Obesity in Dogs
Dec 14th, 2007 by Teri
Keywords: Fat dogs, dog weight loss, dog health, dog overweight, diet dog, dog nutrition, dogs, fat cats.
When is a dog overweight? When you cannot distinguish your dog’s wasteline from its rib cage, you have a fat dog. When you run your hand along its backbone and cannot feel the bones, you have a fat dog.
A dog is overweight when it can’t fit into its seat belt in the car comfortably or
when you have to move the seat back for it to fit in your car harness - you have a fat dog. Or if your dog does not sit on its back legs but slouches to the side, its too fat.
Why is a dog overweight? A dog being fed too much in a single portion is one of the reasons a dog becomes overweight. Or your dog might be eating a ” fat laden pet food” depending on the quality of your pet food it may contain some extra fat or grease from the slaughter house.
Check the calories on the product your using and ask the store where you are buying it for the calorie content of what you are using to feed your dog.
However, be aware that you cannot always trust whats on the packaging in the way of nutritional content, as some information is missing, namely the amount of fat. In order to gain control of an overweight dog you may encourage an improved diet that encourages dog weight loss which you can accomplish in several different ways.
As we know an overweight or fat dog can develop a diabetic or cancerous condition if left untreated.
Other side effects of a fat dog are :
Skin diseases, liver disease, hip dysplasia, arthritis, gastro intestinal problems, heart and circulatory problems.
Do you exercise your dog or is it a couch potato? Does it sit and watch Oprah and Disney movies like the ” Shaggy Dog ” all day without a walk or run around the neighborhood?
Today rampant obesity in pets is an epidemic as with humans and in some breeds it is reaching the 30 percent level such as with German Sheppards.
Tips on Weight Loss for your Dog:
1) Take your fat dog for a walk, at least 20 minutes to get the heart rate up and burn fat.
2) A modified low fat diet, with more protein, vegetables, grains and less grease.
3) Cut down the fattening treats, and replace with raw carrots, or raw, meaty bones.
4) Play with your dog and encourage running, wrestling to burn up some calories.
5) Walk your dog up and down hills, which will make the walk even more effective or throw a ball in a park and encourage retreival of the ball or toy.
6) Use a pet slim supplement that improves digestion and eliminates toxins.
Keeping your dog busy during the winter months when you spend more time indoors by creating games, and interaction with your dog. More walks in fresh air will burn off some of those extra calories and slim your pet down to a normal weight.
In all cases consult with a holistic veterinarian that along with diet changes, more exercise, and nutritional supplements you can regain the cat within your cat. Inside every fat pet, is a skinny pet - trying to get out.
For a detailed method to reduce your dog’s weight visit:
Enjoy the holidays, in a healthy and nutritious way.
Written by: Teri Salvador
