Anybody want to see my "baby"...

cpsaddict

New member
:doh: I am trying out my photbucket skills, so here is a picture of Jake. He is 3.5 yrs old and weighs 150lbs.:jaw: Apparently, this is too much for a Lab, so he's on a diet and does not appreciate it! :crying: Oh, and he does not have have a harness for the car because they don't make one big enough! :doh:

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Suzibeck

Active member
He looks so sweet! Yep, that is really big! My vet always goes on and on about how my dog is in such good condition. I think only because I'm too cheap to overfeed her, lol. He says the vast majority of dogs and cats he sees are overweight, so you have a lot of company. My dog thinks we are starving her, but she is a Border Terrier and BTs would literally eat until they explode if you let them. I know this from experience when my then toddler fed her and fed her and fed her:eek: ... it wasn't pretty. Anyway, no matter how much we fed her, she would always think she was on a diet.
 

cpsaddict

New member
He looks so sweet! Yep, that is really big! My vet always goes on and on about how my dog is in such good condition. I think only because I'm too cheap to overfeed her, lol. He says the vast majority of dogs and cats he sees are overweight, so you have a lot of company. My dog thinks we are starving her, but she is a Border Terrier and BTs would literally eat until they explode if you let them. I know this from experience when my then toddler fed her and fed her and fed her:eek: ... it wasn't pretty. Anyway, no matter how much we fed her, she would always think she was on a diet.

That's the thing. I have measured his food from the get go and he has always been on beneful food. However, I think it may have been the treats that got us! :doh: He has lost quite a bit of weight since going to my parents. I live down the road, but he lives with them and the other lab in the pic. That's his litter mate and she is much smaller. Jake was the runt! :eek: Anyway, he was 164 and has lost 14lbs. He is getting his thyroid tested soon, to see if that is keeping him heavy.
 

broken4u05

New member
Wow he is a big dog. My cat is too big and we have to watch his food too. And he hates it. Good luck with loosing weight
 

Suzibeck

Active member
Ahhh! I feed less than the bag states to keep Ellie where she needs to be. It is a trial and error thing, with frequent weigh ins. She is starting to transfer to a new food today so I get to start it all over again. FUN! Ellie loves carrot chunks for treats and frozen peas. Negative calories!

I avoid all Purina foods from my upbringing, my parents bred show dogs when I was a kid. I don't know if they have changed their foods over time, i hope so. Purina food used to swell up in water which can cause tummy troubles in dogs. Also, it had a lot of fillers which means more stooling. I go for less stooling! We had been using Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, but it is too low in fiber which is causing bad side effects for us. The vet told us to try Science Diet Light, a low calorie, high fiber food, today. Much more expensive, but if it helps her smell better I'll pay the extra.
 

TheRealMacGyver

New member
WOW, yep, that's a large lab! My outlaws have one that is constantly on a diet! If you can, I would take him swimming a lot, they are water doggies (I'm sure you know). My vet told me that every time I give my dog a treat it's like giving a child a Snickers bar!
 

cpsaddict

New member
WOW, yep, that's a large lab! My outlaws have one that is constantly on a diet! If you can, I would take him swimming a lot, they are water doggies (I'm sure you know). My vet told me that every time I give my dog a treat it's like giving a child a Snickers bar!

I know the treats are bad, but he gives me "the look". :shrug-shoulders: He has these darn puppy dog eyes.

I have heard that about Purina, but we asked the vet and she said that Beneful is one of the good ones. He is on the weight management variety. I was feeding him food from the vet, but it was $40 for 35lbs! :eek: I do feed him less than the bag says. It says 6c. a day, but I give him 4-4.5c. a day and he does well.

