Weight control/food obsession

[Mary]

Lottie has always been food obsessed but I do think since being spayed a year ago her obsession is much worse which is one of the reasons why I put off having her spayed for so long.

I've fed her on JWB for many years, she enjoys it and she's always been healthy on it.  She has the odd treat but nothing much, although I do give her carrots as snacks.  As soon as she was spayed I changed to JWB Lite.  She did put on weight and so I slightly reduced her portion sizes at meal times (morning and tea time).  She has slimmed down a bit but could still do with losing a bit more weight.

The thing is she is so obsessed with food that I'm concerned her diet might not be adequate, could she be lacking in her diet?  She tells me when it's dinner time, scavanges for food on walks and eats her own poo quite often (always has done even on the odd occasion of changing her food in the past).

I personally think this is habit but should I try a food that might satisfy her more and if so which one?

[bracken]

Hi Mary 

As you know Bailey is so like Lottie with her food obsession  she is also fed on JWB but her weight does creep up she is again 17kg 
We have tried many ideas and the best has been Royal Canin Satiety weight control this kept her full as it has slow release so she stays content between meals  so no crying, pestering etc between meals  It is on prescription from the vet is little pricey but you don't often need more than one bag to see great results 
Once she has reached her target she would then be fine on JWB normal with added veg  Bailey thinks thats great as she seems to be eating for longer 

Jo

[minimoo]

Ella who i adopted 18 months ago was 23k when i had her and ive had her on a diet on and off ever since, shes 16k now but its a constant battle as she will do anything to get food weve even had to padlock the food cupboard, and she eats poo constantly and anything dead she finds when on the beach if she gets the chance , tries to climb up on the worktops, i have felt bad thinking she must be starving, but i got in one day and didnt realise she had stolen food from the 15kg bag and fed her and she ate it all and was groaning and looking ill,her stomach was like a barrel  i realised what she had done and i thought she was going to pop  , i do often add some veg to her food, but i think its just that some dogs will try and eat and eat , she does get some low fat beef jerky treats as well 

[Sarah1985]

Have you tried exercising them more (assuming you have the time)?? Diets didnt work for my mums dogs as she also just ate everything in sight so we continued with the recommended food but he now gets much longer walks. Also I encourgage her to run more (rather than troting along side of me the whole way) using balls. Shes now a huge fetch fan and loves charging up and down hills after a ball. It really helps keep him fit rather than under fed if that makes sense.

[Nicola]

Burns is quite good for dogs that tend to put on weight easily, you can probably get away with feeding a bit more of it as it's lower in calories. You could also look at bulking out her food with vegetables so she'll feel like she's eating more but it won't make her put on weight. Steady road walking and lots of fetching is good for burning fat too.

[puppy love]

I personally wouldn't even contemplate Burns again, yes it really helps weight loss and is a very healthy food but my dog my 2 were STARVING on it, and to feed more was not beneficial to them as they just pooed a lot more. Just my opinion though, lots of dogs thrive on it. 

[Jessie_Pup]

Had a problem with Jessie too on Burns.    My two are fed the Barking Heads and they have just brought a light food call "Fat Dog Slim".  Dylan is just changing to their new senior food.

[elaine.e]

I'm a Burns fan, having switched William to it a couple of years ago after I found his weight difficult to maintain on both JWB and Arden Grange Light, both of which also made him throw up small amounts of yellow bile several times a week. He's now on Burns in the morning and raw food in the evening.

9 month old Louis is also on Burns, morning and evening for him. He was on the puppy version until 6 months and then gradually switched to the adult version. Both of them get a chicken wing once or twice a week, plus various treats and usually some raw carrot every day. They thrive on it.

As it happens I'm about to switch them both to a raw diet, having read good reviews about Natural Instinct on here and talked to the company at Crufts. But that's not a reflection on Burns, simply going back to how I fed my first Cockers 23 years ago before there was such a bewildering choice of complete foods and when vets didn't almost universally try to steer you towards complete foods.