Help Roxie is not losing weight

Roxie weighs 130 lbs.( my Rottie) She should only weigh between 90-100 lbs per our vet. I feed her innova senior. Based on what her weight is now the website calculates her at 51/4 cups per day. I did this on a 75% ratio as she also gets a small amount of cooked food added each night to her last feeding. She also gets neck (beef, she wont eat raw chicken)bones about once, sometimes twice per week. I have actually lowered her to 3 cups of dry per day for the last month, and given her green beans as she acts hungry. She is not losing any weight. Should I switch her to a weight management brand?

How active is Roxie? I wouldn't necessarily go by the food guidelines on the back of the bag. Every dog is different. When my golden was in her senior years and overweight, she was down to 1 1/2 cups a day (the bag recommended 3 cups). She had horrible arthritis, so increased exercise wasn't an option. And she still didn't lose enough weight: she remained chunky until the day she passed away.

I am not sure but i would switch to a light diet, and if poss up her exercise

She has arthritis. It seems to be better since the innova. Oh, and I forgot, she also gets yogurt. We must have yogurt.(brutus will not eat without it) She has been more active lately. She actually played fetch in the pond. She didn't swim but she did go in a couple of feet. I don't think an abundance of excercise would be good for her though.
We do live on five acres so she does get some excercise. Slow, but exercise. I don't know what brand I would switch her to.

Colby has some minor arthritis, and all she gets is glucosamine chrondroitin and I massage her leg with a special gel. I think adding some glucosamine to Roxie's food could help with her arthritis.

Are there any games she likes? My dogs aren't too big on toys, but they love it when I run around with them. Maybe you could find an old sock and stuff it with a toy or some treats, tie it, and play fetch with Roxie?

in my opinion that would be the worst thing you can do. "senior" food isn't much better. both formulations contain a high amount of carbs and only little protein and fat, which dogs do need for good health.

you would be seeing better results if you switched to a food with a higher protein content, moderate fat and less carbs.

in my opinion the innova regular adult or large breed adult would be the better choice, they are much lower in carb content. the large breed adult also has less fat than the regular adult, which is great.

as far as feeding amounts go, calculate how much the dog should get at ideal weight and substract any snacks from that. if you take 100 pounds as the "ideal weight" calculation basis for a dog with a low activity level, you shouldn't feed more than about 1650 kcal per day, everything included.

with the innova large breed adult, the daily feeding amount (without extras) would be about 4 3/4 cups with 350 kcal per cup.

i've heard from a number of people whose dogs also lost weight comfortably on innova evo, due to the fact it only contains 12% carbs and no grains. the feeding amount would be lower tho, 3 cups a day maximum. this regimen also worked extremely well on one of my own cats who was seriously overweight.

Thanks, I'll switch her food. I may try the evo and she how she does.

Shiva just DROPPED her baby-fat chunkiness when she started on the EVO. She stays ripped like a bodybuilder now.

When I switch her to the evo ( I still have 3/4 of her bag of food left) should I gradually change her to it since the protein content is so high? How gradual of a change should this be. He stomach can be rather sensitive at times. When I do switch to evo, should I give her more meaty bones than she is getting now? What about the vegies? Do I give her more of them, or just keep on doing what I have been doing? Since maggie is approx. 5 years old can I change her over also? That would eliminate buying three different kinds of dog food.

you can definitely switch both to evo if you like.

if roxie has a sensitive stomach, do switch slowly, and keep some canned pumpkin on hand in case you need it. a tablespoon per meal should fix things in case she gets the runs.

if you are using veggies to bulk up the amount of food, you can continue that if she needs it. she might not need it anymore tho, since the evo is higher in fat and protein than the innova senior, which should keep her feeling satiated for longer. the low amount of carbs in the food will also prevent harsh spikes and drops in blood sugar, which will make her feel better. i talked to a natura rep not too long ago and he told me that several owners reported that they were able to manage their dog's diabetes without medications after switching to evo.

raw meaty bones are always a good idea, so if you want, you can increase the amount you feed and give less kibble. recreatinal bones are a good thing for overweight dogs since they have to work on them and have less time to think about other food and feeling hungry.

Some times giving them a raw meaty bone between meals can give them some thing to think about rather than their next meal. I'm just not sure if the marrow would be a bad thing for weight loss?

recreational bones are the better choice for a distraction between meals, they contribute less calories.

you are correct on the marrow tho, it is very fatty and can also lead to diarrhea in dogs who aren't used to eating it. it's best to scoop some out until they get used to it. it's a very nutritious substance tho, so i'd rather cut down on a kibble meal a little more and let them eat the marrow instead of throwing it away.

Which bones would you recommend? She will not eat raw chicken. I have been buying her and Maggie(she won't eat raw chicken either) beef neck bones. Is this ok? Or, would you recommend something better?

beef neck bones are great. they hold up to quite a bit of chewing yet aren't as hard as marrow bones so they don't break teeth.

you can also give beef ribs and pork neck and rib bones if you like.

Thanks, Mordy, one of the stores actually had beef rib bones on sale and I stocked up.
But, how do I calculate the calories? Is it enough to make Roxie gain weight.Should I give her some everyday. I know this sounds wierd, but, I feel little apprehensive about the evo. I know it great food. It's just the change over. The protein content is very high. Most people love it, and I will probably will also, but, right now I feel a little I don't know apprehensive. No other dog food has ever fazed me ,but for some reason this has. Your the expert though so I am going to take your advice. Also, at what age can I put Brutus on the evo? He will be six months on the seventh do I have to wait until the age of two or twelve months, or 18 months? You know ,I think this is the problem, I have been so used to buying 3 different types of dog food. OMG to be able to buy1 or 2 it's a miracle. lol

i know that the evo goes against much of the traditional belief people have in feeding dogs, but they are carnivorous animals that evolved to eat mostly protein and fat, so it's very natural for them.

if you would dehydrate a skinless chicken breast for example and removed all moisture from it, you would end up with material that contains 4.8% fat and 92.4% protein. the difference is that natural meat has a very high moisture content, so it is important to make sure the dog drinks enough to compensate for the missing moisture in the dry food.

if you feel more comfortable with a less nutrient dense food, use the innova large breed adult for your overweight dog (it has a little more protein but a lower fat content) and the regular innova adult for your other dogs. technically you could even use the innova adult for all of them, but until roxie loses a bit more weight, i'd keep the protein up and the fat low rather than going with a medium level food.

i would wait to put a large breed dog on evo until 12 months old, so the major growth phase is over. i do know of some people who started on it at 9 months, but that was their own preference.

if you feed bones that are mainly bone and cartilage, don't be worried about too many calories. if there's a lot of meat and fat, scale the food back slightly. just keep tabs on her weight and adjust as needed.

Thanks Mordy, I am going to go with the evo, but I am going to make the changeover gradual. Maggie will probably have no problem but Roxie(miss sensitive stomach) I will change very slowly. I was reading about green tripe today. Is this really good? How would I adjust for this. There is a hispanic meat market close to home that carries it
Does it add a lot of calories and would it be worth buying for all of the dogs?

green tripe is a great food, it has a perfect calcium-phosphorus ratio and is very nutritious. it stinks to high heaven tho, so be prepared.

make sure that waht your local market sells is green tripe tho, which means it is unbleached and not treated in any way. when tripe is sold for human consumption, it's usually cleaned, scalded and bleached and lacks many of the characteristics of the green tripe, e.g. the small amounts of stomach acid, enzymes and beneficial bacteria.

green (beef) tripe has around 750 kcal per pound. i don't have numbers on lamb and goat tripe, but i'd think they are very similar, just in case it's something you can also get.