Thinking I'm feeding way too much

[GSD246]

Before going to raw my dog was sick. She was very skinny and appeared near death. I tried everything I could think of short of getting the vet special diet food. Finally, I put my girl on raw. Found out she didn't do well with chicken and then found out that turkey wasn't her best friend either.

I stuck with beef, duck, pork, and deer with the organs and muscles. Slowly my girl started to get her weight. Only problem is she hasn't stopped getting her weight. At 94 pounds I'm thinking she is entirely too big. We are finishing up agility foundations and her weight is starting to concern me.

I had her at 2 pounds a day but subtracted that last month to 1.5 pounds without much success and the hungry pukes started. Reduced it further to 20oz's a day and now feeding twice a day and this has gotten me pass the hungry pukes. I just made this change so I'm not really sure how effective it will be. I don't want to rush the weight off of her. A slow progression is all I'm looking for. I've really been debating if I should try 18oz's instead of 20 or 16.

I make my own treats. She might have in total .3-.8oz if that much a day. I feed lean beef, pork, and a few biscuit type treats that are all homemade so I know the calorie intake is low. I toy reward and treat reward which is why the amount of treats she gets is so low.

[onyx'girl]

Have you had thyroid tests run? When did you change her diet to raw? Usually there will be a difference in the structure after the diet change because there is more muscle mass with raw fed compared to the carbs in kibble.
I'd also do some core strength conditioning exercises regularly to keep the body toned.
I would add in raw green tripe to the diet. Or at least add in digestive enzymes and probiotics. Her gut flora may be off so she'se not digesting properly. Also make sure you are giving enough bone, it digests slower so will maybe help with the empty stomach bile barf.

[Lauri & The Gang]

How old is she and how much does she weigh right now. EXACT amount - not guesstimate. If you can't weight her at home, take her to your vets and just ask them to weigh her.

Also, are you weighing her food (with a scale) or just eyeballing it?

[GSD246]

Originally Posted by onyx'girl

Have you had thyroid tests run? When did you change her diet to raw? Usually there will be a difference in the structure after the diet change because there is more muscle mass with raw fed compared to the carbs in kibble.
I'd also do some core strength conditioning exercises regularly to keep the body toned.
I would add in raw green tripe to the diet. Or at least add in digestive enzymes and probiotics. Her gut flora may be off so she'se not digesting properly. Also make sure you are giving enough bone, it digests slower so will maybe help with the empty stomach bile barf.

She has had a few thyroid test runs and a bunch of other blood test. All came back normal. I changed her to the raw diet February of last year.

We do some core strength conditioning. We recently started a few months ago. Still trying to get in more equipment to help with it.

I include green tripe under beef(cow) which I actually feed a lot of parts of. Sorry, I didn't make that clear. Also considering trying goat tripe. We ran out of the tripe a few weeks ago so I've been giving her Primal Defensive Ultra probiotics. As for bone, she normally gets bone every other day, and sometimes she will go 2 days without depending on the stool. I like to keep it firm, not sandy and not loose.

Originally Posted by Lauri & The Gang

How old is she and how much does she weigh right now. EXACT amount - not guesstimate. If you can't weight her at home, take her to your vets and just ask them to weigh her.

Also, are you weighing her food (with a scale) or just eyeballing it?

I've been taking her to get weighed. Going to start doing it on a routine at the same time and day every week. I weigh the food with a food scale. She will be turning 2 in April.

We are going to go to vet in April for her x-rays to check to see if her hips are closed and to check for the regular heartworm check that I do 3x a year. I can ask if for anything else if you guys think it is needed.

[lhczth]

Can you feel her ribs easily or do you have to push to find them? Although I do pay some attention to what a scale may say, how the dog looks and feels is more important (just like with people).

[GSD246]

Originally Posted by lhczth

Can you feel her ribs easily or do you have to push to find them? Although I do pay some attention to what a scale may say, how the dog looks and feels is more important (just like with people).

I have to push to find them. She also has a thick coat which makes it a little harder to tell rather I'm pushing her fur or her actually body. Her last vet visit she was rating as a 4. She is a little bigger now, but she is also taller and longer than she use to be. I don't know when she will stop growing and I'm sure that will make it challenging to keep her diet normal.

Her exercises with me are getting a little longer and harder but I really want the vet to check out her before I push her too hard. For example, last night we did a 10 minute run, followed by a 15 minute jog, with small sprints mixed in. Went into agility and went through all the exercises they taught us. I kept her excited but I could tell she was getting tired by the end of our practice since the work was both physical and the agility equipment required her to focus which made into a mental workout ontop of the physical work. I like my dogs tired, but not worn completely out because I feel she will push herself too hard trying to please me and I try to keep mental and physical stimulation with each practice.

[lhczth]

She is close to maturity, though she may fill out a bit more. If you have to push to find ribs she is too heavy and I would decrease the amount you are feeding by a bit. Once her joints are given the OK then I don't think doing 2-3 miles 3-5 times a week is too much along with training and at least one rest day.

Deja runs 2.5-4 miles 5 days a week along with training. Once the weather gets warmer, I'll start biking her around 3 miles 3-4 days a week plus a lot more training. Elena gets a bit less, but not much. She will be 2 the end of May. The running my guys do is free exercising and not forced so they run, stop, hunt a little, racing along, run into the creek, etc. The biking they are attached to the bike so that is basically controlled at my speed. I generally keep them in a trot with maybe some sprinting one day a week.

I am feeding a lot more than 2% of their body weight, but I don't know the exact amounts since I don't weigh.