# GSD Weight Loss Advice



## lithpd101 (Jun 15, 2009)

I am hoping you all can help me. I have an almost 8 year old GSD working dog that I was issued as a handler. He was a little on the heavy side because he was only working a couple of days a week. He is now working 10 hour days and at least 4 of that is walking (maybe 4 to 6 miles a day) in addition to day off dog park visits. He currently weighs about 100 lbs and I want to get him down to around 90 Lbs if not lower. He was on some kind of Purina food before I got him and I put him on Science Diet mature longevity at the advice of my vet. After doing some research he is now just starting on TotW fish blend. I feed him 4 cups a day but plan on cutting it back to 2 cups in the morning and maybe 1 1/2 at night. 

Can anyone reccomend a different food if needed or feeding amounts. I really got to get this weight off of him as quickly and in as a healthy way as possible.

I gotta keep my boy healthy because he is a good partner and I really don't want to retire him because he has fat related health problems

Thank you in advance for your replies.


----------



## natalie559 (Feb 4, 2005)

Hard to say how much to feed as each dogs metabolism varies greatly. The TOTW pacific stream has 360 calories per cup. I have a calorie chart written by Christine Zinc that states for a 90# dog the following: inactive 1022, moderately active 1322, highly active 1923. This would correlate to the following amount of your dog food: 2.84 cups, 3.68 cups, 5.35 cups. Definitely sounds like your dog is in between moderately to highly active so I would think start between the 3.68-5.35 cups, maybe 4 cups?, take a weight measurement in a few weeks and adjust from there.

Good luck!


----------



## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

Pet Obesity Prevention has great information. There is also a book - I think you can find it on that website - called Chow Hound. 

My dogs were eating the Pinnacle Turkey recently and it seemed to help a couple drop weight. Not sure why!

sable - he is overweight.


----------



## sable123 (Jul 11, 2010)

JeanKBBMMMAAN said:


> Pet Obesity Prevention has great information. There is also a book - I think you can find it on that website - called Chow Hound.
> 
> My dogs were eating the Pinnacle Turkey recently and it seemed to help a couple drop weight. Not sure why!
> 
> sable - he is overweight.


 
sorry was up all night trading asia


----------



## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

sable123 said:


> sorry was up all night trading asia


I will give you Boardwalk and Park Place for Asia.

:laugh:


----------



## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

TOTW is one of the foods I used to keep weight off Zoey, she is hypothyroid so she gains weight just looking at food. Right now she's eating Avoderm Weight Control though because I left her with my mom and she gained weight. It's 298 calories per cup which is like 30 or so calories less than TOTW is. Doesn't seem like much but it adds up very very quickly. She eats around half the calories or less that is recommended on the food bag or by the variety of calculators online. Sometimes you've just got to be tough on them, especially if they've got stubborn weight.

Being 8 years old, it might not be a bad idea to get a thyroid check, especially if he's having any trouble getting the weight off. Even if he is on the low side of normal he might benefit from a thyroid supplement.


----------



## RedCrown (Feb 23, 2005)

Traditional high-carb, high-fiber, low-protein/fat weight loss or senior dog diets have been proven by several studies to be relatively ineffective. 

"Changing the macronutrient profile of a canine weight-loss diet from a high-carbohydrate level to one primarily based on protein can promote greater weight loss without further reductions in caloric intake. This weight loss is driven primarily from an increased loss of fat mass while maintaining lean muscle mass.

High-Protein Low-Carbohydrate Diets Enhance Weight Loss in Dogs 

My first recommendation would be either Orijen Senior, the new EVO senior dog formula or the BlueBuffalo Wilderness Large Breed- both look really good. Any of the Earthborn Grain-Free formulas, or the Wellness Core Reduced Fat would be good as well.


----------



## lithpd101 (Jun 15, 2009)

Thanks for the info so far.


