Dieting Tips

[glencorgi]

More often than not, fosters I have come in are usually overweight, so
I have become quite versed in dropping weight off corgis and I have
never used lo-cal or diet formulas. What I have found in cases where
only 3 to 5 pounds need to be dropped, putting the dog on the amount of
food that should be their maintenance portion, the weight will come
off. A dog that has been fed two cups of kibble a day or a couple of
cans of food a day, when put on a cup of kibble a day, the body adjusts
and the weight normalizes. If more drastic measures are needed then a
different regime is needed.

I have dropped 30 pounds - that's right, 30 pounds - a whole corgi's
weight, off of one girl. She came into rescue weighing 56 pounds when
the healthiest weight for her should have been 26 pounds. Now she took
time and it was over a year before she hit her target weight. With one
like Emma, caution has to be taken not to crash their systems, move too
drastically and more health problems can be created. There are often
secondary health issues that arise with that level obesity as well and
Emma had - hot spots, bladder infections, raw spots under her arms -
and skin/coat problems. I started her out at a cup of food a day,
dropped to 3/4, then down to 1/2 a cup, and when we were at our most
intense working on her weight, she was only getting 1/4 cup of kibble a
day. As I decreased the amount of kibble then lo-cal fillers were
added. She was one that would literally eat anything so she got green
beans, canned pumpkin, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, zucchini,
lettuce, tomatoes, (fresh, frozen or canned) puffed wheat cereal (not
good if there are allergies to wheat), rice cakes, Cheerios, macaroni
and salmon or mackerel mix, the tuna mixture. Not all at one meal of
course, but according to what I had on hand or was in season to fill up
the bowl and her. Today she is maintaining her healthy weight on 2/3
to 3/4 cup of food a day.

Emma was very much like Reba (now known as Reba the svelte) although
Reba was even more extreme an obesity case than Emma and weighed 70
pounds at her heaviest. I had the fortune of meeting Reba and her now
owner and learned a lot of tips from her. Reba's story can be found
at: <http://www.honeyfoxcorgis.com/faq-feeding.htm>.

Overall size and balance, age, activity levels (as weight drops then
activity and energy levels tend to increase) are all variables to
consider when trying to get one to their healthy weight. The buster
cube toys and/or treat balls are good ways to feed a meal. The corgis
have to exercise in order to get the kibble out and get their meal. IF
you are training, then use a portion of their meal kibble as treats for
training.

Right now in foster care, we have a petite girl who weighed 34 pounds,
when 24 should be her weight. She's doing well and is about half way
to her goal. She's no longer worried about being stuck on her back
like a turtle because she couldn't roll over and back wallows are a new
favorite pastime. Another challenge now is putting weight on a 15
month old boy, so that is kind of a pleasant change.

Debbie

[bajoiner]

Sassy needs to drop about 5 pounds to be at her desired target weight for her size and age. She is extremely healthy and runs all over my two acres and is very energetic but just got lazy during the extreme heat here. She also put on weight when I had her spayed. I am figuring as it cools off she will drop the extra weight. Also I have bought her some baby corn on the cob and she loves it, do you know if this is okay to give once in awhile. I am trying to find something other than carrots, celery, yogurt and I made her the frozen yogurt peanut butter ices. She is a veggie hound, but hates green beans.

Barbara joiner

[corgimom]

Barbara,

How much does Sassy weigh now? I am not sure about the baby corn, but I think corn is one of the higher calorie veggies around.

Go To a recent post that Brynlea made(9/16) in a thread called "Corgi Weight Loss" where she gave advice to someone else on how to get their Corgi to shed some pounds.

[tandemgal]

thanks for the tips Debbie,

Em has lost 1 lbs but still has 2 to go... right now I feed her 1/2 cup kibble morning and evening meals with heaping teaspoon of pumpkin. also add a little chicken, turkey, tuna or leftover meat from our supper = maybe a tablespoon full just enough for her to root all around and eat her 2 baby asprins. She was really getting tired of peanut butter/asprin in roof of her mouth LOL I am almost out of her present kibble and am going to get the One Step Brynlea recomended tomarrow.

Soon as Em is alowed to exercize again we will be going on walks - start out small and then increase her distance. Right now she is doing really good - has even played with Chloe a few times this week! I dont let them get to wound up - mostly it's Chloe frappen around the room and Em smiling and sticking out her paw when Chloe passes by but she has rolled over on her back a few times and they mouth each other with play bites.

