How much should I feed my overweight Corgi?
Hi all. I found out today that Heidi weighs 28lbs. This is not a total disaster, but it's still about 5 or 6 pounds heavier than she needs to be. I've known for awhile that she's chubby, and haven't been totally sure what to do about it. By necessity, she's mostly an outside dog. I know everyone here probably feels like that is an injustice, and believe me, I'd let her inside if I could. But I don't own the house I'm living in - it's sort of a unique situation - and it's not my choice. She has a nice pen with hay to absorb moisture, and it gets cleaned regularly so she isn't running around in her own waste. She has a dog house raised up off the ground, toys, food, water, shade, etc. I'm also going to see about getting her one of those baby wading pools, even though last summer I got her one and she didn't really like it much. Maybe she'll change her mind. :)
I had a baby 3 months ago (single mom) and so Heidi hasn't gotten as much exercise as usual since I've been taking care of the baby. Before that, we were walking several times a day. But I've had a teen helper to help take care of Heidi while I'm getting back in the swing of things and she's done well. Now it's late June in SW Tennessee, and HOT!!! So I'm not sure how to go about increasing her exercise when there's a heat advisory as it is. I can't take my baby out in those kind of temperatures. I plan to try to start walking a little at night if possible, but it's just difficult with trying to get the baby to bed and nurse every 2 hours, etc.
My main question is, how much do we need to be feeding her? That seems to be a little bit of the problem - she's getting too much food. The other part of the problem is the need for more exercise. I'll try to figure that out next. How much do you feed your Corgis?
I feed her Beneful's Healthy Weight formula. I live in a small town and they don't carry most specialty foods. Anybody have any suggestions? I've been told not to believe what it says on the bag.
I had a baby 3 months ago (single mom) and so Heidi hasn't gotten as much exercise as usual since I've been taking care of the baby. Before that, we were walking several times a day. But I've had a teen helper to help take care of Heidi while I'm getting back in the swing of things and she's done well. Now it's late June in SW Tennessee, and HOT!!! So I'm not sure how to go about increasing her exercise when there's a heat advisory as it is. I can't take my baby out in those kind of temperatures. I plan to try to start walking a little at night if possible, but it's just difficult with trying to get the baby to bed and nurse every 2 hours, etc.
My main question is, how much do we need to be feeding her? That seems to be a little bit of the problem - she's getting too much food. The other part of the problem is the need for more exercise. I'll try to figure that out next. How much do you feed your Corgis?
I feed her Beneful's Healthy Weight formula. I live in a small town and they don't carry most specialty foods. Anybody have any suggestions? I've been told not to believe what it says on the bag.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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I don't know much about beniful. Could you cut down on that and add green beans or pumkin? Hopefully you can get some walking in at night. Also if she is a large corgi she would be at the hight but not overweight! Sounds like you're dealing with things the best you can! can you play ball in the yard with her while the baby is sleeping? Good Luck!
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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If you don't have many options, you might want to switch to Iam's or Purnina One; both are often in grocery stores and they have more meat protein and less cereal protein.
With either Iam's or Purina, I would feed two-thirds of a cup to one cup a day, mixed with green beans or canned pumpkin and divided over two feedings, to lose weight. I can't say how much Beneful but it's probably more than that as it's lower meat protein and more cereal.
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Permalink Reply by Judi, Dawn, Soffie & Griffyn on
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If you can't switch to a better food, then I'd say cut way back on the amount of kibble you're feeding her and as Jane and Beth suggest, I too am an advocate of green beans and canned pumpkin.
When Soffie needed to lose weight (she was 39 pounds) we switched her dry food to Wellness healthy weight. We feed her 1/4 cup in the AM and 1/4 in the PM. And we supplement with green beans. We use the grocery store brand (whichever store we happen to be shopping in) FROZEN cut green beans. Both Soffie and Griffyn love them!! They gobble them up like candy! We give them about 3/4 cup after they have eaten their kibble. We "serve" them right out of the bag frozen!!
End result.... Soffie went from 39 pounds to 27 pounds, which for her is a good weight because she is larger than standard. Griffyn had hit 29 pounds, we feed him slightly more that 1/4 cup in the AM and PM. His weight dropped to 26 pounds. (time period for Soffie's total weight loss was from July 2009 to Feb 2010)
Our vet is who recommended green beans. They are a good source of fiber, and don't add any fat to the diet, but it fills them up and they're satisfied.
