Keeping Heavyweights from getting Wide

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Samantha is 61 lbs and 23" tall. I feel her ribs but I really have to "feel" for them. I do not want her getting fat. She gets 2 cups of large breed puppy Solid Gold Wolf Cub for brunch (doesn't like to eat before 11am) and I cook for her dinner. Chicken, liver, green beans and rice - she gets about 2 cups of that. Is is too much? She does get exercise - ball playing, walks. Any suggestions?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

How old is she now? My foster puppy was 9 mos old, 55 lbs, and still being given puppy food; when I took him to my vet, he said to put him on regular adult kibble and give him 1.5 cups twice a day. I don't know what the amount would be for homemade food. I have read that large breed sporting dogs like labs & goldens should be getting 45-60 min of exercise a day...the walks only count if the dog is moving non-stop at a good pace (like aerobics for humans)...the sniffing & stopping at every tree walks don't count, lol!
Jack is too heavy...the prednisone affects his eating & drinking, and we can't get out to the dog park/woods for him to run in the summer because of his allergies. He is 25-26 inches & weighs 80#, but should be 75. He gets 2 cups of kibble 2x/day. Now that he's off the steroids for the winter, I am hoping i can brave the cold enough to get him running outdoors more often. With labs & lab mixes, it's my understanding that this is a fairly common struggle.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Samantha turned 9 months old Sunday. I am hoping that she grows taller and stays at this weight. I am going to make an appointment with the vet to see what he says about her weight. I am just concerned that they will push the products that they carry and not what is necessarily the best.
Until I joined DK I would have never have even thought of the type of kibble she was eating or cooking for her. My mother can't believe what I do for Samantha but then I remind her of the formula/breast feeding of human babies controversy over the past 2 generations.
I guess I have to change my lazy ways for the health of Samantha.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

We all do, LOL! This was my main hesitation in adopting a "big" dog...was I going to be able to exercise him enough? It's hard on a winter evening to leave your warm house and go out in the cold for a walk. I do it because I love Jack, but I still sometimes long for the days when my smaller dogs could get their exercise by racing through the house. The consolation is falling asleep later with my feet up against Jack's big warm body...can't get THAT from a small dog!

[Rae]

Hi- Your Samantha is beautiful. What a cutie pie. Our Rozee weighed 58 lbs at 9 months and our vet had us take her off the puppy food and go to the adult. She was up to 78 pounds at 18 months and he suggested going to the weight control for six months and see how that went. She is now 2 1/2 years and we're at 73 lbs and hoping within next 3-4 months to get down to 70 lbs. We feed her 1 cup of Innova weight control both morning and early evenings but also add 1/2 cup canned plain pumpkin (NOT the pie filling mix) to each feeding. This makes her feel full without adding any fat and very few calories but with added fiber. We want her to live forever and really need to get and keep the weight down...also concerned about her hips and joints. She gets TONS of exercise thanks to Bella, our 18 month old Goldendoodle that is full of energy and plays non-stop. We know Rozee is just a big girl so we're not even hoping nor wanting her below 70 lbs. Hope this helps.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Thanks for the advice. Do you think at 9 months she is old enough to go on weight controlled kibble? So much information, so confusing as to what the best is. I am taking consideration that my 2 daughters survived their childhood (25 and 27) healthy and wonderful so I guess I made some right decisions.
thaks,
Adrianne

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thank goodness the pediatricians weren't selling food, though- LOL! As parents, it's a lot easier to figure out the diet part of raising kids than dogs...maybe because we eat the stuff ourselves! I agree that the feeding issues are the most confusing part of caring for our dogs these days!

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Update on Samantha's Weight - at least someone in my household seems to be a little thinner. I feel her ribs a little easier today. I assue it is because I took the suggestion from Lynne NJ about which kibble and what to cook for her for dinner. I am not doing all this for her weight - that is an added bonus - but I did it for her life. I changed her from Royal Canine to Solid Gold, Wolf Cub and now to Whole Foods Holistic. She just loves the Whole Foods, not so much the Wolf Cub but will eat anything with her chicken, rice and veggie dinners I make. My family and friends think I am nuts to cook for her but it al lfalls on deaf ears.
So to all the Moms and Dads who put their advice on DK regarding foods to eat and what not to eat a great big THANK YOU from Samantha and I.