SHANA NEEDS A DIET?

[pluto'slanie]

Any suggestions? Since she came to live with me in December (weighing 9 pounds), she has gained 3.8 pounds and now weighs 12.8 - much too much for her. I'd like her to be no more than 10 pounds. I don't think I'm overfeeding her - she gets 1/2 cup of kibble and 3 oz of wet food + 8 tiny tiny cookies as treats. She turns her nose up at stringbeans <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm36.gif" border=0> and walks away from carrots. If I don't stand guard she'll eat Pluto's food and anything else she can. We walk 40 min. in the morning and 10 to 15 in the evening. I have no place to let her run loose.

Two people asked me if she was pregnant. How embarrassing! http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/emb.gif


<FONT COLOR="#00FFFF" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by pluto'slanie on April 23, 2001 at 12:43 PM</font>

[dutchman]

Hi Laine,

If she is continuing to put on weigh with her current food intake then it is too much for her. Different dogs have different metabolisms and thus even two dogs the same size and on the same activity level may require different amounts of food. The brands of food can also make a difference.

In my Case I have a rather trim 18 month old standard who weighs in at 18.5# and a 2-3 yr old tweenie who is slightly overweight at 13#. They get the same brand food but Tanner the 13# dog gets about 3 oz. cut back from 1/4 cup twice a day and Frank gets between 2/3 and 3/4 cup twice a day. So you see I feed on third the food for a dog who should be about two thirds the weight of the other.

Start by cutting back on kibble. Remove the canned (I assume this what you mean by wet) food. What is a teenie cookie? my boys treats on a typical day are 1-2 Pupperonis or Doggie Jerky strips with Tanner getting half that amount.

You need to cut back food and possibly increase activity level till you find a point where she starts to loose weight. Once you reach the desired weight you need to experiment and find the happy point where her food intake will keep body weight stable.


Please don't give up or give in to too much begging. Overweigh is hard on both dachshunds backs and hearts.

Good luck,

Tom and the boys

<FONT COLOR="#00FFFF" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by dutchman on April 23, 2001 at 04:53 PM</font>

[Mark]

Hi Lanie,

Both our girls are 10 pounds. We feed them 1 small (not tiny, tiny) treat, 1/6 cup kibble and 2 1/2 oz. canned food per day. They can have a rawhide chewy and several baby carrots daily also. That's it!

Naturally like all Dachsies . . . they always want more, but we do not give in when their health is at stake.

Good luck and let us know how the battle goes,
Mark

[Mandy]

She turns her nose up at green beans? That's the diet that Hen is on.....I replace part of his low-cal kibble with green beans...i.e. if he gets 1/2 cup green beans than he gets 1/2 cup less kibble. He LOVES it....I mix the green beans and kibble together and he thinks it is the greatest thing...Jake gets green beans on top of his kibble (not much - just enough so that he doesn't feel left out). Jake is my energizer bunny and runs everything off.. ..Henry is the epitomy of the couch potatoe!

We watch them as they eat too..so that no one eats out of the wrong bowl...

[pkmiddler]

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<FONT COLOR="#00FFFF" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by pkmiddler on April 23, 2001 at 10:42 PM</font>

[pkmiddler]

My Standards who weight between 21 and 28 pounds get less food than most of you all feed your Mini's.My 10 year old 28 pound male who weights the same now as he did when he was being shown to finish his Ch. gets1/2 cup of kibble 2 times a day and my ruff and tuff runner she never stops going weights 22 pounds and we work to keep her at the right weight she gets 3/4 of a cup 2 times a day.Now my guys get goodies in their food also(leftovers)they LOVE mashed potatoes.So when you Mini owners say you feed so much food and have FAT dogs I think I know why.High protien and Carbs are one reason besides the amount a Doxie that lays around does not need alot of them.

[dutchman]

I made a few typo's earlier if you go back you will see I've corrected my message. I had put in periods where there should have been a /. Quate a difference 1.4 vs 1/4, 2.3 vs 2/3 etc.

Tom

[Susan63]

Lanie, has Shana's thyroid been checked? It could be low. I would also reduce the cookies to maybe 2. What kind of cookies are they?

I need to start adding green beans again with Freddie's kibble, as he needs to reduce. Fortunately Freddie LOVES green beans.http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/smile.gif

But seriously, I'd think about her thyroid, since she's a senior now. Her and Pluto sure are opposites!<IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm28.gif" border=0>

~Susan~

[Wienergal]

So little Shayna is a food monster, eh? http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/lol.gif What a surprise!

Lanie, is the kibble senior diet? My big boy Farfie had weight problems for a long time. As most of you know by now, he ate just what Peaches did, but he weighed in at 29-30 pounds, while she held at 22-23. Now that he has been on Innova Senior kibble (1/3 cup AM, 1/3 cup PM) with some Solid Gold food--about two tablespoons--in the PM meal, he is in GREAT shape--27 pounds and gorgeous! He has never looked better! I think the senior formula and the premium food really has made a huge difference. They both get low-cal biscuits as treats, along with carrots, apples, and Peaches's beloved watermelon.

Listen, a couple of years ago, someone once asked me if FARFIE was pregnant!!!! You think YOU were embarrassed??????? http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/emb.gif

[pluto'slanie]

Thanks everyone for the tips. Last night I tried 1/3 c. senior canned food, 1/3 c. greens beans, 1/3 c. kibble (not senior, but I'll switch). She ate it - surprise! I guess green beans alone are not her thing. Needless to say Pluto had to have some too. Funny though, she doesn't look any thinner today. http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/lol.gif

Wienergal, Farfie being taken as pregnant is really embarrasing.

------------------
Lanie, Pluto and Shana, AKA the little sister

[Roxane]

Hi Lanie:
I was surprised when you first posted saying Shana didn't like the green beans. Glad to hear that when mixed with her food she decided they weren't so bad after all. http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/smile.gif

My girls only get the beans as a substitute for some kibble in their evening meal.

This is under the heading What We Won't Do for our Dachsies; I heat the beans just to take the refrigerator chill off before mixing with their kibble. Ah...

For treats, I have cut commercial dog cookies out of their lives completely. Instead I buy the no salt added/no fat rice cakes. Break them into pieces and store in their cookie jar.

At first they ate them without much gusto. Two days later you would have imagined they were munching on prime rib! http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/lol.gif
Roxane and crew



<FONT COLOR="#00FFFF" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by Roxane on April 24, 2001 at 04:11 PM</font>

[Krista]

Wow this just goes to show me how different each dog is...

My Rudy weighs about 10 1/2 pounds and he eats 1/2 cup of kibble twice a day. He is very lean and stays that way (almost to the point of being too lean).

Roscoe weighs about 15 pounds I think and he has been eating the same amount, He's got more flesh over his ribs than Rudy though. He's not overweight by any means, but I might have to keep a more watchful eye on him to make sure he stays that way.

I give one old mother hubbard mini bone treat on most evenings as a bedtime snack (rudy has a really acidic tummy and needs to eat a bit before bed to prevent upset stomach). They also get some baby carrots and other bites of fruits and veggies here and there.

Just like people, every dog's body is different. If I ate all that my 90 pound best friend does, I'd weigh 250 pounds http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/wink.gif!