| Calorie counting for dogs [message #742781] |
Tue, 13 March 2012 15:17  |
 ~Janice
Messages: 8244
Registered: April 2005 |
Senior Member |
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How many calories should a small (Chihuahua) have per day? Our pup is full grown but fat and seems to gain with not much food (sort of like me  - the gaining weight part not the dog part).
[Updated on: Tue, 13 March 2012 15:18]
TAKE TIME FOR FRIENDS!
Janice T. ~ CHF member since 09/97 ~
Mom to four - ds 26, dd 24, dd 22 and ds 19 - and wife to my sweet husband Richard.
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| Re: Calorie counting for dogs [message #742806 is a reply to message #742781 ] |
Tue, 13 March 2012 19:18  |
PamE
Messages: 3296
Registered: April 2005
Location: AZ (but it's a DRY heat!) |
Senior Member |
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The bag (or can) of dog food should have guidelines on it, but you might want to talk to the vet and see if it should be more/less than what is recommended. She could just be an easy keeper, lol!
'We can underline our Bibles till our pens run dry without a drop of ink splattering our lives. The self-deception slithers in when we mistake appreciation for application or being touched with being changed.' Beth Moore
~James 1:22~
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| Re: Calorie counting for dogs [message #742998 is a reply to message #742781 ] |
Thu, 15 March 2012 06:47 |
Mairi
Messages: 600
Registered: April 2005
Location: Northern Virginia |
Senior Member |
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We own a pet nutrition center and deal with dog nutrition and weight on a daily basis. My first question is what food are you feeding? Is it loaded with carbs? Grain free? High in protein? Carbs are a dog's worst enemy. It puts weight on a dog faster than anything. Corn, wheat and soy are particularly bad.
Our dogs eat raw meat and we are so careful with portion control that I weigh it on a postal scale that measures to the tenth of an ounce!
Our 4 year old Scottie was, due to inactivity, overweight. We decreased his meat portion by 2 ounces a day and he lost 1/4th of his body weight and is now exactly the weight he's supposed to be...you can see that he actually has a waist! Our 9 month old Scottie is extremely active and we just can't seem to get enough weight on her...she eats an enormous amount of food and still is skinny.
Also, watch treats. No/low carbs in treats also.
The quality of the food (ingredients) and portion control are key in weight control in dogs and cats.
Cats, btw, should not eat grains at all as they are true carnivores and wet food is best for cats. Cats aren't big water drinkers (some will only drink "running water") and canned wet food gives them more moisture cutting down on kidney/bladder problems. Make sure it's a quality food with healthy ingredients not a lot of fillers.
If you have any questions you can PM me. DH and DS (the experts at the store) would be glad to answer any questions and make suggestions.
Mairi
Soli Deo Gloria
"We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves us is never alone." Martin Luther
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| Re: Calorie counting for dogs [message #743016 is a reply to message #743010 ] |
Thu, 15 March 2012 09:23 |
Tracy in Peru
Messages: 7296
Registered: April 2005
Location: Trujillo, Peru |
Senior Member |
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You may need to switch brands. We have an older lab that had gained a bunch of weight. I put her on an expensive food the vet recommended and she lost quite a bit. Then we switched to Purina "light" for older dogs.....guess what, she started gaining.
So back to the expensive, but effective dog food.
In Him--Tracy
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| Re: Calorie counting for dogs [message #743055 is a reply to message #743010 ] |
Thu, 15 March 2012 15:40 |
Mairi
Messages: 600
Registered: April 2005
Location: Northern Virginia |
Senior Member |
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| ~Janice wrote on Thu, 15 March 2012 09:39 |
Thank you Mairi and Pam. I'll pass this on to my dd. It's her dog and she's stressing about the weight. I'm thinking it's more due to inactivity but who knows. Thanks for the info Mairi and the offer to help. I will certainly pm you if needed.  She eats Adult Maintenance food and dd carefully measures the allotted amount soooo ??
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Many of the "adult maintenance" foods contain ingredients that are not truly healthy for dogs. Is it the Eukanuba Adult Maintenance dog food? If so, check out Dog Food Advisor and see how unhealthy it is.
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/eukanuba-dog- food-customized-nutrition/
The 2nd ingredient is chicken-byproduct meal. Who knows what part of the chicken is used...it's a by-product of chicken not chicken itself. If meat is the first ingredient it is the meat containing water which mean the chicken is 20% meat and 80% water. The BY-PRODUCT is adding protein but who knows what kind of protein. The third ingredient is CORN MEAL...super unhealthy and a carb so this will add LOTS OF WEIGHT to a dog. It also contains BREWERS RICE which has no nutritional vaule. It is simply rice that is left over after a brewing process all the nutrition has been removed...it's simply a carb which adds weight! Then there is beet pulp meal...again unhealthy and adds little in the way of nutrition.
DH refuses to sell this type of unhealthy junk food in our store.
Many of the light foods contain cellulose which is actually sawdust. It just adds filler to their diet. Many light foods also contain peanut hulls...no nutrition.
The best foods would be: TASTE OF THE WILD, ARCANA, ORIJEN, or EVO (by Natura). DH and DS have both been out to the Nebraska manufacturing plant for Natura and it's amazing! If you can't go with the pricer foods try CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE DOG LOVERS SOUL. It's relatively inexpensive but healthy. These are not 'grocery or big box store' foods. They will be sold in an independent pet food store, except for maybe Chicken Soup which I believe Petco sells. Taste of the Wild is sold in tractor supply and feed stores also.
Also these better foods are so much more dense than the junk foods that you feed less. Half a cup of Eukanuba and 1/2 a cup of Orijen will be the same by a measuring cup but if you weigh them the Orijen will weigh more. For our 22 lb Scottie eating Orijen he got 3/4 cup a day TOTAL of the kibble. Our 14 lb Scottie would get 1/2 cup TOTAL a day. And an added benefit there is less waste to pick up because they are using most of the food they eat...not a lot of garbage that isn't digestible. And you need to use a regular 8 oz measuring cup. Evo/Natura provides us (free of charge) measuring cups to give out to our customers so they feed the appropriate amount of food.
When we are not feeding frozen (thawed) raw food (Stella and Chewy's, Primal or Nature's Variety) we feed Orijen kibble.
To loose weight STAY AWAY FROM CARBS. Go high protein and low carbs/grains, grain free is best.
You can check out the ingredients of foods and get evaluations from: http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/ We use this site often to show customers the ingredients in foods. Also, stay away from SCIENCE DIET foods they are pure junk and super expensive.
We have at least 50 different dog and cat foods we sell in the store. We don't sell any SCIENCE DIET, IAMS, NUTRO, EUKANUBA...no PEDIGREE, no PURINA, no BENEFUL (it has antifreeze in it), no Ol' Roys, etc. I could go on for paragraphs about what not to use but I won't. If price is a real factor let me know and I'll have DH or DS give their recommendations.
[Updated on: Thu, 15 March 2012 15:49]
Mairi
Soli Deo Gloria
"We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves us is never alone." Martin Luther
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| Re: Calorie counting for dogs [message #743098 is a reply to message #743055 ] |
Thu, 15 March 2012 19:16 |
~Janice
Messages: 8244
Registered: April 2005 |
Senior Member |
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Thank you. I'll forward this to my dd.
TAKE TIME FOR FRIENDS!
Janice T. ~ CHF member since 09/97 ~
Mom to four - ds 26, dd 24, dd 22 and ds 19 - and wife to my sweet husband Richard.
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So, she's back to the regular... but now she's into eating, so maybe it's just the middle age spread, lol!