[bajoiner]

Linda thank you so much I read the post by Brynlea and it was very helpful. Sassy is only getting 1 cup of dry food per day divided into 1/2 cup morning and evening but I believe I will have to stop the special little things she gets such as pop-ice after running and playing ball outside as there is a lot of sugar in those. I think I will make her some pop-ice of her own with fruit juice no sugar added. I am afraid I have gotten to where she is getting things off our dinner table, usually just tiny bits of chicken (never pork) added to her food. After reading brynlea's post I am going to have to watch exactly what I give her, I think maybe she is getting more than I realize. She is not super overweight, but needs to drop about 5 pounds. Thank you again.

[Hayashi_eri]

seems like overweight corgis are pretty common...Buta was alittle over but mum put her on a diet regime 30mins of walking in the park & cutting down her treats & food. She is now back to the ideal weight at 14Kg.......

[Dillydoodle]

This is something I have taken seriously since I brought Dillon home. I have read so much about corgis getting overweight etc. I have seen that story before about Reba before I got Dillon- I was researching corgwyn for months before i got Dillon, including the topic of best diets for a corgi etc and found her story, and I about dropped! I could not believe that someone could allow their pup to get to that weight...really bad. So i am very careful what I feed Dillon and try to stay away from the cookies, giving them only if i am reducing his dry food slightly so he does not over eat. So far, he is a good healthy weight at 27/ 28 lbs- ( he is from larger lines) I will continue to weigh him regularly and adjust food accordingly. ( Now if only someone could do the same for me, measuring out my food etc. LOL)

Emilie

[tandemgal]

Debbie,

I think I either read or heard that one pound on a dog is like 10 pounds on a human - is that about right???

Couldn't find the Pedigree Stage 1 so bought Purina sensitive tummy with salmon as the main ingredient. is that a good choice?

[Hayashi_eri]

Hi tandemgal,
have you been feeding your furkids with pedigree? Pedigree is actually not a popular brand in Singapore, mainly because of their high salt content & mixture of animal insides & stuff.Their pet food was suspected to be infected with the mad cow disease abt 2 years ago & they had to take back all of their stock from the stores. We used to feed our dogs with pedigree many years ago & saw alot of skin problems, heavy shedding & illness. I am currently feeding them with Timberwolf kibbles.

[Michael Romanos]

There should be no salt in food for dogs let along a high salt content in Pedigree brands. I'd steer away from dry food and canned food as much as possible. I am a minimalist when it comes to kibble and canned dog food.
Good on Singapore authorities for axing that particular product from Pedigree. Pedigree is a second rate brand for dog food in NZ though when Taylor was a puppy I use to buy a can of Advanced Pedigree Puppy food from the vet at about one a fortnight- Vets were the only sellers of this 'superior' and more expensive product from the Pedigree organisation.

[tandemgal]

Eri,

I had not tried Pedigree b4 - one of the breeders said their Step One formula was a good way to get weight off corgis. I had not heard of Pedigree and Mad Cow - that is scarry!!!

My Em is recovering from heart worms and is on limited movement till middle of Oct. - while the dead worms are dissolving she needs to stay fairly quiet so she wont have a stroke or heart attack. She was 3 lbs overweight at 28 lbs but has lost 1 pound - I am just looking for a faster approach to removing the extra weight.

Usually I feed them Nutro or Purina brand. Em has a finicky tummy and tends to get diarrhea or constipated easily so I don't like to switch foods once I find a brand that doesn't bother her. I think I will just continue to feed her as Debbie has advised and not worry too much about her weight till we can start her on long walks again.

[glencorgi]

Originally Posted by tandemgal

Debbie,

I think I either read or heard that one pound on a dog is like 10 pounds on a human - is that about right???

Sounds about right.

Couldn't find the Pedigree Stage 1 so bought Purina sensitive tummy with salmon as the main ingredient. is that a good choice?[/quote]

Without reading the whole label, with salmon as the first (?)/main ingredient it sounds like it'd be a good one.

Debbie

[corgimom]

I had not heard about Pedigree pet food(distributed in the Us), as possibly transmitting Mad Cow disease a couple of years ago.
But you were referring to the food that was distributed in Singapore?