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Feeding for ideal dog weight


Hector
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Solo is fit and a bit lanky in build (he is not compact and is pretty leggy, although his coat is deceptive) and has a lot of bone. He is about 22.5" at the shoulder, and 47 pounds.

 

Fly is built like a monkey, probably an inch or two shorter (I've never measured as she doesn't do agility, and won't stand up straight to be measured anyway) and weighs about 35 pounds. They're both very fit, have obvious tuck-up and clear-cut waists viewed from above.

 

I've noticed that dog food bag recommendation tend to assume that you are feeding something the size of a small horse. Fly might be able to assimilate all the calories because she's just like that, but Solo would look like a woolly mammoth if I fed him as much as most packages recommend, and I find that this is true for most dogs and most dog food bags.

 

I like to feel ribs and backbone on my dogs, but for the edges to not feel sharp. I want a layer of flesh on there -- because there ARE supposed to be muscles there and if all you're feeling is bone, your dog is not fit, he is just thin. He should also be well-muscled elsewhere (i.e., thighs, shoulders) which will help you gauge if your dog is athletic or emaciated. Fly's extremely thin but she has Olympic sprinter haunches that are just glorious to look at.

 

If your dog is padded all over I like Andrea's recommendation to cut food by a quarter cup (actually if you're feeding three+ cups a day, you could probably cut half a cup) and monitoring for a while to see if it's enough. If your dog is obese the veterinary recommendation is actually to cut calories by HALF until the weight is closer to normal. Yes, your dog will act hungry. That's because he is, but dogs are always hungry. If he were really starving, he'd be too tired to beg for food.

 

Wellness is a good food for taking weight off because it has relatively low calories for a premium food. Many premium foods are very rich. Wellness has something like 360 calories per cup. You can feed three cups and still be within basic caloric recommendations for an athletic, 45-pound dog (approx. 1000-1200 kcal/day). For comparison, Innova is 500 or 600 if I remember correctly. It is too rich for both of my dogs and gives them both the runs. If the idea of your dog's empty tummy really really bothers you, cut the kibble amount and make it up with green beans or canned pumpkin.

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I am going to try the canned pumpkin to give more bulk to Bailey's diet.

 

About measuring him -- I found this website that tells how to measure a dog's height, and this is the technique I am using.

 

http://www.sonic.net/~cdlcruz/GPCC/library/measure.htm

 

Does this sound like the right way?

 

I did this again and was very careful. This time I got 26" for Bailey's height, instead of the 27" I previously stated. Even so, he is a tall boy! I will get a picture of him today (when daylight arrives) and post it.

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Hector - Thanks for that link for measuring! I'm going to try that and see what I get. I used the tape measure from the floor to his shoulder method and was probably too far forward, which would add height.

 

bordercolliecrazy - I feed 2 meals, 1 1/2 cups each. 1 cup ground chicken and bones and 1/2 cup pureed veggies, plus his meds like OFAs, glucosamine, vitamins, etc. Sometimes he gets a frozen kong with cream cheese (about once a week). Other than that, he doesn't get much treats. Sometimes I'll substitute raw hamburger or raw ground turkey if I have run out of the chicken and the store I get it from is out too (they only get it in once a week).

 

I remember reading recently on here that someone feeds half raw, half kibble and that is optimum for their dog. Perhaps Riley is like that too. I felt him all over last night and he seems to be getting less boney, so maybe it just takes a while to get used to the raw vs kibble? He's been eating raw for probably about 2 months.

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I have no idea then, some people just tend to feed a whole lot of veggies and not much meat, but you seem to be doing just fine we dont weigh or measure our dogs food, we just toss stuff into the blener for breakfast and giving the little dogs less and the big dogs more, and toss some meat in there again more for the big one and less for the little ones, and for supper we just toss them a bone, happy gets the largest one misty second largest and we just look at the sizes and go "this one is a misty size" kinda thing nothing planned out or formal, no recipes or anything we just use what we have, works for us

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Here is a current picture of Bailey, my BC-Lab-X (so I was told by the rescue group from whence he came):

 

The red line is 27.5 inches up from the floor (line added with Adobe Photoshop, not actually painted on the stove).

Bailey_10_months.jpg

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Whatever he is, that is one good looking dog. I think Kim might have a point though, something about his eyes says 'Great Dane' to me.

 

Liz & the Captain xxx

 

P.S. That's me who feeds raw & kibble. Chicken wings or beef bones in the morning & kibble at night, since I believe they shouldn't be fed together. Partly for convenience and partly because the Captain won't eat vegetables.

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Hector,

 

He may indeed be a lab X. I don't know why I thought he had prick ears. So obviously, he's not 27" at the shoulder, but he's still a big boy.

 

I have a lab?/bc x rescue boy here, on the small side, and he also came to me at a little over a year of age, looking like a stuffed sausage, not fat, just plump. I immediately took him off what he came to me with & began feeding him what my own eat. He now has a waist line, and being a smooth coat, you could see the difference in body type.

 

It took about 5 months of eating the way I feed my own dogs, for him to come down to this weight. Now he's ready for an agility home. Any takers???

 

Vicki

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Originally posted by 2 Devils:

I am also thinking that he could be part german shepherd (black). He is handsome though...

BC X GSD was my thought too. That's really what he looks like to me, and I've seen a number of them.

 

I'd put him closer to 25" from that photo.

 

RDM

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