Dog Community

Diego is a butterball!

Posted : 8/30/2006 4:44:22 PM

My trainer has informed that Diego need to lose a few if we want to compete in agility! EEK! I just changed his food and the weight just seems to be creeping up on him w/o me even noticing! He's just so fluffy! But, he is plump too...[

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I was feeing him 1/2 cup nutro puppy 2x a day. Now it's Canidae All Stages 1/2 c am and 1/4 c pm. He's still a little pudger! I doing training with him so he get's lot of cheese/live treats as well as homemade dog biscuits. He also get's walked and get's to run with Casey every day. Walked multiple times a day on some days...

He's 9 months today
15 inches at the whithers
21-25 lbs (not sure haven't checked)
Sheltie if you couldn't figure that out! [

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jones

Posted : 8/30/2006 5:25:16 PM

Wow, how overweight is he? That's almost exactly Russell's height and weight which his vet said was "perfect." I guess maybe Shelties are finer-boned but he can't be that fat, can he?

jennie_c_d

Posted : 8/30/2006 5:56:07 PM

They can't be as heavy as a "perfect" pet, to compete in agility. Agility is rough stuff. You want them a little on the thin side, to help preserve their joints.

Maybe you could substitute some of those treats for part of his meal? Like 1/4 cup for breakfast, 1/4 cup for treats (mixed with the liver and cheese treats, so he is getting some good treats), and 1/4 for dinner.

Carol Bobrowsky

Posted : 8/30/2006 6:28:58 PM

Hi
Not sure how heavy he is but at 9 months he is still growing and that is baby fat if fat at all. He will melt out of that as he works and exercises. You are not feeding him alot of food but if the food you are feeding him, Canidae, has alot of carbohydrates ( which it does!) then you are making fat instead of feeding him animal protein which would translate into muscle mass. He should not do heavy agility training until well past a year of age... most agility dogs don't even start rigorous training for competition until they are two years old.
Look into a food with more animal protein and less grain carbs.
Carol

glenmar

Posted : 8/30/2006 6:44:36 PM

Pups, like human babies shouldn't HAVE baby fat. Once formed, those fat cells hang around for life to come back to haunt us.

SheltieGirl

Posted : 8/31/2006 11:30:59 AM

He's not treamendously overweight..but if his ideal weight is 20 lbs and he's 25..then those 5 lbs are a lot on a dog! I can't feel his ribs...I'll have to post a pic of him later (I don't have access at work).

I'll have to get him weighed..there is a scale at PetSmart...I sense I trip to the doggy store this weekend. That always means a doggy toy for him...he likes to take himself shopping...they seem to put those big bins full of dog toys just at their level..I wonder why...[

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He went through an awkward pudgy stage before, but he thinned out. I guess we'll have to cut back and exercise more...

SheltieGirl

Posted : 8/31/2006 10:29:22 PM

here's a pics...he's not so bad!