New Foster Corgi - overweight and looking for advice
Hello everyone
So this evening we brought home a 7 year old female spayed corgi from the shelter to foster as she was stressed out in the shelter and not doing to great. Obviously I cant say alot about her personality since she only arrived a few hours ago but we all went outside and sat in the park and I gave her a brush which got about a gargabe bag of fur out! :( Anyways Astrid is obese, we havent weighed her but she is probably about 40 pounds (possibly a bit more) She struggles to walk but did great tonight and had us all giggling with her running attempts. Needless to say we will be putting her on a diet but I was curious what we should be feeding. The shelter was of no help and really didnt eve consider her over weight but also didnt know much about her breed as it is not a popular breed in Quebec. She seems to be fairly food obsessed as the only way I could get her around the apartment tonight was with a carrot :) Her hips do not seem too great and we will most likely have her checked out at a vet but it will be at our cost so may take a week or two... I was considering waiting to see if loosing weight would help. Any advice on feeding would be great!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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I would feed her a good quality food 2X's a day but start by giving her 1/3 of that food in veggies such as green beans,carrots, pumpkin. and other such things. So if you gave her 1 cup per day then give her 2/3rds cup of the kibbles and 1/3 (or more) of veggies and also use veggies for treats. It might be that due to no exercise and the wrong food she has turned this way. Start out slow with exercise and increase. Thanks for taking on this poor girl! I can't wait to hear updates on her! It sounds like she really wants to run and play so this is good!
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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How generous of you to take her in. I agree with Jane; I'd give her 1/3 cup AM and 1/3 cup PM of a decent-quality regular kibble (not a high-calorie performance kibble), mixed with some green beans or canned pumpkin to fill out her diet. I would also take her for several short walks a day, and gradually increase the distance as she gains fitness.
If she needs to go to less food than that, personally I'd want to talk to a vet about supplements, as she may not be able to meet her nutritional needs. As far as getting ration advice from a vet, my experience is that most vets are stunned by how little food a Corgi needs to maintain and/or lose weight, since it's much less than most other breeds of similar size.
If you have a relationship with any Corgi breeders, they are also a great source of information.
Keep us posted!
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Permalink Reply by Michelle on
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Weight loss is probably the best med. for those hips! Good luck and thank you for taking her in.
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Just one more thought....vets sometimes carry food that is not the best such as Science Diet and may recommend a food that they carry...please read the labels! My vet just started to carry Canidae but that is because a tech there uses it. Very good idea as Beth mentioned to ask about supplements. That's great also if she likes carrotts!
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Permalink Reply by justine moeller on
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At the shelter they gave us Hills Science but we are going to give her Orijen I think. She did not eat this morning so that could be stress. I think we are going to splruge on a groomer fr her today! Wish us luck...
Thanks for the great relplies. I think we are going to start with 1/3 of a cup twice a day with veggies and lots of water :)
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Regular Orijen is almost 500 cal/cup and 40% protein. For an obese dog who can't run, that might be very rich.
There are a million different opinions out there on foods, of course. :-) Personally I would be afraid of that high a protein level in a dog getting such light work. Other people feel differently.
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Thanks Beth. I am going to look into it today. For now she will stay on it because thats what we have in the house and I dont like Hills Science food they gave us. It may be fine but Mickey had alot of problems on it when we first got him.
I am gonna get this girl thin. I am awiting her arrival from the groomer. I ca not wait to see what she looks like!
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Permalink Reply by Joey Nolegs Gilbert on
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We feed Joey only 1/3 cup of raw food like Stella and Chewey and Party Animal canned 2X a day along with frozen green beans. Table scraps if healthy. Walk him and play twice a day. Don't play him at that weight. But long hour long walks. Got to get that weight down or he will get bad legs and his heart is being taxed. AVOID DRY CRAPPY DOG FOOD IN BAG. Avoid grain dog food. Give him quality dog food like raw but less.
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Permalink Reply by Alison Prasavath on
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Noodles has been on a low-fat diet and green beans, peas or carrots for over a year and has lost quite a bit of weight. He loves getting baby carrots as treats, but he enjoys playing with them if I don't cut them up. Quite a few of Noodles friends are also on the "green bean" diet, so we compare how much weight all of ours have lost. Good luck and I can't weight to see pictures and here more updates.
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Permalink Reply by Beth DeGrave on
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(I know this post was some time ago) But I have a general weight question. In this you mentioned that she was at 40lbs. My corgi weighs 42 pounds and looks as healthy as can be. I am currently baby sitting his brother who is extremely over weight now. I have not weighed him but I bet he weighs every bit over 50 lbs. I need some good advise for him. I have completly cut him off of any people food. He is getting about a cup in the morning and evening. I am finding him not eating good. I think that he is having anxiety from being in a different place. What can I put him on to get some of this weight off. I am going to try the pumpkin in his food to see if he would eat it. Tebow eats carrots but he won't. So I am trying to get him to play some and getting him walking as much as I can. I really need some advise.
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Permalink Reply by Karen Dadisman on
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If he's getting 2 cups of food a day, that's too much. Cut him back to 3/4 cup morning and evening for a week and then cut him back to 1/2 cup morning and evening. My dogs love frozen green beans straight from the freezer. I use the kind in the bag and just pour out what I need. Don't use canned, too much salt. I think they like the crunchy part of the frozen. They will eat them as treats also. Use a good quality kibble, not the cheap grocery store kind. Limit treats to veggies or even apple slices. Don't fall for the starving corgi look! Be tough!!
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