Poppy Pops The Question

It’s a busy place with lots of keyboard tapping and important sounding talk going on.

While I’m relaxing in my bed with a good rawhide chew, I get to overhear about all the key and current issues in the dog world.  I got to thinking that perhaps I ought to share some of this info with all of my friends on the web (not that I’m a gossip), and I thought that maybe you’d like to join in too.

I hope you’ll enjoy seeing what I’ve got to bark about and join me in some healthy doggy discussion by emailing me your opinions on the current subject at poppy@dogstrust.org.uk  If you’ve got something important to say, we’ll post your reply for everyone to see – but please remember that your comments may be subject to some editing by my two legged colleagues. 

Is your hound piling on the pounds?

Hello.  It’s Poppy the office lurcher here.

I guess I’m lucky, because being a lurcher I naturally tend to be a bit of a skinny Minnie – although some of that is down to the amount of running I get up to on the heath; half-heartedly chasing bunnies and dive-bombing my elderly collie sister, Meg.

Meg on the other hand, is now 13 years old, has arthritis and is, (even she would have to admit), a bit on the porky side. She blames her age and mobility issues, and I guess you could blame our owner – however, from an evolutionary point of view, food is incredibly important to us - if we don’t have enough food, or we’ve been starved in the past (as Meg was before she came to live with our human), we constantly feel stressed about when the next meal will be - so is it fair to reduce the amount of food a dog gets because they’re overweight?

So what’s wrong with being overweight?
Dogs that are overweight may have a number of health problems, including greater stress on their skeleton and on their organs, such as the heart and lungs. Some vets say that they also have a higher risk of injury, or of complications in surgery or when giving birth. It also makes us feel really uncomfortable - especially in the heat, and prevents us from moving normally. Ultimately though, it could take years off your dog’s life.

In addition, with the introduction of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (England and Wales) and the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, it is now a legal requirement that people ensure the welfare of the animals in their care – this includes making sure they have the correct diet and exercise appropriate for keeping them healthy.

If your dog is a healthy weight you should be able to feel his ribs, but not see them.  This will depend on coat type and breed obviously – however if you’re not sure, your vet will be able to tell you.

What if my dog is overweight?

• Speak to your vet or vet nurse. Your local vet surgery may run a free diet clinic to help your pet lose his excess weight under safe medical supervision.
• Sounds obvious, but don’t over feed your dog and avoid giving fatty or sugary human foods.
• Think about the type of food you are giving your dog – as mostly carnivores, dogs can more easily digest protein than carbohydrate-based ‘biscuity’ food. Lean meat and cooked vegetables may work better for your dog – even as a replacement for just one meal of the day. Please discuss this with your vet first though.
• If you like giving your dog treats (which of course we do love so much!), make sure they are as part of your dog’s daily ‘calorie ration’. Try vegetables or fruit, such as slices of apple or carrot – in the wild this would have formed part of our natural diet.  Do not feed your dog grapes as these can be harmful.
• Just like in humans trying to lose weight, try to increase exercise levels slowly and at your dog’s individual pace. Don’t forget that running and playing with other dogs can be better for us than chasing relentlessly after a ball.
• And to prevent stress and hunger - after a decent breakfast, consider feeding little and often throughout the day, instead of one or two large main meals. This has the added benefit of helping to burn off those calories more easily.

At the end of the day, reducing calories and increasing exercise is what will ultimately work to reduce your dog’s weight, but it’s also really important to lose weight slowly and under safe veterinary supervision. Remember also that you need to make a dietary and exercise change for your dog for life - if you return to the old way of feeding after your dog has lost the weight, the pounds could just pile back on.

I’m going to make an appointment for Meg tomorrow!
 
So, my question to you is:
How do you ensure your dog is not piling on the pounds and if he/she already has, what are you going to do about it? 

I’d love to hear your opinions and experiences so please do email me at poppy@dogstrust.org.uk.

Hello Poppy,
 
You may remember me my name is Curly and I am now 13 and although I am not hoping to take up Flyball anytime soon, I am still in good shape.
I am writing to you on behalf of my girl Pips.  Pips is now 14 and only has 3 legs. She lost one of her front legs when she was in an abusive home and left, fortunately she was taken away from her abuser, thanks to the kind rescue people.
Unfortunately, like me because of her age and disability people seemed to overlook Pips, I don't think being a short grumpy Jack Russell helped, people just didn’t seem to want her - that’s where me and Mum found her.  Pips was 8 then and she coped well without her leg, but now it’s another story, she struggles on her walks.
To walk, Pips sort of bounds. She has to jump her one good front leg forward and then the back legs, so she has to use a lot more energy up than myself when going for our walks. We would often have to stop while she lay down panting. It’s ok stopping in the sunshine but in the Winter when its cold and raining, she would lie down panting, but her little old body was shaking with cold.
Mum had an idea and got Pips her very own Wheelchair, well posh pram actually. As soon as Pips gets tired and wants to lie down Mum lifts her in her Pram and we carry on our walk until she has got her breath back and off she bounds again. We still do our walk but it takes slightly longer as we make allowances for the old lady.
Pips has become plump around the beam-end - gravity has moved everything southwards, and because of this Mum asked our Doctor, Mr Vet what he thought. He recommended maybe a change of our food, and like you said Poppy - smaller portions, and to carry on with our walks, but he also said she is in really good health for her age and not excessively overweight. She is creeping up the scale for a Jack Russell, at the moment she is in the middle range, so Mum and Mr Vet will be keeping a close eye on her. Small gentle walks for Pip and our new complete food and although Pips will never be the young girl she once was, at least she will as healthy as she can be for her age.
I think that like mum if you are not sure about why your pal has gained weight, go and ask Mr Vet, he is after-all there to help you with all your worries and if your best friend had a serious reason for gaining weight Mr Vet would be really pleased you came to him.
I myself made the suggestion of a whale-boned girdle with a reinforced gusset but for some reason Mum never took that up.
Thank you for letting me talk about our Pips.
Take care of yourself,      
Luv Curly and Pips (Merseyside)

Hi Poppy,

I know what you mean about our less active friends becoming overweight - it was a constant problem with Pippa, our springer spaniel who we sadly lost to cancer earlier this year.  We used to find however that if we bulked out her meat with a little boiled rice instead of biscuits, she found it just as satisfying.  She was also able to have injections from Mr Vet to ease her arthritis, which obviously helped her mobility.
 
Hope that useful.  Luv Tricia xx