overweight golden

my health is such that I can play with him and his sister in the yard, but cannot walk very far, so we pay someone to walk him a couple times a week.

Havnt got time for a long post,but i had to comment ont the walk thing.Dogs need to walks every single day,especially so for overweight dogs.Running around in the backyard just doesnt cut it for most canines,mentally or physically [&:].
Can you afford someone to walk both your dogs everyday,preferably someone who can handle them off lead?

What food are you feeding?

What weight should he be at according to your vet?  When you feed him, you need to feed for the weight he SHOULD be at, not the weight he is at.  Also, are you feeding any treats at all?  Also, some dogs require less food than others.  So even if you are feeding the recommended amount, that is obviously too much for him.  My dogs never eat the amount that is recommended on the bag.  3 cups sounds like a lot to me, then again, I have small dogs so it is a lot compared to what they eat.

My neighbor has a huge 5.5 yr old Golden who is down to 108 (was pushing 120 I believe, should be @100 as a guess).  He is a super sweet dog who could spend all his time just laying in the grass, he will walk if he is taken for one (depending on the week that could be 2-5 days out of the week)  but he could care less.  He will play with my nutjob but will just quit on him too.  My dog will keep dangling their tug rope at him until he will finally take it in his mouth and then my dog will drag him around the yard.  Its very funny but highlights the difference in activity levels.
There are times where I wish my Bugsy was as chilled as their Cody!  So I guess I'm saying that like us different dogs have different activity needs.  Bugsy's other best friend is a Golden and she doesn't like to walk much but loves to swim, is there somewhere that you could take him to swim?
As for the food, 3 cups for a dog that big is not much so it may be tough to feed less. May be there is a food that is higher in protein, lower in fat that could help.  Even though he is only 4 some of the senior foods might provide that lower fat with higher protein. Good luck I have really come to love Goldens but I can see that they are very prone to weight gain.

I wish I could send some of my Honey's energy to your neighbor's dog!  But she is a golden mix.  As for my two full goldens, one is 7 1/2, the other will be 12 in 3 weeks.  Old Buck sleeps a lot more than when young, but he went into the woods the other day and caught a possum.  He still gets after squirrels, etc.  KayCee romps and plays with Honey.  Have your neighbors had their dog tested for low thyroid?  The one golden we had that "went lazy' did so because of low thyroid.  he also ballooned up.
 
But for sure the dog needs to get weight off.  KayCee had bad knees and she went up to 85 pounds during knee problems, sugeries, recoveries.  I worked and got her back down to under 70 and she is staying there.  When Buck developed arthriiis in hips and spine i almost pulled 15 pounds off him.  Vet says he is at a good weight---even tho he seems skinny to us.

Cody (very big male) the neighbor's dog has always been chilled out.  He goes to the same vet that we do so if his thyroid were low it would have been detected.  His owners say he was like this as a pup.  He's a huge dog from a good local breeder ([linkhttp://www.goldencreekkennels.com/]http://www.goldencreekkennels.com[/link]/) but I'd say that he is a good 28" or so at the withers and his head is huge.  He can actually sit out on Halloween and watch the kids walk by him to the front door!  One morning I had my insane dog out and a rabbit crossed our path (my dog in frenzy) and scampered about 6-8 inches in front of Cody and he just watched it go by.  He needs to be walked more and I did get her to take him of Nutro.  He isn't even a food crazed dog.  I'm sure that he gains weight because unless he is walked he does nothing - very happily!
Now the female Bella is a much smaller dog - she is just younger than Bugs(my insane creature) at 15 mos or so and at 75lbs she is overweight.  Her 'Mom' is an experienced golden owner so has already reduced food intake etc.  We would try to take her and Bugs for walks but she wanted no part of it - she would walk 2-3 houses and lay down.  bugsy would be nudging her like mad to get going but she wouldn't get up ( they were 5-6mos old at the time).  She will swim though but she still doesn't have the energy of Bugs.  Both Goldens are his regular playmates and super sweet dogs - love them both.
Bugsy my dane+ cross (lab/pointer/hound who knows) is underweight at 95lbs eats like fool and goes all day non-stop.  Everytime we are having company I wish and wish he would be more like Cody..................

Congrats on catching a possum Old Buck!  Good boy!

Are you following the feeding instruction on the food you are feeding?

Follow the feeding instructions for the wieght he should be, not the wieght he is at.

Stay away from Greenies.  I used to work at a pet store.  After talking to thousands of people about your same problem.  I learned that almost all of them had something in common - Greenies.  If  you are feeding Greenies, please notice that the package says 1-2 a week, yes a week, not day.  Also pig ears.  Think about it, there like giant strips of bacon.  This is the reason my Step-mom's dog is so fat.

