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Fat
Hi, I have a female golden retriever.
she is 8 years old, but very active, and a fun and really REALLY good dog! she is very obident. The only problem we have with her is that she is over weight. She loves to play outside, chase tennis balls, frizbies, go on walks and swim! When she goes on walks, she does fine, but when i try to run with her, she gets tired really fast. but when she walks she loves it! I Love my dog a lot, and i read on your page that your dog passed away, and i want to make sure that when my dog does, that she has had the best life, and that we did everything we could to keep her alive as long as she could! and we are afraid that she is going to blow a knee or hurt her hips! because she is about 10LBS over weight. she gets weight control treats and food! and we dont want to switch her food, because when we do she gets sick. so i just want to know if what we are doing, by playing with her and walking and running her is good. also, when it gets warmer, we will take her to my g-maws to swim. but now, just walks and things? i really want her to lose the weight, so she is healthy. so, could you please help?! thank you so much, and i am sorry that it is so long, i just wanted you to have all of the info, so that you can help me!
thank you so much in advance! if you need to know anything else, leave one in my inbox!
Thanks!!
-*Kels*-
P.S.- my dog comes from a large boned family, but she is stuff overweight. Also, i dont know if it makes a difference, but she is a light furred golden retriever. :)
thanks!
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It's so refreshing to hear of someone who takes care of their animals as well as you do. I think it's great that you still play with her and exercise her. All dogs need that. Dogs are supposed to be able to be just as active throughout their entire lives as they were when they were puppies.
Well, maybe not JUST as active, but pretty darn close.
Swimming is an excellant form of exercise, and you should bring her swimming as often as possible. It will be much better on her joints, because she will not have to hold up all of her body weight.
Don't push her too much, so, if she doesn't look like she wants to run as much, then don't make her. But do continue to walk her and play fetch with her as often as possible.
Even though she is large boned, that should not make a difference in getting her weight down. A good way to tell whether she is at a good weight is to feel her sides. You are supposed to be able to feel her ribs with minimal pushing, but they should not be very pronounced. When looking at the side and top, she should also have a pronounced waist that is thinner than her chest.
Since you are already doing good with her exercise, I would guess that you are feeding her too much. Not all dogs have the same matabolism, just like humans, and some dogs tend to gain more weight with less food, than other dogs. That's why the general feeding amounts that are on the bag of dog food are not always correct for every particular dog. I would suggest cutting back a little bit.
At 155 pounds, my Rottweiler was around 15 pounds overweight when I had to find a new home for him (he didn't die, I just said he went away because it's easier than explaining what actually happened) Anyway, he had a diet of Nutro:Natural Weight Maintenance. I only fed him 4 1/2 to 5 cups of it a day, which didn't seem like a lot considering how large he was.
If you could tell me her weight and how much you feed her now, I might be able to help you figure out how much to cut it back by.
If you do decide to cut her food back by a bit, I would suggest feeding it all in smaller meals more often each day. For instance, I fed my dog 2 cups in the morning, and then throughout the day I would give him two more meals, each a little over a cup. If you give her three or more meals a day, it will be better for her.
Also, her coat doesn't make a difference. The breed description is a cream to golden colored coat. The different shades of coat don't matter much.
Good luck, and I hope your puppy lives a long and healthy life.
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