He LOVES swimming. We live on an 800 acre farm and we have two ponds. He manages to find one or the other every single day! :)
 

Morganthe

New member
Great picture. Beautiful dog! But yes, he is very overweight. Sad to say :sorry!: I can see where his fatty deposits are in the photo around the neck just like one of mine did years ago before I really worked on her weight control.
Profile images of overweight and normal.
How to tell

Doggy treats are sneaky in fat & calorie content. My 2 dogs have a couple of biscuits figured into their daily food allowance. I"ve never gone by the actual feeding allowance on pet food. Each time it's almost double what my pets actually need. :(

My westie mix is like that. She is a chow hound! Eat until her middle bursts and then get colitis :thumbsdown: She also used to have a low thyroid that seems to have corrected itself when she hit 11 years old. She hasn't been on meds for years now. But she still has loose skin around her chest & neck area from when she weighed a whopping (for her) 22lbs 12 years ago! I had kids feeding her through the fence at our residence when I wasn't looking. :mad:

Other sources of hidden food:
kids, sympathetic spouse, or neighbor leaving extra food around the house, hand tidbits to a sad eyed dog, or donate their unwanted food doesn't help either :rolleyes: Labs are basically appetite surrounded by dog, so they'll gorge themselves if they have a chance. :(

I could always feel Sam's ribs since the extra weight was around the neck, lower chest & hips. She's now at a much tidy & active weight of 14.5lbs better for her geriatric 13.5 years old self. :happy-wavehello:

Have you figured out how many pounds he needs to lose before he's in a good healthy range again? The more he can lose, the better for his back & hip area which is very much of a concern on the Labs. It takes time to drop that weight off, so there might not be anything wrong with the thyroid. 14lbs is an excellent start!

He is such a sweet looking dog :) Congrats on facing up that he's not at a healthy weight. Many owners are just as blind to that as parents are to poor carseat use :crying: I"ve had close friends who refused to help their dogs' health by changing the human emotional feeding habits. So you're brave AND wonderful for even posting :cool!:

:2thumbsup:
 

Suzibeck

Active member
I know that look well! They can be so pathetic can't they? Maybe when you have him tested something easy to treat will show up that make the whole situation easier. Also, ask the vet about raw veggie treats. I've never asked my vet, maybe I'll remember when I pick her up in a bit. She just had her teeth cleaned today and her anal glands expressed, ICK! This is why we get to try new food.

Wow! 6 cups a day! Yikes! I'm really glad a have a little dog, especially now that we have to go to Science Diet. She eats 2/3 C a day and weighs 13.5 lbs. Note to self: Don't get a big breed, they eat way too much!:ROTFLMAO:
 

cpsaddict

New member
Great picture. Beautiful dog! But yes, he is very overweight. Sad to say :sorry!: I can see where his fatty deposits are in the photo around the neck just like one of mine did years ago before I really worked on her weight control.
Profile images of overweight and normal.
How to tell

Doggy treats are sneaky in fat & calorie content. My 2 dogs have a couple of biscuits figured into their daily food allowance. I"ve never gone by the actual feeding allowance on pet food. Each time it's almost double what my pets actually need. :(

My westie mix is like that. She is a chow hound! Eat until her middle bursts and then get colitis :thumbsdown: She also used to have a low thyroid that seems to have corrected itself when she hit 11 years old. She hasn't been on meds for years now. But she still has loose skin around her chest & neck area from when she weighed a whopping (for her) 22lbs 12 years ago! I had kids feeding her through the fence at our residence when I wasn't looking. :mad:

Other sources of hidden food:
kids, sympathetic spouse, or neighbor leaving extra food around the house, hand tidbits to a sad eyed dog, or donate their unwanted food doesn't help either :rolleyes: Labs are basically appetite surrounded by dog, so they'll gorge themselves if they have a chance. :(

I could always feel Sam's ribs since the extra weight was around the neck, lower chest & hips. She's now at a much tidy & active weight of 14.5lbs better for her geriatric 13.5 years old self. :happy-wavehello:

Have you figured out how many pounds he needs to lose before he's in a good healthy range again? The more he can lose, the better for his back & hip area which is very much of a concern on the Labs. It takes time to drop that weight off, so there might not be anything wrong with the thyroid. 14lbs is an excellent start!

