Chunky Stew!!!

[Jess & Stewart]

Stew just had a vet checkup, he's in perfect health except he's overweight! He weighed 29.5 lbs and the vet said he should be 27, but he could even go to 25-26 because its better to be slightly under. 

Stew has never been fed the amount of food for a 30 lb dog, he only eats the Blue Buffalo amount for a 15 lb dog, 1 1/4 cups, no toppers. The vet wants me to decrease Stew to 1 cup daily and substitute the treats to small pieces of green beans.

I think I've been overdoing it with treats, Zuke's minis, small bits of cheese and usually a large spoonful of PB smooshed in a KONG when we go somewhere for more than 2 hours. My dad used to feed him pieces of his dinner as treats too which I hated, pieces of pizza crust, pepperoni, cheese etc. But that has stopped. Since he's bad at drop it & come, we play A LOT of fetch which involves lots of small Zuke's & bits of cheese. 

He said to start with 1/2 cup of green beans throughout the day as treats & to try to increase exercise. More exercise will be hard because in the city, Stew doesn't get to run around my Dad's yard. I may need to start making a daily trip to the large dog park (20 blocks from my apt) until I go back to work since I have the time. 

Any other advice? I've read the discussion about green beans in the FG. I guess Stew's nickname will be Chunky Stew for awhile, until he gets back down to "Lean Meat Stew" LOL! He doesn't appreciate the nicknames but they crack me up!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I limit my food advice to The Food Group, but I will tell you that there is almost no food on Earth that is more calorie dense than peanut butter, nor one that is higher in fat. 

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I'll stay out of the food advice, but will say, a good game of fetch a few times a day works wonders. 

Get a Chuck It ball launcher and let him run. It is amazing how well that helps

[Jess & Stewart]

That's what I've been doing the entire month we'd been staying in NJ. I used to take Stew to an empty grass lot in a business parking lot near my apt with a long line but the security guard told me once they didn't want me in there. There's a park close to me but Stew willl never focus on me enough to fetch a ball. 

The trouble with just letting him run is that he'll focus on fetch for 10 minutes then start walking around sniffing everything, pick up a stick, lay down and start to chew it, walk around playing with leaves etc.and not engage with me unless I get him by the collar and really make fetch interesting. Maybe I don't use good enough treats but he doesn't just run around to run around. He never gets the crazy zooms anymore either :/

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Charlie and Beau love to play ball, but after 5 to 10 minutes max running full bore, they are getting tired.  We have a 1/2 acre lot and the ball is through almost the full length of the long side yard and it is exhausting.  We then take a break and play "find it", or hide n seek!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Jess, 5 minutes at a time is plenty!   

[Jess & Stewart]

If you read my reply at the bottom of how to handle engage Stew, I'm wondering if I should keep play/fetch session short, like 5 minutes a bunch of times a day, so he stays engaged?

There are times where he's really engaged after 10/15 ball throws, maybe after a bunch, when he brings the ball/toy back, I should treat/praise then end the interaction?

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

While in the city, can you take him for a 30 minute walk everyday.  Most people and doodles feel better with a 30 minute walk. It is also stimulates mentally.

[Jess & Stewart]

Yes, I typically take him out for about 2 hours each day, a long walk in the morning and a long walk later in the day. He hasn't gotten many structured walks this month because I let him run off leash. We have a two story here and Stew loves to run up/down the steps too. 

Maybe he is more high energy than I originally thought!

[Rica + Margot]

You could also use kibble along with green beans as a treat/reward. She's also liking play and praise too.

We measure the amount of kibble for the day and use it for both meals and treats. She gets some high reward treats (but we split these too - even the mini ones!) for class and when we're out somewhere stimulating. But in general, we found she responds well to kibble and her poo is much better too! There was one point she hit a growth spurt and she seemed crazy hungry (she was thinner and wasn't focusing on lessons like she did before) so we increased her kibble by 1/4 cup. She got out of that spurt and we noticed she got a bit chubby, so we cut down her kibble back down. It never got bad so after a week she was back to her lean self. Just check on their leanness every now and then since it can change due to inactivity/activity, temperature, age, etc, and do slight adjustments if needed.

If you don't mind running around in your apartment, we really enjoy the tail teaser, when she can't go out for a walk (too cold, or she won't if it's raining(!)). 

http://www.amazon.com/Kyjen-PP02290-Exercise-Training-Replacement/d...

Margot sometimes get tired of playing fetch with certain toys. Maybe you just need to rotate the toys you're tossing?

[Jess & Stewart]

I think he gets tired of me. I just can't get him to engage with me. When he does, he gets a toy, he guards it. That's why I give him a small treat every time he lets me take something from him. Praise does nothing for him. 

Just now I decided to let him run around before it got too dark. I forgot treats. Big mistake. He wouldn't come to me. I spent 10 minutes trying to get him near me then get the harness on him. He'd come close, when I'd try to get him, he'd growl and run away or pick up a ball again then run around guarding it. He got the zoomies and ran full speed around in circles, every few seconds running at me, jumping up, growling, trying to nip me. I just stood still until it was over. 

Then after more evading, I finally got him leashed. 

If I do what Doggy Dan suggests and engage him on my terms, I'd ignore him all day because he doesn't come. That's why I feel like I need training or classes because I must be doing something wrong. He is affectionate, snuggles next to me & does commands but is frustrating.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

 I think Stewart need a little ignoring like Doggy Dan suggests and until you do so, things are not going to change. You might want to keep Stewart on a longe line (20 - 30 foot long leash) when you take him out, rather than letting him run free. This is so he must come when you call.  Call him (only ONCE), then gently pull the leash in towards YOU which pulls him in with it.  When He gets to you, use tons of praise. Dogs do love praise, but I think that you haven't transitioned well from treats to praise. It sounds like you have developed a treat-for-everything relationship, and "Chunky Stew" is way too smart to voluntarily change the way he has trained you. :-} Hey I work for money, chocolate or diamonds much better than a simple 'atta girl' if I can get away with it!  Honestly, if he doesn't return when you try to play fetch by now without a getting a treat, I would forget fetch. Some dogs just don't develop a fondness for it.  Until you can get to a trainer, I would continue to trade treats for inappropriate items Stewart grabs, if the item isn't inappropriate, then let him have it. Let him play independently. He may be an independent little guy. One of my doodles certainly is.

[BG and Gavin]

Not speaking to your dog (not using your voice) is a very powerful and appropriate strategy in my opinion. We did it for two whole weeks when we entered a training program combined with an hour a day of umbilical work. Even as recently as two weeks ago, Gavin blew me off when I called him and he instead wanted to visit another dog. We did not use our voices with him for two days. His level of attentiveness to me has soared since. By the way this training philosophy is no treats. Do an experiment for a week. No treats. Use your body to show him what you want. Do not call him, just go and get him when you want him. Tether him to you twice a day for a half hour each and go about your regular business. Tether him to you for walks too and use your body instead of holding to leash. You can still give affection just no words. It is hard but try it. I bet you will see rapid results.