[cruelas01]

We have three dogs, two chihuahua mix breeds (Pancheto 2 1/2yrs & Tinker 3yrs) and a poodle mix (Lucky 1 1/2 yrs).

Lucky and Tinker are very active and thin bodied, but Pancheto has gotten lazy and very fat. We recently put all three dogs on Iams Weight Control dry food but it does not seem to be helping Pancheto. We leave dry food out for the dogs during the day because my husband and I both commute and leave the house before 5am and cannot get them to eat that early and we would hate for them to have to wait until we get home at 5pm.

Does anyone have any advise on how to help our one little fatty without depriving the other skinny-minnies from their food?

 

[pawzaddict]

We have three dogs, two chihuahua mix breeds (Pancheto 2 1/2yrs & Tinker 3yrs) and a poodle mix (Lucky 1 1/2 yrs).

Lucky and Tinker are very active and thin bodied, but Pancheto has gotten lazy and very fat. We recently put all three dogs on Iams Weight Control dry food but it does not seem to be helping Pancheto. We leave dry food out for the dogs during the day because my husband and I both commute and leave the house before 5am and cannot get them to eat that early and we would hate for them to have to wait until we get home at 5pm.

Does anyone have any advise on how to help our one little fatty without depriving the other skinny-minnies from their food?

I would personally recommend a diet change, to a grain free food. Iams is full of bad fillers.

You really need to restrict the food, clearly a dog who has access to food all the time will not only eat the amount needed. That is a long time for dogs to be home alone, can you have someone come feed them in the later morning? Like 9am? Then you feed them again at 9pm?

 

[kmes]

The very first thing you should do is to start feeding your dogs individually and on a schedule!
Measure out the correct portions (with a measuring cup) for each and then feed each dog their portion in his or her own bowl.
That way you will know exactly how much food each dog is getting and will be able to adjust the amount accordingly to control their weight.

Also like Pawz said, you may want to consider a different food. If you decide to look at different foods, we can help you find a healthier food within your budget.

 

[Dawnben]

We have three dogs, two chihuahua mix breeds (Pancheto 2 1/2yrs & Tinker 3yrs) and a poodle mix (Lucky 1 1/2 yrs).

Lucky and Tinker are very active and thin bodied, but Pancheto has gotten lazy and very fat. We recently put all three dogs on Iams Weight Control dry food but it does not seem to be helping Pancheto. We leave dry food out for the dogs during the day because my husband and I both commute and leave the house before 5am and cannot get them to eat that early and we would hate for them to have to wait until we get home at 5pm.

Does anyone have any advise on how to help our one little fatty without depriving the other skinny-minnies from their food?

Don't free feed they will learn very quickly that they have to eat when you put the food down. The dog that is over weight probably eats most of it anyway.
I would change food to avoid corn, grains and by-products. Your skinny dogs will become healthier and the chub will loose unwanted pounds. Just make sure you feed the low end of the food recommendation. They wont need as much because blue buffalo is packed with protean.

compare these two foods and see what you think.
Ingredients your food
Corn meal, chicken, ground whole grain sorghum, chicken by-product meal, ground whole grain barley,

Blue buffalo wilderness
Deboned chicken, chicken meal and turkey meal supply the protein your dog needs.
Sweet potatoes and potatoes provide healthy complex carbohydrates.
Blueberries, cranberries and carrots support antioxidant-enrichment.

 

[cruelas01]

Thanks for the advise. I always thought IAMs was the best food, but I will look into other options and start to feed on a schedule. I'll see if they will eat early then again when I get home. Lucky is kenneled during the day (he is the stray that has a bad habit of jumping the fences) so we can leave him with food. Tinker will be the only one deprived with Pancheto and she eats very little anyways.

We will give this a try!

Thanks so much!

 

[Cardigirl]

Actually, Iams is a very low quality food with ingredients that dogs have a hard time digesting, which often result in allergies.

if you google the dog food project, you'll find a listing of all of the manufactured foods available to dogs and how they rate. Iams is like a 1 or 2 out of 6.

What you are seeing with Iams is actually advertising- that is where there money goes. The commercials show healthy looking dogs playing and having a great time. Most of the really good foods don't waste money on advertisment, so that's why you don't see Fromm's or Innova advertised too often if at all.

