<p>OK, actually he’s clueless. But I’m discouraged on his behalf.</p>
<p>In June 2009, we took our new 18mo stray to the vet. Chuy weighted 67 pounds, and the doc said he should lose a little weight. Over the next year, we cut back on his food. When we went back to the vet in June 2010, he had gained three pounds! So he and I began a walking regimen. That dog has been walked EVERY day in the two months since that appointment, and I took him in today to the vet just to see how much he’d lost and :eek: he’d gained four more pounds! He’s now at 74 pounds!</p>
<p>That just doesn’t seem credible. We don’t walk really far – about 1.5 miles a day – but still, it’s exercise he wasn’t getting in the previous year. And, really, he does look smaller. Is this like when people start exercising and gain muscle weight? Isn’t four pounds of muscle a lot on a 70-pound dog in two months? That doesn’t seem credible either.</p>
<p>Any other ideas for how to get this dog svelte? Or at least whether this is normal?</p>
<p>We feed him cheap, store-brand dog food. Can’t afford the expensive stuff. But if we’re feeding him less of the cheap (or any) stuff seems like he should still lose weight.</p>
<p>No water nearby. When it cools off, I do plan on stepping up the length of the walks. Ds2 goes back to school in a couple of weeks so the dog and I will be up and out early.</p>
<p>It’s obvious what’s going on here. Your vet is just lying to you to increase his/her usefulness.</p>
<p>Seriously, though, I have personal experience that it is difficult to manage or predict the weights of pets (dogs or cats). I would think, though, that if your dog was a stray, he’d gain weight at first, as he’s likely eating more than when he was a stray. If, in fact, that last four pounds were muscle weight (sounds possible), then that won’t have a particularly negative impact on the dog’s health. Does the vet have any ideas as to why your dog continues to gain weight?</p>
<p>My dog one day came tearing up the hill with something in his mouth. He went over to a spot and started munching on it. It turns out it was a hot dog a neighbor gave him. Once he wolfed it down he went tearing back down there to see if he could get another one.</p>
<p>I also have a neighbor who I found out gives him a doggie bone every day. This neighbor is retired, had a dog years ago and misses him but doesn’t want to get another, so he enjoys giving the treat to our dog. I’m glad he’s able to get some enjoyment out of our dog.</p>
<p>I have a lot of avocado and other fruit trees. My dog LOVES to eat avocados and to some extent other fruit. If I’m not diligent on picking up any downed avocados he can eat enough to definitely put on weight. A little avocado is great for you (and everyone should buy them - preferably California avocados) but too many adds too many calories.</p>
<p>With humans at least, cheap food has more calories than expensive food. Does he have unlimited supply in the bowl, or a measured out amount, once a day? Also, could he be bored? And COULD he be roaming around unmonitored such that neighbors could feed him?</p>
<p>My SIL’s dog had this problem. He has congestive heart failure. They walked and walked him and still he gained weight. She finally tried diet dog food and that’s what did it. She only feeds him once a day and tries not have people feed him.</p>
<p>Just like people, you have to exercise more and eat less. Maybe like people they get used to the amount of exercise and you have to ramp that up also.</p>
<p>Just a tip: Costco’s brand of pet food (Kirklands) is a high quality kibble that’s better AND cheaper than “grocery store” brands. First ingredient is real meat, etc.</p>
<p>But pay careful attention to the feeding directions, your dog won’t need nearly as much food as he would on the crappy grocery store brands that use a lot of grain “fillers.”</p>
<p>Diet dog food isn’t the best. You could cut his food back and and canned green beans to his diet; the beans will make him feel fuller. Usually the dog food packages will suggest more food than your dog needs. You have to take into consideration his age and weight and then cut back from there. If you are feeding treats during the day, you need to also feed less food to cover the calories the dog is getting from the treats.</p>
<p>If you vet is concerned about the weight, did he/she tell you how many calories your dog should have in a day? While the higher end dog foods are more expensive, you feed a good bit less at a time, so it turns out not to be much more. A food with less crap in it might be better for your dog, although I don’t know what you are feeding him.</p>
<p>No, he doesn’t run around the neighborhood, but the BBQing neighbor is right next door so I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t drop a rib bone or two over the fence regularly. I know I give his dog food sometimes (he’s cute and little and does fun tricks like play dead! :o )</p>
<p>I didn’t talk to the vet as we didn’t have an appt. I just walk in and they let me use the scale that’s right in the front to weigh him.</p>
<p>Dh thinks he’s still growing. Could that be true at 2.5 years? And, btw, we’re guessing on his age based on his teeth. Dh is convinced that if you look at his haunches they are smaller. I think so, tool. But it could be a mother’s love.</p>
<p>Naturally, any idea whether Sam’s dog food is as good as Costco? We belong to Sam’s.</p>
<p>I’ll start pricing better food and see if it’s something we can swing. With ds1 heading to college in the fall, I need something to fill my time. ;)</p>
<p>I don’t know about Sam’s dog food, but Kirkland dog food is manufactured by Diamond.</p>
<p>Maybe the food you’re currently feeding your dog has a high calorie count? Different brands of dog food–and even different varieties of a particular brand–often have huge variations in number of calories per cup.</p>
<p>Here’s a PDF containing calorie counts of many popular dog foods. Hope it helps:</p>
<p>mapesy, thanks for that link. Interesting how high the calorie counts of some of these foods are. </p>
<p>Our food isn’t on the list, but I did look at the recommended amounts listed on the bag. For a large dog, 51-100 pounds, it recommends 3.25 to 5.5 cups a day. I would say we feed him about 3.5 cups a day. We do two cups in the morning after our walk, and he usually wolfs that down. At night, we give him another 1.5 cups, and he’ll eat it but not hungrily. Maybe we should go to one morning meal and cut it to about 3 cups?</p>
<p>I have two big dogs–55 and 80 pounds. The smaller dog is much more active than the larger dog, and I feed them each about 2-3/4 cups of dry dog food per day (half in the morning, half in the evening) plus a few small dog biscuits. I also walk them 3-5 miles every day. Both dogs are in the middle of their normal weight ranges.</p>
<p>I’ve been feeding them Diamond Naturals Lamb and Rice. It’s not the best dog food out there, but it’s higher quality than many brands and the price is right. It also has a lower calorie count than many other dry dog foods.</p>
<p>We have two 45 pound herding dogs and we feed them one cup of food in the morning and one at night. If your dog is less than twice the size of ours and normally active, maybe 5 cups of food a day is too much. Also dog biscuits can add up quickly [Calorie</a> Content of Foods People Use as ‘Treats’ for Their Dogs](<a href=“Ask A Vet Online 24/7 - PetCoach”>Ask A Vet Online 24/7 - PetCoach) .</p>
<p>I second cutting back on his food and supplementing with veggies. I give my dog about 1/2 cup of microwaved frozen green beans or chopped broccoli (after reading this [Preventing</a> Cancer in Dogs - Well Blog - NYTimes.com](<a href=“Preventing Cancer in Dogs - The New York Times”>Preventing Cancer in Dogs - The New York Times)) once a day and absolutely no table scraps. My breed is prone to weight gain and my last dog suffered with arthritis so I am doing everything I can to keep my boy lean (including 3 to 4 miles of walking a day, and the dog park as often as possible). (He is a little under 50 lbs and gets 1 c. of Royal Canin chow twice a day.</p>