# 2 year olds getting fat!



## LDer (Jun 28, 2011)

Hello - I have twin goldens, aged 2. We feed them only 2 cups/day of Taste of the Wild, plus a biscuit a day. They seem to be about 4 lb.s overweight in spite of cutting back from 2.5 cups/day of dry food. Their exercise level has stayed the same.

It seems like they get diarrhea easily...anything unusual (with the exception of lettuce or bell pepper) sets them off...even eating a piece of a stick!

Yikes. Has anyone had luck with replacing a little of their food with something else that doesn't cause diarrhea?

Thank you!!


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## GoldenMum (Mar 15, 2010)

Green beans, if canned, w/o salt. Adding some pumpkin can help with stool issues.

When my son's boy Riley needed to lose 10 lbs., we cut back kibble, added green beans, and uncooked oatmeal (long cooking), and some canned pumpkin, (not pie filling). He loved it!


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Feed less and don't worry about supplementing it with bulk. If your dogs are getting fat and they're getting reasonable exercise, they're eating too much.


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## WasChampionFan (Mar 31, 2012)

LDer said:


> Hello - I have twin goldens, aged 2. We feed them only 2 cups/day of Taste of the Wild, plus a biscuit a day. They seem to be about 4 lb.s overweight in spite of cutting back from 2.5 cups/day of dry food. Their exercise level has stayed the same.
> 
> It seems like they get diarrhea easily...anything unusual (with the exception of lettuce or bell pepper) sets them off...even eating a piece of a stick!
> 
> ...


You can only cut back so much before the level of protein you are feeding becomes to low. I would look for a food with lower fat content, 12 - 15% and see how they do.

I presume they are either spayed or neutered?


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## Jessie'sGirl (Aug 30, 2010)

Have you had their thyroid levels checked?


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## LDer (Jun 28, 2011)

You guys all have such beautiful Goldens!!! . 

Their thyroids have been checked, they're both fixed. How much do you guys feed your dogs? Our bag of Taste of the Wild calls for 3 cups/day, but they gain too much on that amount. I'll check the fat content when I get home....glad to hear that green beans don't cause stomach problems.

It's a good thing I don't have to show them ...too hard to maintain everything!


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## GoldensGirl (Aug 2, 2010)

Never mind. Already irrelevant.


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## Sammy&Cooper (Dec 28, 2011)

how much exercise are they actually getting? my 2 year old female Sammy eats 2 cups of food per day and gets 1 freeze dried liver treat per day, she gets two 30 minute walks per day plus 30 minutes of fetch every night (usually anyways). she weighs 64 lbs and can afford to lose 2-3 (according to my vet who I agree with, her exercise hasn't been too consistent with it being really cold out but once it warms up were on a mission lol) 


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

LDer said:


> You guys all have such beautiful Goldens!!! .
> 
> Their thyroids have been checked, they're both fixed. How much do you guys feed your dogs? Our bag of Taste of the Wild calls for 3 cups/day, but they gain too much on that amount. I'll check the fat content when I get home....glad to hear that green beans don't cause stomach problems.
> 
> It's a good thing I don't have to show them ...too hard to maintain everything!


As for thyroid did you get the full panel or just the T4 or Free T4? Also did you get a specialists opinion on the thyroid? I ask because regular vets go by what the lab says on the papers. So, what may be "normal" for a big Great Dane may be to low for a GR. My Belgian Shepherd sits low on his T3 I believe and the rest were within normal but on the low end of normal (so lets say 10-45 is normal range he sat at 8 on one and 11-12 on the rest). I have added a low dose of soloxine after discussing with my vet and hes improved...a little with his other issues. He was 85lbs 2 years ago but he was also getting 6 cups of a food a day. I cut back to 2 cups a day he was losing. I am now at 2.5 cups a day plus some canned in his dinner. Mines 60lbs and I want him at 63-65. 

So, it could still be thyroid. I would have a panel run by Dr Dodds personally unless he was in the high range of normal. 

I would also up exercise to. Mine cant seem to get enough of that!


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## LDer (Jun 28, 2011)

Thank you all. I will check the thyroid further. I caught my husband giving them 1/2 cup too much food the other day, when he had told me he only fed them 1 cup twice a day! Yikes. Guess he's working too much.

Hopefully that was the problem, but it's good to know what to check if it creeps up again or doesn't go away with less food.

I do feel like they can't get enough exercise...they're bottomless pits for it . I even pay a dog walker $25/day to give them 2 45 min. walks, but they act like they got none when I get home from work!

Either way, it's astounding how quickly Goldens gain weight!


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

LDer said:


> Thank you all. I will check the thyroid further. I caught my husband giving them 1/2 cup too much food the other day, when he had told me he only fed them 1 cup twice a day! Yikes. Guess he's working too much.
> 
> Hopefully that was the problem, but it's good to know what to check if it creeps up again or doesn't go away with less food.
> 
> ...



Yorkies gain weight much easier than Goldens and I have 3 of them. If Cozy or Lucy especially get any extras they porky up very quickly.


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