Fat and starving... any help?

[HarleyzHussy]

Hey all! I've been told that my dog, Harley (who is a Husky/ Rottweiler/ Collie/ German Shepherd/ Wolf mixture (and counting...)) is very overweight (about astone overweight). He has been castrated and we've cut his food down to half a tin and a few handfulls of mixer busicuits (as instructed by our vet) but he's starving.
It's breaking my heart to see him scrouging for the tineyest crumb and I feel awful having to let him suffer, he's been on this diet for a few weeks and doesn't seem to be getting any thinner, can anyone else offer an opinion of what to do?
I can't go on only feeding him that much a day, it's just not right, I know his health is at risk with him being so fat... but he's so starving. He's even pushing his bown along the floor trying to get the dried on food off of it. :(

Please help
Harley's Hussy
xx

[Gustav]

Is there a light dog food you could put him on instead?!!
My Vet told me that male dogs have only two things on their minds, Eating and making little doggies! When you take one of them out of the equation, that leaves eating!!
Try to resist the "I'm starving eyes"!! And give him as much exercise as possible!!

[gaddylovesdogs]

How much is a tin? How much exercise does he get? Make sure you start out slow with exercise.

[HarleyzHussy]

We give him lots of exercise, as much as our scheduals allow, a few miles atleast a week and lots of playtime to wear him out at home. It's gone pas tthe "I'm starving" eyes now, it's literally looking for crumbas like licking the carpet and stuff he'll even try and eat dead birds and things while we're on a walk (I do try and stop him but his mouth is like lightening!!).
The vey has said that she'll put him on the proper dietry foods after a month or so of him cutting down... but I don't know if I can watch him suffer all that long, it's as painful for me to watch him as it is for him not to eat!
On the question of a tin, a whole tin is 15oz (about as big as a baked bean tin). so that's 7 and 1/2 oz if I cut it down :(

[Renee750il]

Another tip is to feed him in smaller portions several times a day. His body has decided it's being starved and has slowed his metabolism down.

Get him interested in some games that will begin to increase his exercise levels too. Maybe some short walks to start with, getting longer as he gets more fit.

Get him on a food that's high in usable protein and has less fat. I don't know if it's available to you, but the Innova EVO (www.naturapet.com) is a good model to follow. If you can find something with similar proportions it will help you a lot. As soon as I switched mine from the regular Innova (which is also very good) to the new EVO formula, Shiva, who had carried her baby pudge with her no matter how much exercise she got, slimmed right down and is now a svelte, muscular creature.

[HarleyzHussy]

I'll try and find some foods like the one's you've suggested (I've never seen that particular brand in England,but I'll have a look) at the moment we jsut feed him on Tesco's premium dog tins & mixer buscuits and a handfull of Bakers' Complete dried food if we go out for a long time (it's either that or goodbye furniture!!).
Thanks for your help everyone :)

[Renee750il]

I don't think it's available there, but the website will give you the information you need to compare and find something with the same type of protein/fat/carbohydrate percentages.

[Mordy]

HarleyzHussy, your dog is more likely to lose weight if you cut out carbohydrates in the diet and reduce fat a bit, instead of feeding lots of carbs.

to make him feel full, you could mix green beans (canned, rinsed well, or frozen) into the food to bulk up the amount a bit.

would you be willing to switch to a home prepared diet? it's the easiest way to get rid of all the carbs. :)

[Gustav]

James Wellbeloved is a great food that you can get in the UK!! It's quite expensive though! :(

www.wellbeloved.com

[moe]

Have you tried feeding the raw? there is less chance of putting on too much weight IMO try a company called Landywoodslink (http://www.landywoods.co.uk/) they do high quality meats, for dogs, they also deliver, and prices are very reasonable, I have Alaskan Malamutes, and find that I can feed my female 1lb a day my male 2lbs a day plus plenty of exercise (approx 5 miles a day walking) this keep them in peak condition.

Mo

[Doberluv]

I agree with adding some shredded up vegetables, carrots, broccoli, green beans (fresh, not canned) to his food to add bulk without calories. Or try the raw food diet after researching it.