We used to fill their kongs with canned pumpkin (plain... no spices or anything added) and then freeze them. This would be their night time treat. But..... since the pumpkin shortage..... we can't find canned pumpkin anymore. So, we actually stuff their kongs with the frozen green beans!
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Permalink Reply by Cody, Carly, Addie, and Becki on
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When I was feeding Beneful and trying to get Cody to lose weight that I needed to cut the serving suggestion by a cup to two cups depending on how well he started to lose weight. He also said to add pumpkin or green beans to fill his tummy up and keep him from eating things he shouldnt.
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Permalink Reply by Allison Musick on
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I am definitely going to get Heidi some green beans...I hope she likes them! Not sure if canned pumpkin is a rarity around here but I'll look. Thanks for the tips! I am going to keep trying to strategize on how to get her more exercise as well - we could both use it! :)
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Permalink Reply by Vee Luther on
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I feed smartpak chicken and brown rice. That company, which you can find online, delivers the kibble to you monthly. My costs are about $15 a month for each dog....they carry wellness and other brands, too. And several weight management brands. If you call them, their reps are really wonderful over the phone and can help you select the right brand and amount.
So my gues (at 28 and 30 lbs) get 1/2 cup a.m. and p.m. It comes it little packets so I don't have to measure it at all. I feed a little less so that I can give them treats--usually a biscuit of some sort 2 x a day.
I'm really a fan of smartpak's delivery and rationing plans...take a look at them www.smartpak.com
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Permalink Reply by Carla on
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As a replacement for canned pumpkin, particularly if you're looking for something to freeze into a Kong, unsweetened applesauce is a good alternative. In terms of caloric intake, 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce contains just about the same amount of calories as compared to 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin (50 calories to 45 calories, respectively). The applesauce does have more carbohydrates and about 1/2 as much fiber (4 grams of fiber in 1/2 cup of pumpkin compared to 2 grams in the same amount of unsweetened applesauce) but if you have no pumpkin, the applesauce can be a delicious treat alternative, especially in the heat.
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Permalink Reply by Laurie on
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Our Georgie is on Science Diet WD which is a prescription diet. He also gets green beans and carrots. We have been trying to get George to lose weight on our own but we weren't having a lot of success so we contacted our vet and she wants us to try the WD for a month and if he doesn't lose anything she wants to test his thyroid level.
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Update: Heidi does not like green beans, which is really too bad since it's so hot here and it would make a nice frozen snack for her. But I guess we'll try the pumpkin next, and maybe some applesauce for a treat. She has a Kong ball. The opening is pretty large but maybe if I freeze it, it will work okay.
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Permalink Reply by Jessica on
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A friend of mine had her corgi mix on Beneful and she didn't have whole lot of luck on it either... in addition it gets a one star rating on Dog Food Analysis (one of my favorite all time sites). Generally speaking the less healthy a food is then the more the dog will need to eat to get what they need from it. In a case like Beneful, the food is high in calories but has very few good things for the dog, so they have to eat a lot to stay healthy and they put on weight.
I agree with everyone else that augmenting the food with green beans or pumpkin would work well - but I'd recommend switching to something a little better if you can.
I did a quick search for some foods that might be available at your local grocery stores and be better quality. If you have a Publix near you than I think they carry is Newman's Own Organics which is a solid three star food. If you shop at Wal-mart then go to the MAXXIMUM Nutrition Adult Recipe Lamb & Rice Formula - another solid three star. Go to Costco? Try the Kirkland Signature Range - one more big-box store three star.
Sounds like life is stressful right now - Good luck and let us know how it goes!
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I will look for these foods. We live in a really small town so even the WalMart (which is the only major store here) does not carry everything a WalMart in a bigger city would. The nearest Publix is 3 hours away. But there is a Sam's Club about 45 mins away and if I found something better there, I could just buy it in bulk and go there less often. I'll check the small grocery stores we have around here too. Thanks for the suggestions!
I hadn't realized Beneful was so bad... :-(
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Update: Heidi is doing much better! She has lost some weight once we stopped over feeding her like we had been, and she gets a little more exercise these days too. She actually looks really good. I have not switched her food yet b/c I'd just bought a big new bag when I posted this, but she's out of it now and I'm going to look for some of the foods suggested in the discussion so she's getting a better and more balanced diet of what she really needs. Thanks everyone for your help! :)
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