist the beggar dog face, but I never understand why its so hard for some people to keep dogs at a good weight-you control what they eat and how much, not the dog (and I don't mean this to sound as mean as I'm afraid its coming across, sorry). Simply give a dog a strictly measured amount of food and that's all he gets-I wish someone would do that for me! -Oh wait, I did ask someone to do that for me (my poor husband), but that ended up being dangerous for him! Your dog can act hungry and pitiful, but at least he won't chew your head off like I do my husband's! Anyway, good for you for realizing this is an issue and that your dog's overall health would be better served if he were at a nice lean weight. Believe it or not, some people refuse to see this-had a grooming client with a severely obese Welsh Terrier-at 3 yrs old and being a terrier that dog should be a bundle of energy, but she is so fat she sometimes limps. Her owner refuses to put her on a diet because "she looks cute fat."


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## Lambeau0609 (Aug 3, 2015)

My dog is 73 pounds and considerd overweight. 3-4 cups a days sounds like alot of food. I do 2.5 cups a day and decreasing it to 2 cups a day. 
Goldens are always hungry. Try carrots between meals.


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## migs (Nov 8, 2013)

4 cups of food a day is a lot.


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## Golden9 (Jun 13, 2016)

That is a lot of dry kibble food for a Golden.
If I fed my Golden that much dry kibble grain free which has high levels of potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, etc all very HIGH in carbs which raises the blood sugar super high, which inturn makes the body store fat, my Golden would be super fat.

Try FreshPet.com in the refrigerator in the pet section at Costco, Target and some grocery stores and livestock feed stores. Check FreshPet.com in your area to see where to buy.

FreshPet is a mixture of low temperature cooked meat, veggies, fruit. Feed a small amount am & pm. 
ADD a big handful of Frozen GREEN BEANS to the food for weight & volume and makes the stomach feel full.

Tip - NO canned green beans, the high salt content causes diarrhea and the canned beans are pasteurized for long storage, so they no longer contain any nutrients, only calories.

We use to volunteer with Golden Retriever Rescue. Many dumped Goldens were fed a diet of dry kibble which is full of carbs and many were 20 - 30 - 40 lbs overweight.
We fed them maybe a 1/4 pound to 1/2 pound of FreshPet.com, a scoop of NuPro supplement, kelp tablets and big handful of frozen GREEN BEANS. 
Green Beans are filling to the stomach to prevent hunger with weight & volume. Low in carbs being a green vegetable.

The ultimate diet is a frozen raw ground meat, organs, bones with veggies, fruit. Raw must be NO HPP, No pressurization, No radiation, No pasteurization.
Raw helps many dogs loose weight. It is hard to find a good raw. Most pet shops sell the HPP pressurization, which the true health veterinarians, will be honest as it kills the very nutrients needed for
health, so therefore it is throwing away money. 
With searching numerous raw feeders groups in different regions, one can find real frozen ground raw. Usually there is a truck that will travel to
different cities once a month, as they are much cheaper than store fronts. I have found good frozen raw at Livestock feed stores that have a freezer for their informed pet owners who demand
highly nutritious frozen raw meat, organs food. 
I understand many are not ready to do raw yet, so FreshPet.com is the best alternative to raw unless you want to lightly cook raw food at home. There are many DIY homemade dog food recipes online.

To help overweight dogs or prevent dogs from becoming overweight, must supplement with a KELP tablet or two for very necessary IODINE. The thyroid gland needs iodine daily. 
Most all Goldens as most dogs in the USA, are severely deficient in iodine which causes low thyroid, sluggish metabolism, and when a dog goes too long without iodine or kelp supplementation, they become Hypothyroid. 
First Low Thyroid = Low Metabolism = eventual Hypothyroidism.

The typical common Allapathic (allisprofit) veterinarian will never tell you this. As same for the allapathic medical doctor. As most humans in the USA are severely deficient in iodine and have
low functioning thyroid gland. 

A low functioning thyroid causes a host of health problems as the thyroid is responsible for running the body, so low thyroid leads to not only hypothyroidism, but to numerous health issues
that are very profitable to veterinarians. True health veterinarians and true health medical doctors in the USA start most all new patients on daily kelp or iodine supplementation for improving 
health.

Another overweight cause is the spaying and neutering of Goldens, No sex hormones causes some weight gain. Another very important reason to supplement with KELP or IODINE as the thyroid becomes
sluggish when the body stops producing sex hormones after being sterilized. To maintain the sex hormones, true health veterinarians recommend tubal ligation for females so the hormones stay intact for health
reasons, and the males do a vasectomy, to maintain the hormones for health reasons. That way the dog cannot reproduce, but keeps the hormones for health reasons. Go to Parsemus.org to learn alternatives to
spay neuter for your future goldens.
https://www.parsemus.org/dogs_and_cats/alternatives-traditional-spayneuter/

I know many already have done the typical American Spay or Neuter, so at least supplement with KELP or IODINE to help the slow thyroid.
The best is to feed the raw thyroid gland from meat animals, but the thyroid gland is coveted as a very valuable meat, so hard to find available.

