Hi,

I have been feeding my lab on Burns Chicken & Rice for about 2 years now.  He was doing great on it for the first year or so and lost weight and was looking good.

Now, slowly but surely, because of all the training we do, the weight is starting to creep back and I dont want to be in a position where he is overweight again.

However, when I try and cut his food down, he just goes to pieces and cant sustain his energy levels.  When he has his full quota of between 250- 300g per day he is full of beans and great but i feel that the weight prob is still there....

I am now thinking that the burns he is on now is so low in protein 18% and fat that cutting it down is not doing him any good cos he is not getting enough out of it and like with human dieting, the less he is eating, the more his body is clinging to the fat!!  been there and done it myself!!!

I was considering putting him onto the burns active 24% protein - but hopefully being able to feed less so he can still have his treats for training (he has a few thin slices on ham by the way in training cos being a lab he just doesnt know what he is eating half the time!) do you think that would mean I could cut back food amounts without starving my poor boy and compromising his energy???

By the way he goes on 3-4 walks per day averaging about 3 miles per day with free running so he is not a lazy dog.  I just think that we are asking so much of him to carry on doing all his walks and training but on less food. 

Thanks in anticipation.

Why would doing more training cause him to gain weight - it's usually the opposite.  Are you sure he's not building more muscle and not more fat?  What you've said does not seem to make sense, must be puzzling for you.

There are recent studies that show that higher levels of protein (without increasing fat) and fibre are actually better for dogs to maintain a healthy weight.  So you might want to pick a food on that basis, not sure if the Burns you mention fits. 

Hi cairnmania,

I take no notice of any scales he goes on because he is a very strong muscular lab but I can notice his waist is not as tucked in as it used to be. 

Sorry if post was puzzling, but I was trying to say that cos of the training he is obviously getting more treats which I always make sure are low fat/low calorie, but then when I cut down his meals to compensate for the treats, he just goes to pieces like as though its not enough for him to cope on somehow.... does that make more sense??

Do you think adding fresh meat to his burns and cutting down the amount of burns may help?

have you spoken to the nutrition people at burns ? they are always really helpful.

I feed my boy who is prone to putting on weight on burns high oats, the oats mean it has slow release energy so he isnt hungry all the time and he always has loads of energy.

how old is your dog? he may be just maturing.

i tend to find its the carbs that puts the weight on not the protien or fats as most are about the same in fat values. i switched to orijen which is a low carb( think less than 20% most are about 50%) and the weight came off my slightly over weight boy better than any of the low fat foods he has been on.

He is 5 years old.

I dont want to swap and change his food if i can help it.

I am wondering whether his body goes into starvation mode when I cut his food down.  maybe i have cut it too much too soon.....

His energy was super on his 300g.  He doesnt sleep at all during the day and is always up for going out and doing something but then as soon as I cut food intake down, i just feel like the edge has been knocked off him. 

My dog kept his extra few pound on while he was eating complete food with grain in it. I switched him to raw and feed only meat and some veg (he still gets some carbos in his treats) and he's thinned out nicely - bonus is the meat is a filling meal since it's wet food. His kibble meals were pretty small. If you want to stick to dry complete you could try one that was just meat and veg. It might keep his energy up but his weight down.

which complete feeds are just meat and veg tho??

Orijen is just meat/ fish and veg.

James WB also does a meat and veg only. Sorry I don't know many since I don't feed him kibble.

orijen is the best food for being just meat and veg... something like 70%meat and 30% vg

add a whole tin of mixed veg to a meal evey day... i swear by i, makes my labs so much healthier and its great for their coats and their eyes sparkle..

labs will fill out as they get older.. mine is only just filling out at 3... she was quite leggy before then

my labs pretty much eat anything as a treat... maybe giving him bits of apple and carrot when training would be better?

the ones i know of with no grain are
Timberwolf Ocean Blue
Timberwolf Wild & Natural
Solid Gold Barking at the Moon
ORIJEN Adult Dog Food
ORIJEN 6 Fresh Fish with Sea Vegetables adult
James Wellbeloved Lamb & Vegetable
James Wellbeloved Turkey & Vegetable
ZiwiPeak Cuisine
there are most likly more that i dont know of as grain free is getting more popular now

Gundoggal,

When you say add a whole tin of mixed veg to a meal, what sort of tinned mixed veg?