He may act like he's starving, but he's not. If he's overweight, he's taking in more calories than he's expending. So, he's not starving. I have one dog who has an eating disorder too...obsessive compulsive about food. He acts just like your dog. You can't let that get to you. Your dog's health and life is at stake. Cut him back on his calories and increase his exercise. A dog like that could use several miles of a combination of walking, trotting and running every single day. I take my dogs, my Doberman and two Chi's on a long hike in the woods every day. My Chihuahuas don't need all that, but my Doberman does. But they all love it so much and I do too. Those little dogs keep right up with the Dobe and that walk is the highlight of their day. So, try to find time, if you can. I walk briskly for at least an hour, sometimes longer. I know it's hard for some people to find that kind of time. But exercise is a great thing. Good luck in slimming down your dog.

[mrose_s]

Hey all! I've been told that my dog, Harley (who is a Husky/ Rottweiler/ Collie/ German Shepherd/ Wolf mixture (and counting...)) is very overweight (about astone overweight). He has been castrated and we've cut his food down to half a tin and a few handfulls of mixer busicuits (as instructed by our vet) but he's starving.
It's breaking my heart to see him scrouging for the tineyest crumb and I feel awful having to let him suffer, he's been on this diet for a few weeks and doesn't seem to be getting any thinner, can anyone else offer an opinion of what to do?
I can't go on only feeding him that much a day, it's just not right, I know his health is at risk with him being so fat... but he's so starving. He's even pushing his bown along the floor trying to get the dried on food off of it. :(

Please help
Harley's Hussy
xx

remember he mite just be begging, if you give it to him the food every the time, he'll become more dominatnt, Im not saying thats definetley it but thought i de say it anyway.
But i did see something on a show called harry's practice here in australia. this woman had a 16kg cat. :eek:
anyway, he was to eat lean meats and, what was it, i think it was bran, not sure about that... um... anyway, it had little or no nutritional value, but filled him up without putting on the extra weight. Ide check with your vet though, im not sure if bran s it, and it was a diet for a cat...

[mrose_s]

[QUOTE=Doberluv]Or try the raw food diet after researching it. [QUOTE=Doberluv]

what is a "raw food diet??? is it stuff like meat and bones?
also, could you post some pics of him... he sounds, interesting, v cute

[Mordy]

a raw diet consists of raw meats, bones, veggies fruits and (depending on which "nutrition guru" you are following) other extras and supplements.

it's not very complicated, but there are a few points you need to be aware of.

as for the canned beans - they were suggested for a reason. if you want to bulk up a dog's food, you have to do it with something the dog is going to eat, otherwise it's quite pointless. from my experience, most dogs who are used to processed food (regardless if canned or kibble) accept canned veggies (or fresh ones, steamed at home) better than plain raw ones. green beans are also high in oxalate, which can be a problem for some individuals. cooking reduces oxalate content.

[avenlee]

Just wondering, can any dog be put on a raw diet or is more for the bigger dogs. Not sure if I'd consider it with my Cocker and Westie. I am looking for alternative diets for them and trying to research everything eventually. I'm just not an avid reader :rolleyes:

[moe]

You can feed the raw diet to any size dogs, even cats and ferrets are fed on this diet, heres a link to FAQ's regarding feeding a raw diet. I weaned my pups starting at 5 weeks on raw meat you can see pictures of this on my website.

raw diet questions (http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm)

Mo

[HarleyzHussy]

Hey thanks for your help everyone, I've ordered some samples form that James Wellbeloved food and found a shop veyr near me that stocks it. We're going to run out his food that he's got at the moment (and do as a lot of you suggested with packing it with veggies and things to make it a bit more filling without being too fatty) and then try him on the James Wellbeloved food if he likes it. I'm also looking at the raw food diet too...
Thanks everyone, you've made me feel a lot better about it, I know the vets are trained and everything but I really didn't feel good only letting him have such a little ammount of food a day.
By the way, how do you post pictures of dogs on here?? I'd love to ahve a piccie of him in my signature like some of you have!
Thank again
Niki & Harley
xxx

[LuvMyPups]

Like Mordy said Green Breens are great. Frozen are the best if you can get them. They only have 30 calories per cup so they make a great filler. I know what you are going through. My sister's dog was only slightly over weight but has bad knees so she had to lose a lot more....she did the same things Harley is doing. So she went on a diet food, California Natural Light (I believe) and got green beans as a filler....

[Doberluv]

Just be careful and introduce veggies gradually or he'll be apt to get diarrhea. And don't load him up too much with them. Dogs are really not designed to eat a lot of that stuff.

The problem with canned is that their loaded with salt which is more taxing to the liver and a lot of nutrients are lost in the canning process. You can lightly steam veggies. Some dogs need to aquire a taste and others love them from the get go.