# My Puppy is too Chunky :(



## Mde13004 (Feb 20, 2019)

Hello! 

I hope everyone is doing well. This forum is my favorite!! I definitely spend too much time on here hahah. So I took my 10 month old golden to the vet because of an ear infection and it turns out hes allergic to his food  But it also turns out hes overweight! He is currently weighing 72 lbs. 

I have him on Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach formula and feed him 1 cup in the morning with some shredded chicken and 1 cup at night. He goes out and plays fetch 2 times for about 30 minutes each. However, I do like to treat him and train with him a lot so I think that is where the extra calories are coming from. Any suggestions on how I can still treat him but not cut down his regular food since that is where his nutrients come from?

When I would take him to classes we were told not to feed dinner and bring high value treats liek shredded chicken, cheese, turkey. I dont want to do that EVERY day but I also want to treat him for being a good boy. What would you suggest be the maximum amount of treats or should I even treat him at all?? I usually do a couple mini baked treats (Old mother hubbard) when I get home from work and if we have any left over chicken I give him a couple pieces after dinner.


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## Mde13004 (Feb 20, 2019)

Heres a pic of my fluff ball


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## Emmdenn (Jun 5, 2018)

72 pounds at 10 months does not seem too terribly big to me. Does he have a waist? Can you feel his ribs?


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## Mde13004 (Feb 20, 2019)

Yes! I feel ribs but not too much I dont have to put pressure to feel them. He is rather short. I took him to a vet closer to us than our regular vet for testing when he had diarrhea and they also said he was too heavy for his joints but I think what I am feeding him is as low as I'm comfortable going with I dont want to give him any less than 1 cup of kibble twice a day.


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

I often give pieces of kibble as low value training treats but Rukie is very food motivated. When I give higher value treats they are tiny tiny pieces -- think the size of your pinky finger nail. Sometimes the cheese is so small I wonder if he can even feel or taste it. I also found that although Rukie enjoyed running after a frisbee, when my neighbors got a puppy and he started running and wrestling in their big yard, he got skinny in a hurry and went from 64 to 61 without any other changes. I had to increase his food because he was too skinny. Maybe you could find him a regular play date?


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Most likely he is overweight, especially if your vet said he is. I'd imagine you need to dial his food back to 3/4 cup at each meal and stop with the shredded chicken. If you want to try seeing if he likes little bits of carrots or canned green beans for treats, give it a try, my Golden things they're amazing  The leaner you keep your puppy, the better for his joints and long term health.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Stop adding the extra chicken, etc., to his meals. You can use his dog food for training treats at home for practicing, just measure out a cup and use that to train, and cut that much out of his regular meal amount. 

Or if you want to continue to add extras to his meal, you have to cut some of the dog food out, like cut back on kibble 1/4 cup if you want to keep the chicken in his meal. 

And/or increase his exercise.


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## Mde13004 (Feb 20, 2019)

Thanks to everyone for the replies!! I will try veggies for training treats and also cut back on the kibble at least in the morning with the chicken (at night he only eats kibble). We also have several play mates that he gets along with really well so I will schedule play dates more often! I definitely want to get this under control since I care about his joint health. Thank you all for the advice


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

He's a good looking boy. 

It could be the chicken that is bothering him. My guys have never done well on poultry. 
I feed the PPP SSS salmon formula, I also only give Salmon treats. If I give treats made with anything else, he has an upset stomach. 

I buy Plato Pet treats, they are a US company, use US sourced ingredients and they donate a portion of their sales to different dog groups monthly.

All my guys have liked fresh fruits and veggies too, I give whatever is in season. Some favorites have been cantaloupe, watermelon, sweet potatoes, cucumbers......


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## Mde13004 (Feb 20, 2019)

Thanks so much for the suggestion!! I think you definitely might be onto something! I noticed behind his ears the skin was very pink and irritated so I think I'll try what you suggested. My vet recommended the PPP salmon sensitive skin adn stomach which is what he has been on so hopefully he will lose a couple pounds as well  Also thank you to everyone who constantly helps me with my questions I appreciate you all so much and try to return the favor to others with my experiences


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## Peri29 (Aug 5, 2017)

In Summer months , we usually avoid any fish or salmon formula . Prefer during winter. 


