Hello Forum Users.
I have a problem for which I need desperate help. I live with my Mother and Grandmother. My Grandmother has two dogs. A Border Collie/Black Lab mix and the other is a Black Lab. Both are grossly overweight. By about 50 lbs each. She takes them to the Vet and the Vet has told her. They need to lose weight. He's outlined all the health risks that come with being overweight. She feeds them 1 cup of Iams Diet Dog Food twice a day. The problem is.. she spoils them. She'll throw in our left over dinner which can be chicken, beef, ham, corn, gravy, any number of fattening and unhealthy things for a dog. Sometimes she'll feed them vegetables like cucumbers. I've told her,"That's great if you want to feed them vegetables but you need to reduce the amount of food they are getting."
She won't listen. She also buys commercial dog treats like milk bones and raw hides and she'll feed them each 5+ a day or more. Just tonight I caught her feeding her dogs ham on top of the cup of diet food they get.
I've told her that her dogs will die. She just tells me "Well, we've all got to go at some point don't we?" I've tried reasoning with her that its not fair to her dogs to be so unhealthy and cause them to have a shorter life because she shows her love by over feeding and spoiling.
Our dogs have access to an acre of fenced in yard that they can run and play in. They have access to a pool they can swim in. However, she lets them inside to early from their bathroom break. Within 30 seconds of letting them out she will let them back in. If they are not back in they will scratch at the door and bark. Rather than ignore it she will give in and let them in. They enjoy being outside and have access to water. She thinks it may be to hot for them. 1/4 of our yard is always shaded in some fashion where they can go and relax from the heat.
I'm at my wits end. I don't know what to do to make her see that she's slowly killing them.
If you can offer anymore information on the health issues, advice, anything. I would be grateful. I apologize for the long post.
Overweight Dogs
Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost
Re: Overweight Dogs
If she won't stop feeding them the extra food... they will not lose weight. It pretty much is that simple.
She MIGHT be right about it being too hot out there but more importantly, its boring outside on your own and without someone there to amuse, interact with them, they wont exercise outdoors alone anyway. They do need to be taken for proper walks twice daily, as well as time outside playing AND a reduced diet.
Feeding whole vegetables such as cucumber, carrot, apple, celery - thats fine and you need not reduce the meal portions particularly as dogs really cannot digest whole vegetables very well - I feed raw vegetables to my dogs as part of their diet and to break it down for them to be able to get the maximum benefit, I have to blend/pulp and freeze them first. Fed whole they come out pretty much as they went in.
So it can be handy to bulk out a dieting dogs meals with chunks of whole veg, and use bits of veggies as treats - maybe you could help your Grandmother make up tasty but very low calorie treats for the dogs and get her to give them these instead of the human left overs and fattening dog treats?
A good treat on a hot day is to freeze bits of vegetables into a bowl of ice and then give them that outdoors. If she wants to give them a healthy treat that involves them working at it, a large meaty raw bone each (instead of a meal) would be very good (and very good for their teeth too) as long as it isnt too fatty.
It is very difficult when people are over feeding in this way as they equate food with love, treats as 'nice' etc etc... and deep down they know that an overweight dog is not happy but admitting you are wrong is very hard, and letting yourself SEE that your beloved dog is struggling to walk or run and is in fact miserable is therefore really hard to do.
Try to get her to swap to veggies as treats and talking them for proper walks and see how you get on.
She MIGHT be right about it being too hot out there but more importantly, its boring outside on your own and without someone there to amuse, interact with them, they wont exercise outdoors alone anyway. They do need to be taken for proper walks twice daily, as well as time outside playing AND a reduced diet.
Feeding whole vegetables such as cucumber, carrot, apple, celery - thats fine and you need not reduce the meal portions particularly as dogs really cannot digest whole vegetables very well - I feed raw vegetables to my dogs as part of their diet and to break it down for them to be able to get the maximum benefit, I have to blend/pulp and freeze them first. Fed whole they come out pretty much as they went in.
So it can be handy to bulk out a dieting dogs meals with chunks of whole veg, and use bits of veggies as treats - maybe you could help your Grandmother make up tasty but very low calorie treats for the dogs and get her to give them these instead of the human left overs and fattening dog treats?
A good treat on a hot day is to freeze bits of vegetables into a bowl of ice and then give them that outdoors. If she wants to give them a healthy treat that involves them working at it, a large meaty raw bone each (instead of a meal) would be very good (and very good for their teeth too) as long as it isnt too fatty.
It is very difficult when people are over feeding in this way as they equate food with love, treats as 'nice' etc etc... and deep down they know that an overweight dog is not happy but admitting you are wrong is very hard, and letting yourself SEE that your beloved dog is struggling to walk or run and is in fact miserable is therefore really hard to do.
Try to get her to swap to veggies as treats and talking them for proper walks and see how you get on.
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
Re: Overweight Dogs
SamB,
I do sympathize with you. I have a similar situation with my Mom about our family dog. She says the Poodle is hungry (even when she was fed 1 cup her day...way too much!), gives her high fat treats, and 10 minute walks. In no time, the vet said our Poodle needed to lose weight. I've convinced my Mom to reduce her food to 1/2 cup per day and show her how I spoil her with boiled carrots but I know fully well when I'm out of town, Mom will go back to her old ways.
Since it's unlikely you can change your Grandmother's mind, what can you do? With our Poodle, I gave her longer walks, introduced her to agility and did exploring at the park. Could you volunteer to walk her dogs and slowly increase their exercise to burn their extra calories? Since there's some Lab in there, maybe you could do some water based activities which will be good for their joints.
I do sympathize with you. I have a similar situation with my Mom about our family dog. She says the Poodle is hungry (even when she was fed 1 cup her day...way too much!), gives her high fat treats, and 10 minute walks. In no time, the vet said our Poodle needed to lose weight. I've convinced my Mom to reduce her food to 1/2 cup per day and show her how I spoil her with boiled carrots but I know fully well when I'm out of town, Mom will go back to her old ways.
Since it's unlikely you can change your Grandmother's mind, what can you do? With our Poodle, I gave her longer walks, introduced her to agility and did exploring at the park. Could you volunteer to walk her dogs and slowly increase their exercise to burn their extra calories? Since there's some Lab in there, maybe you could do some water based activities which will be good for their joints.
Re: Overweight Dogs
Could you involve your Grandmother into cooking healthy (low-cal) home-made treats for the dogs so she can fulfil her maternal instincts in a better way? Show her all the awful ingredients in the commercial pet "treats" and get her to cook up mainly vegetable mixes with a bit of meat in, make them chicken soup from a real chicken not a packet and take the meat off the bones for them as cooked bones are a no-no but raw bones are okay, (no noodles! No dumplings!) show her love in a healthier way?
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog
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