The other foods are great but.... I am steering away from anything containing alfalfa and beet pulp so they dont really fit the bill.

Taste of the wild is very similer to Timberwolf but slightly cheaper,this is the only place I've seen it and they only have the fish variety..

http://www.cerberuspetfoods.co.uk/shop/article_TOTW%252035/Taste-Of-The-Wild-Pacific-Stream-Canine.html?shop_param=cid%3D9%26aid%3DTOTW%252035%26

Just a cheap 25p tin of mixed veg from the supermarket....

I think Applaws is just meat and veg - but would be prohibitively expensive for a dog that size unless you are a millionaire.

I have decided not to mess with his food and continue with his 300g and his exercise.  The more I think of it the more I feel that he is happy, healthy and fine on what he is on.

No point rocking the boat with him really.

Just spoke to someone who has had dogs and showed dogs for 30 years and he said that henry is not overweight, he said that you can feel his ribs, feel his brisket but if he was being hyper critical he could do with losing about 1lb from his shoulders but that it.  He said that you only have to look at the size of his head to know he is a big broad show lab and I shouldnt take too much notice of people saying he needs to lose weight which is what I have been doing and got myself all paranoid about it now!!!

Thanks for all yuor replies.

how would you go about losing the weight off his shoulders, because i know too much weight on the shoulders makes them look stuffy on the neck

lots of swimming and uphill walking methinks....

Hi labmad,

surely uphill walking will if anything build up the shoulders, making them bigger and heavier still?  I realise it would be an increase in muscle rather than fat but an increase nonetheless  ....

I thought going uphill required more effort from the hindquarters and going downhill put more weight on the forequarters? The trouble with doing lots of uphill walking is that eventually you reach the top, then the only way is down!

You could well be right JG - my understanding is based on my own breed which, comparative to other similarly sized breeds, has very modereate angulation fore and aft so IME concentrating on uphill exercise could overload the shoulders (I think LOL) since they do not have the same power ratio in rear drive some breeds with more defined angulation have

Or perhaps that's just twaddle .....

On the upside, the parkland near me is ideal for anyone wanting to use uphill or downhill specific exercise as one side has a very large and fairly steep slope but we can meander along to level ground on a longer route (if only I knew what to do with it now :-p )

What i do for the Extra "oomph" & Concentration Span needed at shows is to feed "preformance" foods, two days before the show, So you could keep on your normal food, then say on thursday before a show switch him to Working or high Oats

hi labmad,
bear in mind that if you just cut down on his food you are also cutting down on his other nutrients. my advice (for what its worth!!) is to take a look at the kcals that are on the package of the food you are feeding and compare them to other foods about, look for something lower than you are on. If the kcals aren't on the package, i'm sure the customer helpline will be able to sort you out.

so whats the answer ?I,m taking her to a therapy pool tomorrow as i need her to use her backend more but take weight off shoulders
Do i do it with exercise or food as she is eating tripe at the moment because she was so skinny
Now she,s right but heavy on the shoulders

Hiya Mish,

Thanks for your reply.  I will feed him the active before shows then.  It does take a lot out of them and to be fair I cant expect him to work 2 classes on the miniscule amounts I have been giving him.

He shouldn't be heavier top end due to all the prancy style heelwork he has suddenly developed ha ha I think he's been watching them collies! x

I would rather the top end was muscle than anything else tho so I personally will stick to swimming.  If he looks heavier then at least I would know it was muscle.

Up or down.... at least it would be doing him some good...  I could lob a ball up to the top of the hill then call him down, have a cup of tea and wait for him at the bottom ;-)