----------



## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

I'm not saying they have to go for a weight loss formula, I'm saying that it's lower CALORIE than TOTW. (Which most WLF's aren't) And it's still got a decent amount of protein in it at 20% though is lower in fat. I also supplement with small amounts of raw green tripe each day for "real" foods which helps balance out the carbs in the kibble to the protein/fat. I've seen results already with Zoey, she's got a slimmer waist in only 2 weeks time. :shrug: I doubt adding 30+ calories would do that just because there are lower carbs. Unless of course I cut her back to 1/4th cup per DAY and starve her.

Not that GF formulas are free of carbs, many are just as packed full of them as grain foods. Thank you potatoes!!!


----------



## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

And while I know dogs and humans aren't the same, there was actually a professor who proved that it didn't matter WHAT you ate, it's how MUCH you eat. ie. CALORIES. He ate twinkies and other snack cakes and drank soda and lost weight. Not only did he loose weight but his health was actually BETTER! (ie. reduced bad cholesterol levels)

Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds - CNN.com

I think the same can be said for dogs though, I know Chance who was a working dog like the OP dog lived off a high carb diet. Many people would be disgusted at the idea of the food he ate but hey, my dog was out working his butt off on a daily basis and had the stamina to do so, something must have been working for him. For the last several months of his life he ate Sportmix which has that awful ingredient called corn in it. (Before that, he ate a variety of mostly grain foods, I've used GF in the past but almost always used grain foods. I was always feeding a variety of things but in the end, Sportmix was all I could afford after loosing my job) All his life he also ate those scary "table scraps". Mac n cheese, potatoes in butter, biscuits and gravy, cooked rice with veggies, ect. Despite what a vet or most owners would call an "ideal" diet, he died happy, healthy and fit..  Had great teeth too! :thumbup: Never had bad blood work, fecals, urinalysis, body examinations, skin issues, ect. Always got an A+ from the vet.  But I also exercised him heavily each day (which the OP stated they do) and watched his CALORIES.

And I know he was only 4 years old when he died (Car accident, completely unrelated to health) so you could say "well it'd eventually catch up to him" and maybe that is true (At which point I'd have adjusted his diet accordingly) but my grandparents GSDx lived to be 16 years off Kibbles N' Bits and table scraps packed full of our southern high carb/high greasy fatty diet. They have a 6.5-7 year old Mastiffx currently who's going strong on the same diet. They fed their hunting dogs (Blue Ticks) the same diet and they all lived long and healthy lives.

I just don't buy into carbs being the whole picture. Your dog can get fat on a RAW diet of nothing but meat, bones and organs if you don't watch the calories. :shrug:


----------



## mwiacek10 (Nov 8, 2010)

What did you loose Chance to?


----------



## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

I stopped on a busy road to grab a dog who was about to be hit and the door didn't shut behind me and Chance jumped out. As soon as I saw him hop out, I also saw him get hit by a car going 60+mph.  He was killed instantly.


----------



## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

And for the record, here was my beautiful boy. 


















I DID supplement with RMB a couple times a week for dental health and he got some (couple spoonfuls) raw green tripe and fatty beef each day so it wasn't ALL "unhealthy" but he did eat a lot of less than healthy foods. Then again, so does my great grandma who is 86 years old and still has to be forced to sit still. 

Though in all seriousness, I REALLY think the OP needs to get a thyroid check since the dog is a senior and despite the VERY high activity, isn't loosing the weight. 4 cups for a dog that large and active on a low calorie food in MOST dogs wouldn't be too much. I really feel like this is probably a medical problem.


----------



## RedCrown (Feb 23, 2005)

Sorry about your boy Chance- that must have been a tragedy. 

I agree that it is, ultimately, calories that count. However, my argument for decreasing the carbohydrate percentage is that the dog wouldn't necessarily have to drastically reduce the calories to lose weight. Cutting the dog's daily ration by a cup or two might leave him feeling hungry, and the owner guilty. If he were switched to a food with higher protein and lower carbs, the calorie reduction wouldn't have to be as intense, and the protein is much more satiating while maintaining lean muscle mass.


----------