 

[Dawnben]

Thanks for the advise. I always thought IAMs was the best food, but I will look into other options and start to feed on a schedule. I'll see if they will eat early then again when I get home. Lucky is kenneled during the day (he is the stray that has a bad habit of jumping the fences) so we can leave him with food. Tinker will be the only one deprived with Pancheto and she eats very little anyways.

We will give this a try!

Thanks so much!

You might be surprised when you start to feed real food. I would skip any foods sold in a grocery store or made by Science diet, purina or iams. Just make sure to read labels. Stay away from any food that includes
corn, wheat, soy or sorghum--to much fat used as fillers
Bha/Bht ---causes cancer
No unnamed animal fats--can come from downed cows and road kill
No bone and meat meal that in unnamed--full of lead and unknown substances.
You should look for real meat or meal that is named chicken,lamb,fish
no bone meal because it is full of lead.
Menadione is added as an inexpensive vitamin K supplement in commercial dog foods.
Causes toxic reactions in liver cells
Weakens the immune system
Induces allergic reactions
Causes abnormal break-down of red blood cells
One company selling menadione warns its human buyers that menadione is “toxic to kidneys, lungs, liver, mucous membranes. Repeated or prolonged exposure to the substance can produce target organ damage.”5

 

[cruelas01]

Very scary after reading the last post and investigating on the web. I have decided to try and make my own dog food. I found some great sounding recipes with the general guidelines of 1/3 (or more) protein, 1/3 (or less) starch and 1/3 vegetable. I also learned the raw is better, so will check the organic grocers for what they have. And I learned that not only chocolate is harmful, but also onion, garlic, grapes, raisins and brocolli (and some other stuff I would not think to use anyways).

This will be a fun project for my day off!

I also learned that about the best store bought dog food is Blue Buffalo and I'll look into where to purchase.

So I will try to feed my guys a very early breakfast separately of the home made food (they will eat this for sure even if they are tired because now all they get is dry).

And when I get home from work, I'll set out some Blue Buffaloo for a couple hours before TV time.

Hopefully, Pancheto will loose some weight and the others will not miss their bowl of IAMs!

Thank you for all your good advice and I'll update after a few weeks when I weigh in my fat boy!

 

[Esme]

I think it's great that you are wanting to make your dogs healthy homemade food, but please do as much research as possible. I make my pups food but it's more complicated than it looks, or you will need to get a multi vitamin supplement to make sure they don't have a vitamin deficiency. Also it's better to do 1/2 protein and 1/4 grains, 1/4 veggies and fruit.

 

[Dawnben]

Very scary after reading the last post and investigating on the web. I have decided to try and make my own dog food. I found some great sounding recipes with the general guidelines of 1/3 (or more) protein, 1/3 (or less) starch and 1/3 vegetable. I also learned the raw is better, so will check the organic grocers for what they have. And I learned that not only chocolate is harmful, but also onion, garlic, grapes, raisins and brocolli (and some other stuff I would not think to use anyways).

This will be a fun project for my day off!

Here is some great info for homemade diets and raw
DogAware.com: Homemade Diets for Dogs
This is the supplement I use. If you choose to home cook you should add a supplement daily to make sure they are not missing anything they need.

 

[cruelas01]

I decided to be lazy and went to Petco to check out the options. I found Natural Balance, which comes in a sausage like tube and also dry disk shaped morsels. I decided to try this (it is what a friend feeds her dog). The food in the tube actually looks and smells pretty tastey (I can look forward to that after retirement...)

I use 1/2 a daily serving of the sausage and chopping it finely and mixing it with 1/2 a serving of the dry. I feed 1/2 the total daily in the morning before I leave work (5am) or on days someone is home they eat a little later. Then again in the early evening (around 6pm).

They love the food and gobble it down quickly. I can't tell yet if fatty is loosing weight, but one week is probably too soon to notice a change.

 

[Dawnben]

take a measuring tape and measure around the body right in front of the back legs.
I did that when I was trying to keep track of my dogs weight loss. It is hard to tell by looking at them when you are with them every day. You want to see a nice indention at the waist and be able to feel the ribs at the skin level.

 

[cruelas01]

Thanks! That is good advise. I am concerned with Pancheto because we had another Chi in the past that my husband spoiled to obesity. We need to curb this little guy now when he is young! I'll get out the tape tonight and start to keep track. ~ Candy