My Black Labrador is HUGE... He is a 7 Year Old Male...Uncastrated... He Eats Once a Day... Why is he so Over-Weight??? I Feel Like a Bad Pet Owner...
Have you ever had him checked for hypothyroidism? It is a fairly common problem in dogs and certain breeds including Labs tend to be more prone to developing it. I would start off by checking him for that and if his thyroid is normal - time for a diet. Feeding once a day doesn't matter much if your dog is taking in more daily calories than he is burning. You may need to change brands of food and really cut back on the amount you are giving him. Just like human diets, canine diets work best when you combine healthy food in proper portions to increased daily exercise.
I'm Not Even Sure What Hyper WHat Is... So I Guess he Hasn't Been Checked Then... Hmm...He Has One Tin of Pedegree...With Bowl of Mixture Dog Biscuits... Sure he Does...I Walk Him Every Day... But He's Not the Fetch and Play kind of Dog...
I'm not sure one big meal a day would be doing him any good.. Imagine having your three and a half meals in one sitting.. No amount of walking or running would be able to burn it all off... My girlfriend does it too though.. If anything, our dogs are slightly underfed, but the way they are fed hides this.. As they look good physically..
I Don't Need a B,I to tell me if He is Over-Weight or not... Besides...Last Visit to Vets...She Said He's Over-Weight...
I disagree about etaing once vs. twice a day. My dogs are generally fed once a day and I add a morning feeding if I'm looking to put weight on them. Dogs can be in a good weight on both once or twice a day feedings. It's more about the calorie intake and food quality. Food quality is a BIG one IMO - cheap, grocery store type brands tend to be very "grain heavy" and can really pack on the pounds even if you aren't feeding much. Also the food needs to be measured out with measuring cup so you know exactly how much you are feeding. This is a good article about picking a quality brand of dog food. While I won't agree with everything this woman says she is quite knowledgable about commercial dog foods. I personally prefer a natural raw diet and have had huge success with quick, easy weight loss on dogs switched to raw. However I don't suggest one jumps into raw feeding and I realize many people are unwilling to feed such a diet. So IMO the feeding programs on this page are about as good as it gets with commercial pet food. http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/which_dog_food_do_I_feed.htm
My dog is a chocolate lab she is pretty fat her self. Labs have a tendence to eat and eat till they can't anymore, they can;t help them selfs. (so the vet told us) But if you feed you lab table scraps cut down on that, and doggie treats. Exsize him more. I wish my dog would go for walks but she won;t shes really lazy to the point where it took 20mins to get 1/8 to the bus stop which is just donw the road. She wouldn't budge. hopefully your dog isn;t like mine in that aspect.
Ah Yes...He is Very Greedy When it Comes to Food... Anything is Gobbled up in a Second... As For Walking...One of His Favourite Moments of the Day...Next to Food... Quite Annoying Though...As He is Quite Strong and Yanks me All Over the Place...While he is Sniffing... And Stops Off at Every Corner to Pee... One Step...Pee...Three Steps...Pee...Takes Forever... He Simply Enjoys Sniffing and Peeing...Forgetting that I am Attached to Other End of Lead... I Think...He Could Walk Hours on End...Although he Suffers in the Heat of the Hot Weather...Due to His Black Fur... In Winter...He is in His Element... He most Probably Does Need more Walks Than What I am Able to Offer Him...As Inside...He Just Lies Down...Looking Depressed...
when i take my dog out i try to let her run around in a field (beware ticks though, as my other post in this forum says...) which is good if your dog listens well. .sometimes i have problems with that. also, check on thsoe dog biscuits... if they're for treats only then they probably have alot of calories, but if they're actual dog food for a meal then i don' tsee why eating once a day is bad... i thought that's what was recommended for big dogs.
Unfortunatly...Living in this Town...There is Very Little Green... And the One Park is Riddled With Evil Dogs... My Dog Has Been Attacked Viciously Every Year by Another Dog... It's Probably Me...The Problem...
