Overweight

[jmmx3]

I know there's already a ton of threads about overweight yorkies, but I couldn't find anything to answer my questions. So I apologize in advance for being redundent.
So my yorkie is about to be three years old. Originally the breeder told me she would weigh about 4 pounds. When she surpassed that, we thought his estimation was off. But now she weighs almost 8 pounds. When she was at 6 and a half the vet told us she was overweight and that she should weigh about 5 pounds. However, I don't know what I'm doing wrong! We take her on excessive walks, sometimes as far as 4 miles before we have to pick her up in fear of over-excersizing her. She is extremely active, sometimes running off to scratch on neighbor's doors to play with their dogs. She doesn't eat much, probably about half a cup a day. The problem is we usually have to mix something in her food to get her to eat. We've tried stopping, (it's usually a pinch of bacon bits or some broccolli), but she won't eat and will shake because of low blood sugar. She eats beneful dry food, we tried switching her to the weight loss formula but it was basically a laxative and she became unable to control herself inside the house.
I don't know what to do! I don't want her to be unhealthy. She's my first dog and I worry about her! Is it possible she's sick? Or that I'm doing something wrong? Or is it her food?
Sorry this ended up being so long. Any constructive criticism or advice would be totally welcome. Thanks

[tobymom]

Originally Posted by jmmx3

I know there's already a ton of threads about overweight yorkies, but I couldn't find anything to answer my questions. So I apologize in advance for being redundent.
So my yorkie is about to be three years old. Originally the breeder told me she would weigh about 4 pounds. When she surpassed that, we thought his estimation was off. But now she weighs almost 8 pounds. When she was at 6 and a half the vet told us she was overweight and that she should weigh about 5 pounds. However, I don't know what I'm doing wrong! We take her on excessive walks, sometimes as far as 4 miles before we have to pick her up in fear of over-excersizing her. She is extremely active, sometimes running off to scratch on neighbor's doors to play with their dogs. She doesn't eat much, probably about half a cup a day. The problem is we usually have to mix something in her food to get her to eat. We've tried stopping, (it's usually a pinch of bacon bits or some broccolli), but she won't eat and will shake because of low blood sugar. She eats beneful dry food, we tried switching her to the weight loss formula but it was basically a laxative and she became unable to control herself inside the house.
I don't know what to do! I don't want her to be unhealthy. She's my first dog and I worry about her! Is it possible she's sick? Or that I'm doing something wrong? Or is it her food?
Sorry this ended up being so long. Any constructive criticism or advice would be totally welcome. Thanks

Have you asked the vet to check your dog's thyroid level? Common cause for being overweight in humans too, if the thyroid is underactive.

[amandawash]

While it's always good to rule out potential health problems, there are a few things you can do if everything checks out OK.

First of all, start doing some research on dog food. Beneful is a cheap option but unfortunately not very nutritious. Beneful has low quality ingredients and lots of fillers, which can be a HUGE factor in obesity. If you look at the ingredients, Corn is the first ingredient and often a cause of allergies and obesity. Chicked by-products (yucky) is 2nd, with corn meal following. Even though the fat content isn't horrible, it is the quality of ingredients and the way the body metabolizes them that counts.

Second, you'll need to cut out the little add-ins. Bacon is extremely fattening and can cause pancreatitis. Also, but adding these goodies to her food is only encouraging her to hold out for something better. Being that she's eight pounds, the possibility of her going hypoglycemic is very low.

I think that if all rules out well medically, a change of diet will help drastically. Look for a high quality kibble (if kibble is what you like feeding) and with good nutrition and exercise the weight should come off a lot easier!!

Good luck!!

[4doggiemama]

I have a 5 lb. Yorkie who was getting overweight....close to 6 lbs. Put her on the senior Canidae and she lost weight. Enough that the vet said I needed to change kibble. The last time I was in my dog supply store I was discussing with the owner what kibble would be best to feed my 2.5 lb. Yorkie, Cocoa, to get her to gain weight. She told me that Canidae was basically a kibble that promotes weight loss. Not so sure about all the types of Canidae but I do know that the senior type helped Rosie lose weight. My vet also suggested to put green beans into my Pommie...Snowboy's....kibble since he tends to always be hungry and is getting too heavy for his bone structure and bad knees. You said that you give your Yorkie....who is supposed to be 5 lbs......1/2 c. of kibble per day. My 5 lb. Yorkie only get 1/8 c. morning and evening with a little yogurt....equals 1/4 c. per day. Rosie is actually getting chunky on that amount once again. Will have to switch to a lower calorie kibble if it keeps on. Hate having the dogs on different kibble. Makes for confusion. Have enough confusion with all the meds everyone is on, especially Cocoa.

[jmmx3]

Thanks, I'm going to try changing her food.

[phfgkl]

Sorry, I kind of had to laugh at this. I was told mine would be around 4 lbs too(her parents were both 4 lbs), mine is 6 years now and over 14 lbs. Believe me, yours would look like 4 lbs next to mine. I would love to see pictures

[phfgkl]

I used to give mine beneful a long time ago, I had to quit because mine were picking out certain things. It doesn't matter what I feed mine, the big one stays big no matter what. A little bit of scrambled egg in with your dogs food would be okay, I would stay away from bacon bits. It doesn't sound like she's getting a whole lot to eat. I free feed mine, and, I have 4, so really don't know how much they're getting, but, I only have one with the weight problem. I would take her to the vet and have them run tests on her to rule on thyroid problems. You have to remember, it's not just corn dogs are allergic too. Actually my vet did studies on a few dogs, and there were more that were actually allergic to the meats in the food over the corn. If you decide to switch foods, do it gradually over a week to 10 days. Add a little more of the new to the old every day

[jmmx3]

Haha, I just uploaded an album of pictures. It's hard to tell how chubby she is until she gets wet, and then her head looks tiny in comparison to her body!
That's so funny, Roxie picks out pieces of her food too. We find them under the dining room table and in random rooms of the house

[Karrie]

Ha! Picking out pieces of food and hiding them - too funny!

Trust me, Bailey lets no morsel go undigested around here!!

[jmmx3]

Update: I went to Petsmart just to snoop around the food aisles. I read a few packages and noticed the corn in the beneful as the first ingredient. I ended up buying the Eukanuba Yorkie specialized food.. just because it was intrigueing and Roxie seemed excited sniffing the bag. We started her on it this morning and both at breakfast and dinner she gobbled it down without any mixins!
Is this a good food to keep her on?

[anniernc]

Does anyone know of a place near Atlanta where you can go buy the Candiae dog food or do you have to order it over the internet.

[sucofocus]

To reduce overweight prepare the meal that is nutritious and which is a balanced diet. Some physical exercise regularly will help to control overweight.

[Micah my love]

I have fed Eukanuba for years with very good results and i free feed mine




Betty & Micah my love