I have a food reccomendation - Innova Evo Reduced Fat.  It's high protien, low fat.
I've also seen great results with Royal Canin Maxi Light, again high protien, low fat.  Between these 2, Innova Evo Reduced Fat has better ingredients, but it is more difficult to find.

If you are feeding Greenies, please notice that the package says 1-2 a week, yes a week, not day.

While I have no doubt that Greenies can contribute to weight gain, I have my package right here next to me, and it says: "Feed one Greenies* per day." Of course these are Teenie Greenies, so the bigger ones might have different feeding instructions. (Sorry for the OT!)

I have my package right here next to me, and it says: "Feed one Greenies* per day."

I dont have a greenies pack here,but from what i can remember the pack said to feed 1-2 per day.

My own experience was in having to reduce one of my ridgebacks. I found that giving him a high protein, low carb food in small portions was much more effective than giving him regular or light food. At the time I used Wellness Fish and Sweet Potato - it was a lean protein (fish) and a complex carb (sweet potato). My grown ridgeback got 1 cup 2x a day and did not act like he was starving, lost weight and kept his muscle and a fine coat.

Paula

my vet has mentioned to me that he has noticed a strong correlation between really fat dogs and dogs who get greenies regularly. So cut those out, that should help. Greenies really offer no health benefits, it's like giving your dog a candy bar every day.
 
Three cups a day of food for an inactive dog sounds very high. Try cutting it in half and perhaps adding in some steamed vegetables to bulk it up. But the biggest problem here is the lack of exercise. Sorry, two walks a week is not enough-- dogs need daily exercise, preferably moving faster than a human can walk. Can you pay a jogger to take your dog along?  Does the dog fetch? you can stand there and throw the ball twice a day ten minutes a session.
 
As to the thyroid thing, many goldens have hypothyroid problems. Has your vet had a full thyroid panel done? the "basic" most commonly performed thyroid test most vets do is notoriously inaccurate.

I just want to add, that I feed my 47 lb dog 2.5 cups of food a day, and he's *moderately* active - say walks 1-1.5 miles a day and plays in the house, more active on weekends - and we can still see his ribs when he does his *hound sniff* but the vet says he's at a great weight.  So 3 cups for a 108 lb dog might not be so far off. 
 
I guess we need to know *what* food you feed him - if you feed something very high in kcal or something, then maybe cut some out and add fruits and veggies as perviously mentioned. 
 
a bit OT, but  has anyone read this?  [linkhttp://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?g=faa72d90-b0f5-4e67-8cc5-0bc2894d058a&f=49&fg=blog]http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?g=faa72d90-b0f5-4e67-8cc5-0bc2894d058a&f=49&fg=blog[/link]
 
[linkhttp://www.nbc10.com/news/9268133/detail.html]http://www.nbc10.com/news/9268133/detail.html[/link]
 
there's an actual blog about what they are doing, but the link is at work. 

The larger the dog, generally the less food per pound they need to consume. There are many very active large-breed dogs who eat only one cup of regular kibble per day and would turn into porkers on 2 cups. It does depend on the dog-- which is why you should feed according to the dog's body condition, not by the instructions on the bag.
Some dogs also seem to turn carbohydrates into body fat. These dogs tend to lose body fat if fed a low-carbohydrate high protein diet, even if overall calories are not reduced.

Some dogs also seem to turn carbohydrates into body fat. These dogs tend to lose body fat if fed a low-carbohydrate high protein diet, even if overall calories are not reduced.

Sounds like ridgebacks!

Paula

LOL - That sounds like Midas all right! Just a big dufuss who would rather be loved than exercize. Refuses to compete with sister Ally (border collie) when we play ball or frisbee. He does like to be walked though. If I can find someone to do it every day, I will.
We feed Nutro Natural Choice Chicken Oatmeal, because it has no corn or wheat. 3 cups a day is a full 1 1/2 cups less than recommended. Vet said not to cut back further. At Vet's request, I cooked for him - hamburgar and chicken with green beans and just a little kibble. Gave him a tummy ache and diareah. The second thyroid test was more thorough than the first and still showed no problem even though he has the symptoms: coughing, vomiting grass when he's hungry - expecially before breakfast. Rough voice and of course overweight. He should be about 75 lbs.  I've pulled my hair out trying to find the right food for him. Even Sience Diet has corn and wheat. Oh, and he no longer gets any treats. No people food or dog goodies. He won't eat anything lamb and rice. Loves cottage cheese and rice, but that's not enough proteen. Have found some very expensive alternative feed that we just can't afford, but if I could find one that really does the trick, I would do it and just feed the little one something different.
 
Thanks for all the replies. []
 
Linda