kody'smom Posted August 1, 2003 Report Share Posted August 1, 2003 Help!! Our Kody is almost 6 years old, and has gradually gained up to 60 pounds (mostly over the last two years). He only gets 2 1/2 c. of Science Diet Sensitive Stomach per day (he had dairrhea with every other food we tried). He runs hard (constant - faster than I could go - chasing a tennis ball hit by a golf club) for 10-15 minutes 3-4 times/day (here in Texas it's generally too hot to go longer than that). He had his thyroid levels checked and were normal about 6 mo ago. We tried going down to 2 c. of food per day, but he began eating the house (and this from a border who never destroyed anything after 1 yo). He gets NO people food or treats. I am trying SD Lite, but is there something better? -Kody's mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted August 1, 2003 Report Share Posted August 1, 2003 Hi Kody?s Mom. You haven?t said how big Kody is. I had a Border Collie who was big (tall) and very solid and chunky, and I had to work really hard to keep him down below high 50s ? but he really wasn?t an overweight dog. What about the visual and tactile checks ? does Kody have a waist and a tuck up ? can you feel his ribs easily? All that said, I was able to reduce the amount of kibble with Sam by including lots of vegetables ? cooked and mashed, but I guess raw and processed would be good too. I?m sure there are folks on the board who?ve recommended including plain canned (not pie) pumpkin, and RDM was mentioning that as helpful for diarrhea, so maybe that would be a good filler that wouldn?t upset Kody. What does your vet say about Kody?s weight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWBC Posted August 2, 2003 Report Share Posted August 2, 2003 If you check with your vet and your dog is indeed getting pudgy you could try giving your dog green beans, straight from the can, with his dog food. I use plain, canned green beans as a filler for my 16 year old BC, she gets 2/3 cup of Blackwood 1000, which is for less active dogs, and 1/2 can of green beans twice a day. I think it helped to split it into two feedings. I have a couple of small terrier rescues that get 1/4cup of the same food with a can of green beans divided among them, they only get fed once a day. The green beans act as a filler and help the dog feel as if he has had a good dinner. Good luck WWBC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kody'smom Posted August 2, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2003 Kody is just under 21" at the shoulder, so not a really big dog. He isn't at ALL tuck wasted, and the vet agrees that he is overweight - she says he should be UNDER 50 pounds! (So he needs to lose 20% of his body weight!!) He has also begun having intermittent arthritis vs. injury, which the vet thinks will resolve with weight loss. I will certainly try the veggies!! Thanks for the hints, and I'll keep monitoring for any further advice! -Kody's mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haflingerrider Posted August 3, 2003 Report Share Posted August 3, 2003 We have two on Iams diet dog food. They switched over to it very easily. It is only 20 percent protein. You could try gradually adding the diet into his sensitive stomach dog food and see how he reacts. With the diet they still get the volume but less calories and protein. Before we started the AuCaDo on it, she was sneaking across the road and eating the neighbors cat food. Can you give Kody chewies to pacify his need to chew? Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted August 3, 2003 Report Share Posted August 3, 2003 Science Diet contains an awful lot of carb based ingredients which contribute to weight gain. Your dog doesn't need all those grains, but a higher protein may help him have more energy, thus burn more fat. Food sensitivity can also be an indicator of a thyroid problem (as is weight gain), but a lot of vets aren't testing thyroids properly. You might like to get him retested following Dr. Dodd's protocols to ensure you're getting an accurate reading. From the website: "Regular T3 and T4 test over diagnose Hypothyroidism and under diagnose Hyperthyroidism. Also, they are often influenced by diet and/or drug, and fail to detect early compensatory disease and thyroiditis. She recommends T4, T3, Free T4, Free T3, T3 autoantibody, and T4 autoantibody. Endohenous Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) and (TgAA) are also useful." Just to be on the safe side. One of my dogs tests on the low side of normal, but my understanding is that border collies often test normally on the higher end of the scale, indicating he might have thyroid problems. His entire litter is sensitive to vaccines as well (he developed mild seizures after being vaccinated, as did several siblings) and vaccines are also thought to be a contributing factor in some thyroid problems. I feed my dogs a raw diet, but 20.5" Tweed weighed in at 53 lbs, so I changed his diet slightly, omitting all grains and upping his pulped veggie content to bring his weight down. He's now a svelte 41 lbs, and it took 7 months or so to get him there. He's been this weight consistently for a year or more. I'd re-explore his thyroid and consider a diet change. The fewer grains, grasses and "meals" the better. RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kody'smom Posted August 4, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2003 What exactly is this "raw" diet that I am seeing people write about? -Kody's mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivia Posted August 4, 2003 Report Share Posted August 4, 2003 When my now 3.5 year old female turned around 18 months I noticed that she suddenly started gaining weight. I think I was still feeding her like she was a growing puppy and not noticing that she had stopped growing up and started growing out. She is a tiny girl and had gone up to 35lbs, now she is at 28 which is her fighting weight, she is pure bones, muscles and fur! No fat anywhere on that dog. I cut her food, she now gets 3/4 cup of Nutro twice per day. However it was those first couple of weeks that were the hardest. She thought she was starving. I started mixing canned pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie filling with spices) with her food and she loved it plus if made her feel full. Even now in the fall I will buy several pumpkins, cut them into 2-3" pieces and freeze them for tasty, no-fat treats year round! I also feed according to what my dogs have been doing. If they have had a lazy day around the house I give less kibble and some carrots and green beans (raw). If they are working sheep all day then sometimes their dinner gets doubled or I add a big meaty raw bone to make up for all that running. Olivia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted August 4, 2003 Report Share Posted August 4, 2003 Hi Kody?s mom - there are several ways of feeding raw. It?s been discussed on these boards several times, and if you use the search facility, you should find some of those threads. (Be warned, people get very, very, very passionate about this topic ? it can become almost religious ? so like everything else on the net, read with caution and common sense and a sense of what you would be happy with.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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