ACD Weight, Food, Advice/thoughts appreciated

[tiswell]

Please read in full before responding, thank you. =)

I went to the vet 6 months ago and my dog weighed in at 60 pounds and they told me he is overweight. Milo is a purebred ACD from Petland and will be 2 yrs old in march. Ever since we got him he's been steadily gaining weight. We switched to Purina's weight management food and today he weighed in at 70 pounds. The vet recommended i lower his food and treat intake. He is a active dog and does not get any people food. About a week ago i started mixing the dog food with 4Health to switch my dogs over to this brand that I heard was good. I probably give him around 5 or 6 small treats a day. I don't measure out how much food i give him as i have never had to do this with any other dog. I fill his food bowl ( which I just measured holds 2 cups of dry food). He usually eats it all but not always in one sitting. then id say I normally add another scoop (1 cup) sometimes 2 in the evening and he almost never eats it all. Is he not getting enough exercise? i play fetch with him and he runs around the backyard. Granted our property is only 0.17 acres with a house on it. Every month he goes to doggy daycare for 2 days to get in socialization. He Loves people and is a good boy, I want to help him be healthy and live long. Also sometimes as a snack I will give him a spinach leaf, a piece of broccoli, or a piece of cheese but that is rarely.

any advice helps! what do you give your ACD's?

what dog food do you think is best?

https://preview.redd.it/4gb6ss9ppeg...bp&s=81b796e876f8cb7855183b8d5c0ad9885e93d1ac

https://preview.redd.it/7ynbvuorpeg...bp&s=e951499a09f48c07eb5570e69cb772a944aa99cc

https://preview.redd.it/oxxzzmzupeg...bp&s=fb8f1d0056d7c9555062cee3ea4b5eb7112c1231

I edited to add some images of my ACD =) these are all recent.

 

[mariangel]

@tiswell It sounds like you’re definitely over feeding him. I feed about 3/4 cup in the morning and 3/4 at dinner. My dogs are normal weight. You can always supplement with some canned pumpkin for volume if you think he’s not feeling full. Pumpkin is low in calories. Good luck!

 

[mss91z28]

@mariangel This is the way!

My girl is about 40lbs at an ideal weight and only needs 6 ounces of kibble and 4 ounces of canned pumpkin a day to maintain. It looks like so little food but she's so healthy!

 

[celticrebel]

@mss91z28 Our heeler got up to 60 pounds. We did this too, and my wife was sure we were starving him to death, and he acted like we were, but he barely lost any weight for a long time. I told her that he would lose at least a pound before he starved to death.

 

[mariangel]

@tiswell Just saw the pics… he’s super handsome! He’ll be happier and healthier if you can get some weight off of him. It’ll be easier on his joints as he gets older.

 

[cynthschatz]

@tiswell 2 cups of food twice a day is a lot of food~

My dog was getting maybe 3 cups total of dry food per day as an active puppy and that was like on the higher side when they need more calories.

 

[kathrynjones]

@tiswell Mine gets about 1.5 cups each day with regular exercise and he’s about 57 lbs, but looks more lean than yours. I went from doing two meals a day at about 2.5 cups as he was growing to the 1.5 each morning of the 4health with some supplements added in. He loves it. I get the Back40 pumpkin and kelp supplements. Mix in some water to mix the powder and soften the dried kelp. He’s less gassy after I started adding the pumpkin supplement as well

 

[tiswell]

@kathrynjones My ACD has been unusually gassy so thats funny you mention that. where do you get your supplements from?

 

[kathrynjones]

@tiswell Gut health is really important and poor gut health typically leads to gas and loose bowel movements. The Back40dogs brand is really good. They’ve recently gotten their supplements on Amazon, so purchasing and shipping is pretty easy

 

[ponder7]

@tiswell If your dog managed to gain ten pounds in 6 months as a young adult, then yeah you're way overfeeding him. This breed can't be trusted to free feed because they're too food-motivated. They also hold onto their calories really efficiently (working breed I guess?), so upping the exercise without reducing food is unlikely to help. Comparing volumes of different foods is also not as meaningful without an actual calorie comparison, since some foods are much more calorically dense than others. How many calories are there in 1 cup (aka 250 ml) of your dog's current food?

I've been in the same situation with my adult rescue. Despite being active (3 hrs+ of outside walking/play a day) he also gained 10 lbs his first yr with us when we were still figuring out his needs in terms of food, exercise, etc. He always acts hungry and has never left available food uneaten, even if he ends up vomiting it back up later. For us, what worked was calorie counting: we figured out what he was eating on an average day at the time, then decreased that amount by 10% every 2-3 weeks, rinse and repeat, until he could maintain a healthy weight. Adding some green beans to his meals helped him feel more full without too many calories. Going from 55lbs to 46 lbs (1300 to 950 daily calories) took us like 9, 10 months of math and resisting puppydog eyes, but at least we can feel his ribs again lol. Currently he eats 1.75 cups of Purina Pro Plan a day plus a few small treats here and there. Good luck, you got this!

 

[itisi]

@tiswell Mine both got a big coffee cup full of Blue Buffalo in the morning and at night, and every couple days, they'd get some Dinovite sprinkled on it. Both stayed athletic lean to 10+ years, then they got lazy, and became fat girls ....lol

 

[kathleenloveschrist]

@tiswell Yeah he’s a little chubby! Mine is about 57 lbs but he gets 1.25-1.5 cups split into half, and then treats (we try to limit but he’s also in a lot of training currently).

 

[uncertainthomas]

@tiswell Ours is 62lbs @ 2 years old, but his entire family line is on the larger side. He looks much leaner than your pup though. Maybe different height and lengths so the proportions cause the chunky look?

We feed ours Stella & Chewy’s, 2.5 cups per day. We have to feed him 3-4 times a day to prevent bile throw up due to his extremely fast metabolism. Since switching to Stella’s he’s never thrown up and his weight has been steady for a year.

We do Atleast 3 off leash walks (5km) a week and regular walks/ training/ and mental stimulation mixed in between depending on weather and our schedule.

We also did a genetic test on him. No issues present and his ideal weight is 58lbs.

 

[tiswell]

Update: so far he hasn’t been taking the changes well at all. He often licks his empty food bowl and acts like I’m starving him. But we’re sticking to it. Will do another update during his next weigh-in at the vet on the 2nd of next month.