Mde13004 said:


> Thanks so much for the suggestion!! I think you definitely might be onto something! I noticed behind his ears the skin was very pink and irritated so I think I'll try what you suggested. My vet recommended the PPP salmon sensitive skin adn stomach which is what he has been on so hopefully he will lose a couple pounds as well  Also thank you to everyone who constantly helps me with my questions I appreciate you all so much and try to return the favor to others with my experiences


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## Mde13004 (Feb 20, 2019)

How come you only do salmon in the summer? Also to all who replied here is some pictures from today I would love your feedback if you think he "looks" overweight? Hes all wet from the rain today lol


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## daisy1234 (Jun 17, 2018)

I use blueberries and cut up apple pieces. My dogs love them. He is a cutie. He doesn't have a defined waist though so yes to me he looks overweight judging by the chart my vet gave me. You can look up a dog weight chart on google.


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## MushyB (Oct 31, 2018)

My 2¢ (having had 2 older Goldens with weight issues, not a puppy under 1 year old): you've got to be a stickler about feeding, and if you do a training session, you back off of the kibble at dinner time to balance out the rewards/treats from training. I would also drop the shredded chicken down to 1-2x/week (if that), or you could chop that up into tiny pieces for reward during training sessions. The daily cookies; I would also say that's gotta go, or drop it to a half a cookie a day. There is lots of good info out there about how keeping their weight down when they are young can alleviate hip/elbow issues later in life: it's a worthy goal.

From what our vet has told us (we have a 7 month old pup); joints are still developing until he's 1 year old, so our goal is to keep our boy on the leaner side (which he is). It's soooooo hard!!! Those puppy eyes are REAL. But it's best for him, so I've got to steel my weak heart and be strict about food/treats. Barkley will actually go to the counter and look up at the bag of treats when he's been told he's a good boy, then look at us, then look at the treats...adorable, but 99% of the time we distract him with a toy instead of giving him a treat.

We also use these for rewards during training; both our boys love them, and they are teeny tiny, single ingredient treats: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M1VAH9F/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Good luck! Your fluff ball is adorable


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## iwuollet (Feb 7, 2019)

Hello, your golden is beautiful!! I don’t think that you need to cut on the feedings. He’s still a puppy and usually you change their servings by the time that they hit 12 months. Maybe you need to revise what kind of food he’s eating. Something filled with a higher amounts of protein and less carbs. I have a golden that happened to be huge...I mean huge! When we picked him up the breeder said he was the biggest of all, and that made him less appealing because people want Golden’s that are small, weight the average. We fell in love with the little chunk and took him, when I lift him up and carry him to the car I couldn’t help to notice how solid he was? I couldn’t go out without people stoping me and commenting about how big he was. I got the same food that I feed my other golden, but I always force him to do a little more activity than my older dog. He loves to fetch, runs with my husband for 1-2 miles and is always on the go. I do limit his treats and make sure he’s getting something with protein. Right now he’s still bigger (84 pounds) but when I take him to the vet he always tells me that he is fine and that he’s not lacking exercise. I know that a lot of people here have lots of experience with Golden’s, but I think that their all different and some will look bigger but I think that is genetics. This is Dallas when we first got him. I don’t think he looks like a normal golden. But now he looks just fine, at least I find him adorable????


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## Mde13004 (Feb 20, 2019)

Omg what a beautiful puppy!! Thanks for the advice!


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

*Mde13004*-I rotated the first picture of your boy, for some reason it posted out of order though when I re-inserted it-sorry.

He's a good looking boy.


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## Mde13004 (Feb 20, 2019)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> *Mde13004*-I rotated the first picture of your boy, for some reason it posted out of order though when I re-inserted it-sorry.
> 
> He's a good looking boy.


Thanks!! I'm trying out the plato treats you mentioned and cut out poultry from his diet to see how it goes


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

I hope he likes the Plato treats, I usually stick with ones that are salmon because if I try another protein source, my boy has tummy problems........ 

I don't like fish especially the smell of it, but my boy sure enjoys the salmon treats.......


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## migs (Nov 8, 2013)

The only treats my boys get are bananas, apples, strawberry's, carrots. Once in a while they'll get a pig ear.
They dont get any packaged treats or biscuits. Just real fruit & vege's "treats"


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## basma_mahbub (Apr 26, 2021)

Hi Mde,
Your puppy is so gorgeous I couldn’t resist asking who / where you got him from? My husband and I have been looking to get a golden pup for so long now and we really are into chunky big floof boys, would you please help us out with any info you got? Are you based in NSW? Thanks so much!!


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