I have a well mannered, extremely good natured dog. We love her dearly but I'm afraid we're overfeeding her! Her head comes to the same height as our dining table so when we are eating there she is chin on the table, big brown eyes pleading for some food.Well----we just can't resist giving her some tipbits of our food---especially home-made buns--her favourite! Trouble is although she is of average weight & gets plenty of exercise I worry about what all this extra food is doing to her system i.e blood etc. Any tips for we owners to enable us to be "cruel to be kind" Thanks all.

You really must be hard! As she gets older her life could depend on it. It really is that serious! If you really must feed her at the table, and I really can sympathise, keep a little of her own food back when you feed her and use this for the little "In between treats." :)

Best wishes, John

What breed is she? I think she must be a large dog if she rests her head on the table, please remember it is important not to let a large dog get overwieght because of there hips the more they have to carry the harder it is on the hips, my vet reminded me of this the last time i was there with one of my ddb. He said you are not being kind giving treats in the long run you are being cruel, personaly i did not think she was overwieght but he said they are better off a little bit under than over.

You taught her that hanging round the table pays by feeding her off your plates - first rule of dog learning is if it brings rewards, do it again, so you must change this and reward her for leaving you alone to eat. Train your kids to eat at the table, put dog out of the room if necessary and dont even look at her when youre eating. If you feed scraps stick em in her bowl when youve all finished. I know people who overfeed their dog as a substitute for other kinds of attention, so make sure she gets play and exercise in abundance. Try a tooth cleaning chew lobbed in her bed as you all sit down or a treat ball of her own food lobbed into the hall.

Wnen i was a lot younger, some people near us had a very overweight Golden Retriever and over the years she got bigger and more obese in spite of 2 wlks a day. They were very proud of the fact that she was really loved and fed her a lot on demand. She died when she was only 10 which was hardly any age, she should have had a few more years of life. In her last few years she suffered from arthritis and was a sad sight.

A few months later, they got another dog, same breed, and at first it was fit and healthy but over time became also obese and waddled around on its walks.  It was so sad to see as it was too overweight to run for a ball or do anything but stay near the owners and waddle around.

These owners were gentle and loved their dog but could not bear not to feed her titbits as they felt cruel. But how much more cruel was it for the dog to become obese and not able to do doggie things :(

It can be hard but i agree, the best thing is to keep the dog out and if necessary cut down on her dinner a little and give her a stuffed Kong toy to chew whilst she is out in the hall or wherever and she will soon not mind being out away from you whilst you eat. Gradually you can cut down what is in the kong and maybe use titbit rewards cut very small for training or something, as that way she has to work for her treats and this will keep her slim. (but keep the titbits small ;)  ).

Lindsay
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If you can't resist put her out of the room before you start eating....you could even feed her at the same time maybe or give a kong or treat ball.
Nikki