He is such a sweet looking dog :) Congrats on facing up that he's not at a healthy weight. Many owners are just as blind to that as parents are to poor carseat use :crying: I"ve had close friends who refused to help their dogs' health by changing the human emotional feeding habits. So you're brave AND wonderful for even posting :cool!:

:2thumbsup:

The above picture was taken almost a month ago. He is looking really good now. My mom is really strict with him. He gets NO table food. However, my dad, not so much, darn him! He just loves Jake and Jake loves him. :doh: I knew he was big, but a year ago we went to the vet and she was shocked at how big he was. He needs to be around 125. The sire of the litter I got him from was a stocky 130lbs. He was not fat, just big, so the vet said Jake will always be a big dog.
I try not to give him a lot of treats, but my sister has a 16mth old Lab, that is, ummm, very mischeivous and helps himself and others to treats. He broke a shelf 5 feet high and got down the treats.
Jake does love fresh veggie treats. He likes carrots and also apples and the vet said they were fine in moderation

I am not embarassed to post pics of him because I am working hard to get him in good shape. He walks about 3-4 miles a day, plus swimming. Just gotta get Dad to stop "helping". :shrug-shoulders:
 

Splash

New member
Oatmeal!
My Wally is big, but he's a stocky breed (Saint Bernard mix). He's never going to be thin, because it's not in his genes. Splash (Great Dane) on the other hand, is wasting away it seems. She must be in the low 90s now, and has been over 100 only a few days in her life. We feed Splash satin balls every 6 months or so and put about 5 pounds on her, and then give them to her again when she drops to low/below ninety. Wally gets oatmeal. It fills him up, without adding a lot of fat and calories. I do give them cookies, but only a few a week at most.
Before Charlie was born, we cooked for them exclusively. It was easy to manage Splash's weight then because we could put high fat and high calorie stuff in her food. Wally has never been *too* overweight (though he is a bit overweight) but he has always been heavy. He's just a heavy breed. Now though we rely on commercial food with occasional home made supplements and always their Nupro. Since then Splash has been having a harder time keeping weight on. Oh well. If she stays above 85 I'll be happy. And yes, she's a pure bred from champion parents. She's just the smallest Great Dane in the world. I think she has Great Dane dwarfism.

Jake is a sweetie, no doubt!
 

cpsaddict

New member
Oatmeal!
My Wally is big, but he's a stocky breed (Saint Bernard mix). He's never going to be thin, because it's not in his genes. Splash (Great Dane) on the other hand, is wasting away it seems. She must be in the low 90s now, and has been over 100 only a few days in her life. We feed Splash satin balls every 6 months or so and put about 5 pounds on her, and then give them to her again when she drops to low/below ninety. Wally gets oatmeal. It fills him up, without adding a lot of fat and calories. I do give them cookies, but only a few a week at most.
Before Charlie was born, we cooked for them exclusively. It was easy to manage Splash's weight then because we could put high fat and high calorie stuff in her food. Wally has never been *too* overweight (though he is a bit overweight) but he has always been heavy. He's just a heavy breed. Now though we rely on commercial food with occasional home made supplements and always their Nupro. Since then Splash has been having a harder time keeping weight on. Oh well. If she stays above 85 I'll be happy. And yes, she's a pure bred from champion parents. She's just the smallest Great Dane in the world. I think she has Great Dane dwarfism.

Jake is a sweetie, no doubt!

LOL at Great Dane dwarfism. Jake started out a normal size. You should see his paws even now, they are HUGE. He's just a big boy and SO spoiled. He thinks couches were made for him. :doh: I just can't help it, he's my baby and has been since day one. He has never slept in a crate. I let him sleep on my bed when he was a baby and well, he still would be if he wasn't at my mom's. I had him at my place, but he had to stay in a pen all day. At my parents he roams the farm with my sister and the other two labs. We call them "the babies". They are all spoiled rotten. :rolleyes: The other two are Emma and Bear. Bear is the baby and he gets the other two into trouble daily. :)
 

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