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Help I need advice. I have been a bad parent to my dog and I have fed her way too much over the years. I need to get her back on track and help her lose weight. She is a pug. What is the recommended amount of dog food? Should I cut her back all at once, which would be like starving her? Or do I cut her back gradually?
I know it's a terrible thing I did to her so I just need help on fixing my mistake even though I knew better.
My pug stays a nice 16 pounds, but it's not without a lot of work.
Figure that at her ideal weight your dog will need 35 calories/pound/day to stay at her ideal weight. Now look at your dog food: see how many calories it has per cup. For ease of calculation, let's say that your dog's ideal weight is 20 pounds. That means she needs 35 x 20, or 700 calories/day.
If your dog food has 350 calories/cup, she'll need two cups per day (with NO treats or any other food) to maintain her 20 pounds.
If you want her to lose weight you need to feed her LESS than what she needs; you want to give her fewer calories than she uses every day. You might want to give her a regular meal in the AM and then in the afternoon, substitute steamed fresh or frozen (NOT CANNED: too much salt) string beans with a big spoon of pumpkin and 2 tablespoons of kibble sprinkled over the top. She can have TONS of string beans - they'll fill her up and dogs seem to love them.
This is how I maintain my pug's 16 pounds. He gets lots of treats, but I take that into account!
In summary: feed less, not less often. Substitute string beans and pumpkin for a meal - they love it and do lose weight!
I have a friend that fosters sick old cocker spaniels. Most have cancer or are blind and almost everyone of them has been over weight. She gets them back to a normal weight by feeding them less dog food and adding veggies so they feel full from the fiber. It has worked everytime for her. Good luck!
WWW- Thanks. I would love to take her on longer walks but it is very steep here. She will be fine on the way down and I will have to carry her up on the way back to the top. This is our first winter not being spent in a campground. So no daily walks. It's killing both of us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cleosmom
The pugs I know, both at work and the owner's and manager's pugs eat 1/3 cup a day of Canidae or Eagle Natural.
Do not drop her back all at once, you need to cut back gradually from what you're feeding now.
Thank you. I think my pug would die at 1/3 cup a day but I will cut her back slowly and go from there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Viralmd
My pug stays a nice 16 pounds, but it's not without a lot of work.
Figure that at her ideal weight your dog will need 35 calories/pound/day to stay at her ideal weight. Now look at your dog food: see how many calories it has per cup. For ease of calculation, let's say that your dog's ideal weight is 20 pounds. That means she needs 35 x 20, or 700 calories/day.
If your dog food has 350 calories/cup, she'll need two cups per day (with NO treats or any other food) to maintain her 20 pounds.
If you want her to lose weight you need to feed her LESS than what she needs; you want to give her fewer calories than she uses every day. You might want to give her a regular meal in the AM and then in the afternoon, substitute steamed fresh or frozen (NOT CANNED: too much salt) string beans with a big spoon of pumpkin and 2 tablespoons of kibble sprinkled over the top. She can have TONS of string beans - they'll fill her up and dogs seem to love them.
This is how I maintain my pug's 16 pounds. He gets lots of treats, but I take that into account!
In summary: feed less, not less often. Substitute string beans and pumpkin for a meal - they love it and do lose weight!
Sounds good thanks. I only have canned beans right now so maybe I'll see about the pumpkin. That I have on hand.
Cripes , Do NOT feed that stuff to Nikki. I will not promote health in anyway because it is all species inappropriate junk
Your little wolfen is a CARNIVORE and should be fed appropriatly on raw meat with a little bone and later add a small amount of organ .................. All raw and un processed.
The franken food aka crap in a bag aka dog food is processed junk .
Nikki is 'fluffy' from trying to digest this stuff that is putting her poor little pancreas under great strain over producing digestive hormones in an attempt to use the food she is being given and a lot of dogs have organ failure because of this.
Carbs result in insulin response which results in fat storage and a myriad of modern diseases
Just as we are sold a bill of goods of how healthy processed foods are for us and look at the majority of people being overweight and fluffy from ingesting all the carbs and junk.
Nikki looks carb fluffy like most people.
Check out this group it is excellent for newbies to get questions answered by long time raw feeders, vets, human medical professionals and vet techs on board.
Mod cut: no links to blogs.
Raw chick breast w bone & skin is and excellent beginners food. Use it for 2 to 4 weeks before slowly adding a new meat protein ( one at a time every couple weeks).
Give her 2 % of her ideal bodyweight everyday inone feeding preferably at night so she can sleep and digest happily all night. THe fluff will gradually go away.... if not adjust the amount down a little.
She will not be huingry but needs to kick the sugar carb habit just as you would so no treats or anymore 'Doom Nuggets' tm@Carrie
Switch all at once. Donate whatever dog food you have to a shelter.
I have fed this way for many years and my dogs never need a vet barring an emergency. Not teeth cleaning either which sadly is expected by vets when the dog is 2 or 3 yrs old BECAUSE OF THE DOG FOOD ! ! !
If you have any questions at all just fire away
sienna and the kitchen wolves and raw fed kitties
Moderator cut: no advertising
The vets actually sell a diet product, Slentrol. You add it to the normal amount of food and the dog gradually eats less. It can take up to 1 yr. This stuff works on their brain somehow. I bought it for my fat Layla right before she had the life-threatening blockage and surgery. I've been too afraid to try it yet but I need to. A little vomiting may be a side effect, which is why I've waited.
Tonight my dogs are getting pork shoulder roast with bone @ 99cents a pound which is cheaper than one of the so called premium ki**les.
Kitty is having a chunk of the pork roast. She was a good girl last night and ate an entire raw drumstick .................. love my little black carnivore kitty :-)
The 19 yo boy kitty gets the same except his chicken leg is smashed with a hammer first ......... due to having lost some jaw strength from his advanced age.
Pastry is not good for any dog and Pugs tend to be overweight.
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a little. 
The 19 yo boy kitty gets the same except his chicken leg is smashed with a hammer first ......... due to having lost some jaw strength from his advanced age.
