![]() Adjusting My Dog's Dietīecause Sydney needed to lose weight, I decided not to use training treats to encourage her to walk. The rest days gave her muscles and joints time to relax, preventing further injury. Other times, she'd join us outside and relax in the shade. Sometimes she'd stay in the house while I took the other dogs outside. Living with multiple dogs means walking and playing daily, so I appreciated those rest days too. I learned that it's important to have rest days. It was so much fun waiting to see what she wanted to do each day. Sometimes, we'd do laps around the property and walk the neighbor's trails. I let her decide where we'd go to keep our walks fun. She'd roll down hills, headbutt me in the legs, and then run ahead only to come right back. Sydney was such a silly girl, and it showed when she was having fun. When I'd walk with her, sharing details of my day, she seemed happier and walked with me for longer. The podcasts/books created a distance, and Sydney appeared to be less engaged in our walks. But I found she had more fun by leaving my phone in the house and focusing 100% on my dog. I love listening to podcasts and Audible books while walking the dogs. A year after we started walking, she would go on short (1/2 mile) runs with me. By slowly increasing her endurance, I could decrease how often she needed pain medication and prevent further injury. She'd sit down when she was finished walking, and we'd return to the house. I was able to extend our walks because I didn't push Sydney. We started with 15-minute walks and eventually worked our way up to walking around our property several times. Because Sydney was more comfortable at home, we began walking around the yard daily. We live on five acres, and our neighbor created a walking trail on his property that he allows us to use. Due to her arthritis and injury, she couldn't go on long walks. I made a mistake trying to get Sydney to walk like our other dogs. The following are steps that I took to help Sydney lose weight. Overweight and obese dogs have an increased risk of:Īfter having Sydney's thyroid tested a couple of times, it was clear that her weight issue was due to lifestyle and diet. After a lot of research, chatting with other raw feeders, and working with her veterinarian, Sydney lost twenty pounds – dropping from 85 to 65 pounds. My dog needed to lose weight, but she was my couch potato, she was living with a partial cruciate tear and arthritis, and no matter how much I decreased her meals, she wasn't losing weight. Hopefully these guidelines will help your dog develop healthy weight-loss habits.Years ago, one of our dogs was fat, and I took some flack on social media. We know how important a healthy weight is for your dog’s health and happiness. Making sure treats comprise no more than 10% of his daily caloric intake.įor the best chance of successful weight loss, work with your veterinarian to make a comprehensive, customized plan for your dog.Completely cutting out table scraps from his diet.Making sure to walk your dog or provide him with some form of exercise every day. ![]()
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