Please tell me about the use of green beans or pumpkin to supplement the dog food. I am closely watching Cooper's weight because I want to keep her at an optimum weight for a dog of her size.

We are feeding her Science Diet. I see that I have perhaps been feeding her more than I should since most discussions indicate ½ to ¼ of a cup twice a day. I have been giving her 3/4 C twice a day.

She get very excited about her food and acts starved so I am looking for ways to help her feel fuller without putting on extra weight. I put a small handful in her bowl, let her eat it and then add another handful so she doesn’t gobble it so fast. It has slowed her down.

I look forward to your comments

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We feed ours Hills Science since day one. We feed them once a day with 1 cup. When Vienna was overweight a couple of years ago (we used to feed her 2 cups/day), we cut down to 3/4 per day. She slowly lost her excess weight and have been trim and fit ever since. They are now 6 years old.

A month ago, we were fostering Skippy a 3 yr old intern and he was 40 lbs, we started feeding him 3/4 / day and walk him 1 mile daily, he just left us last Saturday and he was 37lbs, so there's really no magic to it, just exercise and eat less :)
hmmm - just like people - eat less, move more!
Thanks.
If a dog is excessively overweight it is better to decrease intake slowly then to have them lose weight drastically. Like Sam said..its not magic its simple food moderation and exercise and the amounts of kibble depends on what your feeding the activity level of that dog. Just like people..some need more then others.
Cooper isn't overweight but I wanted to find out more about the green bean and pumpkin comments I had been reading about in another discussion.
Thanks
I placed my Malubi who is a Cardi onto California Natural Weight control. She was having a cup of food a day 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 at night. Since we cut back She still gets her 1/2 cup in the morning and only a 1/4 cup at night but I do give her green beans at night as a filler. I use canned but no salt added. She is slowly comming down in weight so it does take time.
Our Bunni was overweight and causing her to limp...Vet said she was showing some early signs of arthritis because the xrays looked fine. We were afraid that it might be hip dyslpasia or something. Fortunately it's something we can deal with by changing her feeding habits. We are currently on Royal Canin SO14 for a UTI she had but it's not the greatest food. We'll be switching to Hills Science cuz it has more protein and higher ratings as far as food content. She's dropped from 39lbs to 32lbs so far. 3 cups a day. we'll be tryin the green beans as some filler too as stated in this thread.

the downside...she's not happy with her diet so she's resorted to gnawing on the wooden stair banister base..."don't worry bunni, you'll get that figure you've always dreamed of".
Tedi had a bad shoulder...believe he got it when hearding bugs in the back yard and ran into the block wall. We used to give him glucosamine/chondrotin "goodie". Found some at Petco, can't remember the brand was in a gold package. We gave him one in the am & one in the pm. They really helped him.
Ginny gets 1/2 of a cup twice a day. We use the "treatstik" to feed her. http://www.treatstik.com. The one we use hold almost exactly 1/2 of a cup. It is like a puzzle and she has to work to get her food out. It definitely takes her longer to eat. It's great because it gives her something to do when I leave for the day and makes her eat slower. She's on the slim/slender side (you can probably tell from her pics). I could probably give her more food, but I also like to give her treats and bully sticks occassionally, so I guess it's better to keep it on the lower range. The higher the quality of food, the less you have to feed them. It has more nutrition packed into it and less filler. Ginny gets a very good quality food and has lots of energy and a beautiful coat. My mother has a cocker spaniel with a thyroid condition, so she gets green beans as filler. It was recommend by the vet so she would feel more full without the added calories.
Ginny,

I've been looking for something to slow down Augustus' eating and I think the treatstik is the perfect solution. What size do you use?

Thanks,
Lisa,
Charlie gets 1/2 to 3/4 a cup of natural balance 2 times a day. I add about 1/4 cup of frozen green beans right out of the freezer and he loves them. He has lost 8 lbs in the last year and has a nice defined waist. I can tell he feels better and he has a lot more energy.

As you can see by Charlie's picture, he dreams about food. Don't fall for the starved corgi act. Charlie would eat 24 hours a day if he could. He recently got in the dog food bag and ate until he was sick.
Algy is on steroids for a blood condition and gained weight fast! He was always a little big for a corgi - too tall and paws too big for the breed standard. We put him on the pumpkin diet about a year and a half ago and he lost 20 pounds and has kept it off. He gets about 1/2 cup of pumpkin with his 1/2 cup dry food (prescription diet brand w/d) - we mix that in with a little warm water, twice a day. For treats he gets Veterinary Select - they are like little rice cakes for dogs and they come in lamb and chicken flavor.

He seems to still love the pumpkin and although he gobbles when he eats (he hates coming up for air) he is doing much better weight wise!
I had no luck with veggies -- Bertie spit out all the (carefully chopped up!) green beans, carrots, etc. and left them in a circle around his bowl. I was told not to go to wild with the green beans, as they were not good them in excess (I don't remember why, sadly). I have yet to find a veggie/filler that Bertie likes, so I just fed him a little less and exercised him a little more when his weight climbed too high. Remember, all Corgis are born actors; my dogs are "starving" mere seconds after eating a nice bowl of kibble! You have to be strong!

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