Wild coyotes, wolves, wild dogs, wild cats all covet the thyroid hormone gland when killing prey, it is one of the first things the canine will eat for health. This is why when canines & felines hunt in the
wild, they eat the thyroid hormone gland and all the organs first, as that has the most nutrition to maintain the health of their own organs. Nature knows best.

FYI Thru the centuries, the wealthy elite powerful upperclasses would eat the thyroid hormone gland for living longer and healthier than the masses or lower classes.
The upperclasses saved the sex hormones from teenagers to young adults, and would dry their urine filled with youthful high levels of natural progesterone, testosterone and estrogen and eat the dry urine powder for the natural hormones to look younger, live longer, have more vitality, stay slimmer, keep more hair, have younger looking skin, maintain more muscle mass. 

The masses aged faster as the masses did not know these vitality and longevity secrets of the informed upperclasses.
This is done today via bioIdentical hormone replacement creams, oral pills or injected pellets for humans that are over 50 and are loosing most their sex hormones, and becoming overweight and loosing muscle mass and aging.
By maintaining the natural hormones, the living body is more vibrant for more years. The allapathic doctors will not tell you this. There are no profits in health. There are massive profits in the unhealthy.

Try the above for your overweight Golden, FreshPet and frozen green beans and a kelp tablet daily


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## SBaker (Jan 15, 2018)

To be clear, raw food diets ARE NOT recommended by the American College of Veterinary Nutrition (American College of Veterinary Nutrition | ACVN) OR the American Veterinary Medical Association. 

-This is not because those veterinarians are "for profit", only an IDIOT would become a veterinarian to get rich. And please tell me who is more qualified to give veterinary nutrition advice other than a veterinarian or a veterinary nutritionist.
-It is because the vast majority of raw food diets both commercially available and certainly "recipes found online" do not meet AAFCO standards for minimum nutritional requirements for dogs and cats, which makes them illegal to sell over state lines and thus why they are "delivered by truck". 
-It is because countless studies have shown that even commercial, and certainly "DIY" raw food diets, are not safe for humans or animals. Look here ---> https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/AnimalHealthLiteracy/ucm373757.htm
-Not to mention that there are ABSOLUTELY NO SCIENTIFIC STUDIES to support the proposed benefits of raw food diets. NO feeding trials. Certainly no safety trials. Nothing. Please, PROVE ME WRONG!

There is nothing wrong with dry kibble that meets AAFCO standards. It has all the nutrients your dogs needs, proven and tested. Ideally find a diet that has gone through feeding trials, so your pet isn't the one being experimented on. 
Please, do your own research and get your information from reliable sources. The ACVN & American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition (https://www.aavn.org/) being the gold standard. There is NO ONE more qualified. A good starting point is here --> http://dels.nas.edu/resources/static-assets/banr/miscellaneous/dog_nutrition_final_fix.pdf

Back to the matter at hand. Your 100lb Golden. His Resting Energy Requirement is ~1435 cal/day (using the linear equation). Since your goal is weight loss, you multiply that by an activity factor of 0.8-1.0, which gets us to ~1,148 - 1435 cal/day. That number includes ALL TREATS, table scraps, everything. If he gets a milkbone every time he comes inside, you need to find out how many calories they are and subtract them from his daily amount. If you feed him twice a day, he gets 575 cal per feeding, minus treats. You can do the math yourself here --> https://vet.osu.edu/vmc/companion/our-services/nutrition-support-service/basic-calorie-calculator

The bottom line is, barring any health problems, he is overweight because he is taking in more calories than he is expending, so the solution is to feed him less or exercise him more.

If you need assistance, contact your veterinarian, who went through 8 years of school and is hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt not because it's a great get-rich-quick scheme but because they love animals, or request a nutrition consultation from ACVN. If you insist on "cooking" for your dog, BalanceIt.com can help you ensure you are feeding a nutritionally balanced diet, but you have to stick to the recipe!

I know it sounds daunting but it can be done and it's for his best interest! Good luck!


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

The OP posted his question on 10/16. Ten days later, he has not been back.


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## mmtasi7 (Nov 21, 2018)

Hi, I can totally sympathize because my Golden Honey was 114 when I adopted her and is now 92 lbs. I found out she loves swimming and we go all the time, plus 2 cups/day Hill Prescription weight loss dry food with 1 cup of green beans. Green beans fill their tummy. Also, lots of fun off leash time at local dog parks...her having fun has been key to her weight loss journey. Exercise ensure she is not as hungry.


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