So I have a Cardi (Female) who is 33 lbs and I keep being told she is overweight and now someone said she is obese. She was getting a cup a day of purina pro plan select and now is on California Natural weight control. How fast do they lose weight?. She does get exercise mostly everyday but I feel bad if I cut back on her food.I feel like I am starving her. I have tried using green beans/ rice but nothing seems to help. She does get the occasional lamb jerky or a rawhide but no table scrapes Any suggestions?.

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I was giving Brodey a cup a day. Well, a half a cup twice a day. Last vet visit, he said to cut it by half. I feel like I'm starving him. It looks like five pieces of food when I feed him. He has lost weight and it has been a little over a month. I can see a waist now. He was 42 lbs when I took him in, but he is larger than the standard, I think. He is 13 - 14 inches tall. He hates the tape measure, so an accurate reading is impossible. If he got down to 30 lbs, he would be skin and bones. I've been told by most vets and Corgi folks that as long as you can see a definite waist, they are probably fine. Cardis are usually bigger than Pems anyway, right?
I used the green bean diet with Lizzie and it took a long time, but she has lost almost ten pounds. She is a pem and weighed in at 37 pounds before she lost the weight. I didn't think it was working at first. The rice will add too many calories so if you were using green beans, kibble and rice you might not have been cutting back enough. Lizzie gets about 1/4 cup kibble and probably close to 1/2 cup green beans 2 x a day. She eats it very fast so I will add a baby carrot or two so she has to eat around them. Then when she finishes the "good stuff" she will also eat the carrots. I never did use a weight control food, just high quality. She goes between Canidae and Natures Variety-Instinct. She thinks I'm starving her, but since the weight came off slo slowly I know she is getting enough. She finally has a waistline again! We are working on maintenance right now. I will keep her on the green beans, she really enjoys them. She enjoys carrots as snacks, but I will also splurge on her now and again so she doesn't feel too deprived. No more table scraps. You won't be starving her, but she will act as if she is...that is the Corgi way! Those sad "hungry" eyes will work their guilt magic on you, but stay strong. I will say the patience with the diet has paid off. Lizzie is a much happier dog and I see the puppy in her again. She is five. It was probably a good six months to get the wieght down.
Tank is a corgi mix and is about 33-34 lbs. And that's slim. Not thin, but lean. And it's a good weight. He gets Natural Balance Ultra Premium and 1-1/2 cups per day. That keeps him at the right weight. We've never resorted to the green bean diet. The people who had Moira (remember her? our 48 lb. corgi) did the whole green bean thing and it didn't work well. What works is the same as what works for people: limit the food to the appropriate amount, limit treats and snacks, and exercise the daylights out of 'em!
We do the raw-meat thing for largely historical reasons (our first corgi had allergy problems that seemed to go away on raw meat). There's a local company that delivers it frozen to our door. They get a little kibble too. But regardless of diet, if you restrict the caloric intake, the animal will lose weight. Make sure they're not sneaking food, like from the neighbor's pet. Keep treats minuscule (a dog treat need not be bigger than a match head). Yes, you are starving your dog. It will live healthier and longer than if it is overweight. Apparently corgies, like other mammals, get fat really easily.

And what a gorgeous corgi!

About exercise: I believe McConnell wrote in "The Other End of the Leash" that 'a couple of leash walks a day won't even get a Welsh corgi warmed-up.' I concur. IF a corgi gets the chance to work up to a certain level of fitness, it will outwalk any human (Gwynnie, a 21 lb. corgi, went 23 mi. in 14 hrs. with 8000' of total elevation gain once). As with any fitness regimen, add physical challenges gradually ("10% a month"?). Don't do a marathon on your first jog, but don't underestimate a corgi.
Mostly everyday? It sounds to me like she doesn't need less food, but more exercise! Does she like to play fetch or run around? Don't worry, you're not starving her. Corgis are just like that. My Theo could eat 10 pounds of food and still give you the "I haven't eaten for a week!" look. Hehe. And remember, if dogs are anything like people, it's not good for them to lose weight too fast. Maybe 1/2 a pound per week is normal? Good luck!
Charlie is a supersized corgi and we struggle with his weight. I add greenbeans to his dry food - 1/2 to 1/3 cup twice daily. He has lost weight and I can tell he feels better. He is much more active and plays with his 1 year brother much more My vet says as long as he has a waist and we can feel his ribs he is in a good weight range. He is much bigger than a pem should be, I call him my corgizilla. Are you falling for the "I'm starving look"? Charlie, as you can see by his picture LOVES food. He will eat until he's literally sick. They can be very manipulative and seem to know how to make you feel guilty with the "look". Don't fall for it. It is very important to keep a corgi in good weight to keep them from having back problems and joint problems.
Our dogs were on iVet, because our vet had recommended. I didn't find it to be a great food. Pandora lost a lot of weight that she did not need to lose. I just wasn't happy with the results. We are now feeding Blue Buffalo and everyone is happy.

Raylyn- Just as an FYI, writing in all caps is considered yelling on the internet. It is harder for people to read too.
I have two cardis. We use green beans and cottage cheese and step up the walking schedule when i feel they need a slim down. You can give her more green beans so she feels like she is getting enough and maybe 1/4 of a cup of cottage cheese. This pracitice has been sactioned by our reputable breeders. For us it does not take so long, but my two stay outside and active for aprox 5.5 hours a day and some walking when we are in weight loss mode. PS our breeder indicated that they liked to see a "waistline"---not skinny ribs. My male is unusually large boned so even when he has his waistline he is somewhat larger than his peers. Sometimes it is just body type----also beware of people that are sometimes making unfair compairisons to Pemmies (nothing wrong with those) but they are of smaller frame and stature than cardies. Just food or thought.
thanks i should have clarified that we do not give kibble when we are doing our green been cottage cheese regm. however we continue to give them their milk bone treats 2 in the morning and two in the afternoon.
could you give me more information on the green beans and cottage cheese? Peanut has always been around 19 -22lbs...until our son started eating food. I didn't notice the pounds creeping up on her, but my husband did. I'd like to see her lose about 8-10lbs. Her main diet is a raw food diet.
We feed once daily at night so what ever your normal feed schedule is substitute green beans and cottage cheese for their nomal kibble or can food. I normally give my female (she is closer in size to Peanut) about a half a can of green beans and about a quarter of a cup of cottage cheese (we use lowfat). If Peanut acts like she is feeling deprived give her a few more green beans they are practically calorie free. Your dog will love it if your corgi is anything like ours. We even continue to give them a couple of "cookies" (medium size milk bones) as that has become a part of our fun time. We walk them just a little extra - maybe an extra 10 minutes a day and you will be suprised at how quickly you start seeing that waistline again. We normally are able to go back to our normal slighly downsized diet withing 7 days. Sometimes we have to do this once a year or so with our male. Our female is skinny minnie but begs for the cottage cheese when she smells it so cottage cheese for all!!!! Good luck!
I would just like to thank you all for your comments. I just love this type of forum and the wonderful people who want to help out. I have cut back on her food to 1/2 cup in the morning and then 1/4 cup at night with no salt green beans. She also has a 2 year vet check up tomorrow and I am going to have blood work down with thyroid. She has never had blood work done yet. I will keep you informed as we go.

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