Is Lilypig a bit of a porker?

We have noticed that Lily is filling out a bit since we got her in April but when the trainer came yesterday she said she was a bit fat and would halve the quantity that we give her Anyway, we were thinking about what she said and weighed her tonight - she is 14.5 inches high at her shoulder and weighs 15.8 kilos. She was 14 kilos when we got her so she has put on weight - but is this too much weight? She's not as muscley as she used to be. You can't see her ribs as much but you can feel them.

On a good day she eats 390 grams Forthglade (1 pack) - sometimes she doesn't eat that and quite often eats every other day. I have to confess to giving her a 2 egg omlette for breakfast but she has gone off this now. I usually give her a dentstick once a day, sometimes fill her kong with peanut butter, and she has doggie chocolate drops for training. The trainer raw feeds but that's not going to happen.

I do listen to what you say about dried food but we have had some running battles trying to get her to eat that, with or without gravy. She just doesn't eat kibble - or would she eat it if I just persevered for days until she had no choice?

She walks twice a day for an hour at a time and we used to let her off the lead but her recall isn't wonderful so we have stopped it for now.

I have spent more time worrying over Lily than any other dog I have had - my last dog lived until he was 18 and wouldn't eat anything but Chappie.

So the question is what do you feed yours and how often??

Guidelines are just that, guidelines. As long as she is fit, happy and healthy, I prefer a lean dog so ribs should easy to feel (if not seen in some opinions), with muscle definition.

They do benefit from a good diet though Xx

I feed raw, so I can't help too much with the food side of it. It's hard to see from your avatar, but if you could put a pic on here (sideways on will probably be best) we could hazzard a guess, weight-wise.

When you take her out, have you thought about using a long line so that she gets a bit of freedom, but you still have ultimate control?

Rocky is a Staffy cross and he weighs 17.5 Kg at the mo. We are trying to get a little weight off him too, he could do with loosing about a half a kilo. We can easily feel and see his ribs.

He also has two one hour walks per day he is on a long line and his regular lead for both. He is fed 160g of Barking Heads kibble each day with a little cooked, cooled chicken added to this each meal time of which he has 2.

The better the quality of food the less you should need to feed, in theory.

Caryll wrote:I feed raw, so I can't help too much with the food side of it. It's hard to see from your avatar, but if you could put a pic on here (sideways on will probably be best) we could hazzard a guess, weight-wise.

When you take her out, have you thought about using a long line so that she gets a bit of freedom, but you still have ultimate control?

Thanks, I will take a picture of her in a better position - the one in the avatar is a few months old anyway.

I have done the long line walking but funnily enough she tends to stay close to me.

Try doing some recall training while she is on the long line, just try using healthy treats

Have you ever tried clicker training ???

Kathy wrote:Rocky is a Staffy cross and he weighs 17.5 Kg at the mo. We are trying to get a little weight off him too, he could do with loosing about a half a kilo. We can easily feel and see his ribs.

He also has two one hour walks per day he is on a long line and his regular lead for both. He is fed 160g of Barking Heads kibble each day with a little cooked, cooled chicken added to this each meal time of which he has 2.

The better the quality of food the less you should need to feed, in theory.

I haven't tried feeding kibble with chicken - this might be worth trying.

Kathy wrote:Try doing some recall training while she is on the long line, just try using healthy treats

Have you ever tried clicker training ???

Ah, we do clicker training using chocolate drops - naughty I know. I did get some healthy trats done by Fish 4 Dogs but she didn't like them. She would rather have chocolate drops than chopped liver

Mine are raw fed.

U could Up her exercise to 2-3 45min walks per day at least.

Cut out the peanut butter !

Try healthier treats such as carrots, ham, sausage thinly sliced or chicken.....much nicer than peanut butter and choc drops !

Mash some cooked warm carrot and add to her kibble instead of gravy. The sweetness of the carrot should encourage her to eat it.

Ultimately, general rule is, feed the very best u can afford, go for a High meat content food.

Dont forget you are trying to get the weight off , remove the skin and fat before you feed it to her. We just simmer the chicken in water until it's cooked then leave to cool and remove the skin and fat. I just add a little amount to each meal.

I've got a Lilypig porker too! Mine is 27kg so don't worry, she doesn't get loads of treats she is just big boned! ><

Pollyanna wrote:

Kathy wrote:Try doing some recall training while she is on the long line, just try using healthy treats

Have you ever tried clicker training ???

Ah, we do clicker training using chocolate drops - naughty I know. I did get some healthy trats done by Fish 4 Dogs but she didn't like them. She would rather have chocolate drops than chopped liver

We give rocky these little treats when out for walks and training, they are reasonable healthy and should help his joints too:

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product_group.asp?dept_id=795&pg_id=2323

Chiara wrote:I've got a Lilypig porker too! Mine is 27kg so don't worry, she doesn't get loads of treats she is just big boned! ><

Thats my excuse too and my love of alcohol and english breakfasts but nobody want to come for a walk with me

Doesnt sound to bad tbh but you cant really tell with just height. Can you feel any ribs with light pressure? If not you may want to cut back a bit. Domestic dogs have the luxury of a regular meal but they are decended from a feast and famine animal. I like to keep mine lean and marley is 22kg now and i can feel two ribs, hes on 300g (30g less than pack recomends) of dry kibble a day split twice after excersise with sardines added when hes worked.

if you do a search there was a stats thread up last year, you can roughly compare haights and weights to others.

cant remember Lola's height, but she's often mistaken for a pup at 2 1/2, and she's very lean, but still 14.5 kg

Dave wrote:

Chiara wrote:I've got a Lilypig porker too! Mine is 27kg so don't worry, she doesn't get loads of treats she is just big boned! ><

Thats my excuse too and my love of alcohol and english breakfasts but nobody want to come for a walk with me

@Dave

Ledger is quite tall and lean he was 17kg when I got him from rescue and his last rib was visible vet says he was ok (4 on the picture chart on the vet wall) its just in general we are used to seeing overweight dogs but I thought he looked too thin he has filled out (broader across the chest) a bit since then and was bordering 20kg but thats because I've been on a diet so he has had all the fat off my bacon etc I've cut back his kibble a bit to allow for this and he has finally learnt to bring a ball back so is getting alot more dynamic exercise we will see what effect it has when I next go to the vet and weigh him