Ellie needs to diet

Today i took Ellie to the vets,she has had loose poos for 2days and this morning she was passing mucous in her poo .The vet weighed her and said she needs to loose 3kg, i was shocked she will be 2 in march and she walks upto 4miles a day.She is fed wainwrights and has 2 meals aday and maybe a few treats. When weighed she was 20kg. Has anyone else been told to put there dog on a diet.

Has he said this because she is above the recommended weight for breed standard or because she is genuinely overweight? Can you post some pics of her preferably from the top and from the side

As Jo says can you post some pics please, cassie is 15.4kg but she is only 14" tall, it all depends and height weight ratio

I doubt she needs to lose weight if she walks 4 miles per day and is fed kibble. It's like Humans when you go to the Doctors. My 'ideal' weight is supposed to be 13 stone. I'd look dead if I weighed 13 stone! Take it with a pinch of salt...

The vet looked at the recommended breed chart, Ellie is always on the go,playing with our other dog, i do admit she is a little bit big but not 3kg,il take some new pics tomorrow and post them. She is just over 16 inches tall,her mother is about the same build as her and she has been spayed.

some staffies are broad and chunky and some are slight like cassie, look forward to seeing the pics

Yep. Just the other day. Coco has had a bit of a sore knee and literally shut down for 2 days. Vet suggested she lose 1.5kg as she weighs 18.4kg. She's 17" tall and 10 months old.
Thankfully she's all better with her knee now, but to be safe she's not getting any extra exercise other than what she does around the property. Just walking around and exploring. And we keep her inside for quite a bit of the day.
I have begun giving her a little less food. She now gets 3/4 cup hills science for brekkie, and 4 or5 chicken necks for dinner. And sometimes she'll get sardines in place of chicken, or I'll give her some chicken pet mince cooked up with vegies. Plus she gets a few treats (small ones) when doing 'manner' training.

rule of thumb is to ensure that your girl has a good waste line and you can see her last rib easy with the eye and be able to feel the others by touch.



As already mentioned dogs are all different and not all follow he standard of the "perfect / desired" weight

My boy stands at 16.5 inches and is 19.5kg and not over weight by any stretch



As you will see from these pics he is not what is considered to be a "fine" dog quite the opposite

off topic, Indi is looking gorgeous as ever maistaff

Indi looks fantastic, in really good shape!

Hi,here is 2 pics of Ellie,not very good i will take some better pics at the lake tomorrow.

I haven't had this said to me - but altohugh I feel our boys look good I always fear the vet may say this - don't know why I think that way but I do lol

Maistaff - great pics - they are in good shape

Hi Parrotboy - it is difficult to say by these pics - but if you would like me to be honest - I dont think Ellie is overweight - I would say she just needs a slight tuck adjustment around the tummy but nothing major

I hope that hasn't upset you - but maybe the other pics you are going to post will give a better idea xx

I am surpirsed that brush is still there - mine would have ran round the garden and de-thistled it by now lol

Harley will be about a 7 on that chart!!

Looking at the chart i'd say my dogs were all a 5

Parretboy is your girl spayed ? Only i have found it very hard to keep Charlie trim and sometimes she still looks tubby. It drives me crazy.

That said i do agree with your vet and yes your girl could loose a few pounds. Sorry

Thanks for all the replies,looking at her today,i do agree she does need to loose a bit,we today went and bought the wainwrights lite,it is 25% less fat we will gradually change her to this from the wainwrights we feed her.She is spayed,we had her done at 5months.

PARROTBOY wrote:Thanks for all the replies,looking at her today,i do agree she does need to loose a bit,we today went and bought the wainwrights lite,it is 25% less fat we will gradually change her to this from the wainwrights we feed her.She is spayed,we had her done at 5months.

i have found having a speyed bitch and keeping her trim really hard. Everyday its a struggle. I cycle with her instead of walking on some days that way i can go further in the same time at a better pace where she burns fat. I also watch everything i give her.

I have noticed though since putting her on a more meat based diet she has become less bloated and more full of energy and wanting to plat more with the boys. She always had energy but she just appears to be acting more puppish now !

Good luck

Since his stroke Diesel would be a 7 too!!

Really frustrating building his exercise back up and cutting his food back and not seeing results quick enough.

she gets loads of exercise,upto 4 miles a day,we have a huge lake which is about 2 miles around the parkland and fields nearby.We dont give many treats but the parrots do call her to their cages and throw fruit and veg to her, sometimes its so funny to hear them calling Ellie. Maistaff do you think 3kg is too much for her to loose,i do want whats best for her she is my little girl.

In my honest opinion i would would put numbers out your head and try not to aim for an amount of weight loss but to do it with your eye. I feel so many people get caught up in numbers.

I would just reduce your girls food intake and up the exercise. This may sound mad to you as i know you walk her 4 miles already but like us dogs become used to what they do and the body is no longer challenged by the work load they are given therefore becomming the norm. try and vary her work load

e.g Boomer Ball or nose ball is a great source of exercise that can be done in the garden or field (thats the huge white ball my boy has in the photo up the thread - he will run himself dead playing with this if i don't take it from him . he just loves his ball!!)

Also a throwing a ball or frisbee

Walking is a great source of exercise but try upping the anti by cycling with her. It just makes her work harder.

These are just a few ideas but really the more variety you give teh better she will become as the body will not become to used to any one exercise.

I hope this helps

Julie

Would just like to add that as your lass get's fitter increase the food amount as she will need it in due time

Thankyou for the ideas,she does like her ball on a rope to play with when out,i think i will get myself a bike,its been a longtime since i cycled.

Some better pics of Ellie taken today. . . .

She is a bit portly and could lose a small amount to get her more streamlined, if its any consolation to you Lola is also hard to keep at a good weight, she seems to put it on for no reason despite lots of exercise and a decent quality food, she weighs about 22/23 kg and gets fed the amount for an 18kg dog and still we find it hard to get and keep it off. I have found it easier since she's been on the Pero SBT but thats does say it has fat burning properties, I'm thinking of having it for dinner

Well its the 2nd day of Ellie's reduction in the amount of food given to her ,i really thought she would be a bit grumpy but shes been fine, looking at the pics i can now see she is a little porky and does need toning up .