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"SOMEONE" looks like they had some treats this winter!

1K views 9 replies 10 participants last post by  MyBentley 
#1 · (Edited)
Oh my..... I bumped into a friend that I had not seen since last baseball season and her comment to my dog was "Ohhh Piper!! It looks like you had lots of treats this winter!!!" :rolleyes:

We have to keep Piper on the lean side due to her mobility issue. She is going for her check up next Friday, so I am curious to see what the vet says.

Piper turned a year old at Christmas time (so she's almost a year and a half) She eats Go Natural! Salmon and Oatmeal and we are super protective about which treats she gets. She can have carrots, green beans, kongs occasionally with blueberries and yogurt. She has some natural dog cookies that are teeny tiny - the size of your fingernail or so.

After searching on this site, I see the recommended cal/lb ration is 10cal for every lb of ideal weight? is that right? So if she needs to be 65lbs, then 650cal daily total?

Piper eats 1c. food twice day. Of course this is lower than what the food bag suggests.

From the website:

Calorie Content: ME (calculated) = 4257 kcal / kg or 466 kcal per 8 oz (250 ml) cup. So I'm setting her up to be really big, it looks like! ACK! So confusing! I thought i was doing good by giving her less than recommended on the bag - we all know how crazy those dog food companies are!

Can anyone suggest a great food to try? Or even if you think I am crazy for entertaining this idea? I have a funny feeling the vet will push me to buy their "Science Diet" from the vet only line. They have tried in the past...you know, because of her "special" situation with her leg.


I am looking for any and all suggestions. I love how Piper is doing on the Go Natural! but I can't let her get chubby! Her breeder suggested that we may need to switch her to a low cal food once she is full grown, so that she can have a decent amount of food to eat. Please don't think we are jumping on the thought of switching her food because of one comment. it's not that at all.

(Background: Piper was born with a rare birth defect. She uses 3 legs to get around with. The breeder + vet both believe she had a twin that absorbed into her, causing her last leg to "double up!" So the leg she does not use to walk with, actually has two legs that grew together.)

Here are some current pictures of Piper from this month.







 
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#3 ·
Just from looking at those pictures, I don't think she is too heavy. Can you feel her ribs but not see them? Does she have a tuck up waist just behind her ribcage?

I would weigh her and see how much she weighs before you worry about it too much. The 10/1 ratio is a good rule of thumb, but every dog is unique, some can eat many more calories and still maintain the right weight, others need to stay on reduced calories.

She is a beautiful girl!
 
#5 ·
I agree that by the pictures, she is not overweight. She is beautiful.

I agree with the post that 2 cups just doesn't seem like much. I's wait to see what th evet says and how much she weighs before changing things up.
 
#7 ·
I think she looks great, not too heavy at all. I am wondering about Jaro. He is 13 months and 61 lbs but very furry. Maybe I can get some good pictures this weekend. The think I know you are suppose to look for is do they have a waist, and Jaro's fur is mostly straight until it gets to the end then it flips up, so where he should have a waist all you can see is this flipped up fur. Guess the vet will tell us at the next visit. He gets 2 cups of food a day, but then there are those training treats and the little things Ian'sgrandpa sneaks him.
 
#8 ·
I agree with everyone else. See what the Vet says about the shape she is in. She is a beautiful girl that has obviously been taken care of well. You are a good Parent.

I also agree with you that a natural diet is better than what some might recommend. You should know that Lite foods are to lose and have fewer kcal 's than 'Weight Management' foods have. WM usually has an ingredient called L-Carnitine.

"L-Carnitine: A naturally occurring Amino Acid which plays a vital role in the metabolism of fat."

It could be as easy as switching from Salmon. Salmon has great Omega-3's that help with Brain function and the coat but also has more fat too. If you switch, take a week to switch slowly.

I would recommend the food I feed to my own guys and girls, Nutro Large Breed Chicken. All natural, guaranteed she'll love it or your money back, guaranteed an improved coat, still a lot of Omega's, and strong antioxidant protection. They also have Herring or Venison or Lamb. I am a Nutrition Specialist for Nutro too if you have any other ingredient questions. To have your Vet check it out or if you want a coupon go to Nutro.com.

Good Luck and again, Piper is beautiful.
 
#9 ·
Personally, I'd prefer to reduce the amount of a good food rather than switch to a weight management food. I'm not sure how big a role volume plays in a dog's feeling full. I think sometimes it's more about how we feel than about how the dog feels.

But, based on the pictures, she looks fine, and she has the kind of coat that makes it very hard to judge on sight. Definitely use the hands-on approach that mylissyk suggests.
 
#10 ·
I'd have to agree with Tippykayak about preferring not to feed a weight management food. With my Bentley, who is now 10 yrs., I've found he easily maintains his best weight on foods with around 30% meat-based protein and 16-19% fat. That means the food has fewer carbohydrates than formulas with lower protein and fat. I had a hard time keeping him at good weight when I fed him Nutro quite a few years ago - which was a lower protein food with lots of carbs.

While I think Petcurean is a good company and have used their Go Natural Grain Free Endurance in the past, the Go Natural Salmon and Oatmeal seems to have close to 50% carbs by looking at the guaranteed analysis. If you really like how Piper does on the food otherwise, you could try feeding 3/4 cup at each meal and replacing the other 1/4 cup with a scrambled egg or a little cooked meat - something that provides extra protein but not extra carbs. Or you could always look at a different kibble - maybe Petcurean's Grain-free Endurance. I think it would be difficult for most large dogs to eat less than 2 cups a day

For what it's worth, I think Piper looks gorgeous!
 
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