Obesity in Canines - Is Your Dog Overweight?

Obesity in dogs is a topic close to my heart.  In October 2015, we adopted an obese 5yr old beagle named Otis, and I started researching how to safely help him lose weight.

A dog is considered overweight if she weighs 10-20% above her ideal body weight.  A dog weighing more than 20% above his ideal body weight is considered obese.

There are a lot of risks to the health of an overweight or obese dog, just like with people.  Obese dogs are more likely to experience musculoskeletal problems, cardiovascular problems, breathing problems, exercise and heat intolerance, and diseases like heart disease and diabetes.


My vet recommended that I switch Otis to a low calorie/low fat food.  She recommended Science Diet Perfect Weight, which she has fed to her own dogs.  Since most dogs can benefit from a lower fat diet, I decided that both my newly adopted beagle and my basset/beagle mix could eat the same food.  My basset needs to have grain free, though, or she suffers from nasty gastrointestinal upset.    Science Diet Perfect Weight is only 291 calories* per cup and is one of the lowest calorie foods on the market, but it contains corn, which I don't feed to my basset.

We have tried many different brands with differing levels of protein/fat/calories and different protein sources.  It even got to the point that I created a spreadsheet to keep track of the different brands and their related info, including price shopping at a couple of different stores, like www.chewy.com, www.amazon.com, and www.petsmart.com.  I read reviews from multiple sites, but relied heavily on www.dogfoodadvisor.com because I like their breakdown of each food's nutritional pros and cons.  They also have a dog food calculator that can help you figure out a baseline or general idea for how much food your dog actually needs based on activity level and weight goals.  Remember to take into account any extra treats you give, which will reduce how much food your dog needs overall.  I like rotation feeding to help change up their meals because Remy (my basset) gets bored after a few weeks to a month and starts refusing food, but also to help with if I have to change foods due to a recall or supplier shortage.

Otis lost eight pounds in eight months with a combination of increased activity (more walks, which he loves) and reducing the amount of his food and feeding a lower calorie food. This is considered a healthy weight loss.  It's slow enough that his body didn't go through severe changes but quick enough that could see that the change in food and additional exercise were actually working.

Some of the foods we had pretty good success with are:

• Earthborn Holistic Grain Free Weight Control, which has only 325 calories per cup and contains 25% protein and a mere 7% fat.  The main protein is Chicken Meal,  it comes in as large as 28 pound bags, and generally retails for about $2.11 per pound.  Chicken meal actually contains 300% more protein than regular chicken meat.  It's rated 4 stars on DFA (Dog Food Advisor).
• Another chicken meal based food is Whole Earth Farms Grain Free Healthy Weight.  This food has 29% protein, and slightly more fat at 15%.  There are 321 calories per cup, and a 25 pound bags runs around $1.62 per pound with a 4 star rating at DFA.  This was one of the most affordable brands we tried, and he did lose weight on it.
• Beef might be what your dog prefers, and Merrick makes a low calorie food called Grain Free Healthy Weight.  This food earned a 4.5 star rating from DFA, comes in a 25 pound bag at  around $2.16 per pound, and contains 32% protein, only 8% fat, and 360 calories per cup.   Neither of my dogs have lost on this, but I think it's because it's higher calorie than most of the other brands that they eat.
• The only non-grain free food we tried was Fromm Gold  Weight Control.  They do also make a grain free version with fish as the protein called Gold Coast, but their regular version has no corn, wheat, or soy so we tried it.  The main protein is turkey liver and duck, and it contains 25% protein with 10% fat, and 241 calories per cup.  It's rated 4 stars on DFA, and runs about $1.53 per pound for a 33lb bag,  This was the best value as far as cost, but my basset had some issues with it and developed a yeast infection.  
• Otis had some of the best results on Solid Gold Holistic Fit & Fabulous, which has fish/pollock as the main protein. Remy, my basset, was not a fan of the fish and refused to eat it except if she was starving.  Otis dug in with gusto.  It is not rated in DFA, but has 26% protein and only 7% fat.  It contains 330 calories per cup, comes in a  24 pound bag and costs about $2.33 per pound.

There are other foods that made my list of possibilities but that we have not yet tried (or ruled out for various reasons):

• Wellness Core Reduced Fat Grain Free, made with Turkey, and containing 33% protein, 12% fat, and 360 calories per cup. It has a five star rating from DFA and it costs about $2.26 per pound for a 26 pound bag.  I ultimately decided not to try it because of the higher calories combined with the 12% fat.  It has the same calories as the Merrick, but Merrick is lower in fat.
• Wellness Simple Limited Ingredient Grain Free Healthy Weight has 4 stars from DFA and costs about $2.08 per pound for a 24 pound bag.  It was 26% protein and only 8% fat with 394 calories per cup and the main protein being Salmon.  I opted against this for my dogs because Remy doesn't seem to care for fish and the calories were way too high.  This might be better for larger dogs who have higher caloric needs. 8/30/16 Edit: Since this was posted, we have adopted a third dog, an eight year old beagle/chihuahua mix, who turned out to possibly be allergic to chicken.  Despite the very high calories, I am transitioning all of my dogs over to this food (because it's salmon and not whitefish) and reducing the amount of kibble I feed them.  Adding water and fresh veggies (steamed green beans, raw carrots, raw celery, etc) help them feel full while they adjust to less kibble.
• Nulo Freestyle Adult Trim Grain Free has Cod as the main protein.  I really want to have my dogs try this but haven't because Remy doesn't seem to care for seafood. It has 4.5 stars from DFA, 30% protein and only 7-9% fat with 368 calories per cup. At $2.62 per pound for 24 pounds, it was a bit more expensive than I was comfortable spending for a food that Remy probably won't eat.  If your dog doesn't mind fish and you are comfortable with the price, this might be a great one to try.
• The last that I considered but haven't tried yet is Annamaet Grain Free Lean.  With 5 stars from DFA, 350 calories per cup, 33% protein and only 9% fat, this is a contender for trial in our house.  It runs about $2.34-$2.87 per pound for a 30 pound bag and has Chicken, Duck, and Herring as the protein.  It's much more expensive than the others as well.

To help prevent Otis from feeling like he was being starved, we gradually reduced the amount of kibble he was getting, and added warm water to his kibble to help fill his stomach.  We also supplemented with raw or steamed vegetables as treats instead of nutrition-empty biscuits.  He really enjoys steamed sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and carrots.  He eats raw green pepper and celery, too.  He likes raw or steamed apples, and loves bananas.  Once or twice a day, I give him one of my three-ingredient canine cookies, as they are high in fiber and help keep his digestive system running smoothly.

Unfortunately, as the weather got too hot, I got lazy and stopped walking him except on weekend mornings, as we have fenced yard.  He doesn't cope well with heat and humidity and has breathing issues, and I don't like going to work looking and smelling like a sweaty mess.  Once the weather cools, we will be walking more.  He's gained most of the weight back, but he's also getting a few more treats to help with the addition of a new dog.  They are almost out of their current food, so I am switching again as part of our rotation to one of the lower-fat and lower calorie foods.

Don't just reduce the amount of normal food. This is because over time, your dog will not get the right nutrition.  Lower fat/calorie foods are formulated to make sure that your dog gets the nutrition he needs, to help him lose weight safely and in a healthy way.  Just reducing the amount of regular calorie food will cause some weight loss, but it's not healthy weight loss.  It's like with people, if you just eat less overall of your higher-fat diet, of course you will lose weight.  But, you have to make healthy changes to lower-fat/higher fiber and protein foods so you stay full and get enough vitamins and minerals from your food.

Aside from lowering the fat and calorie intake, your dog will need to increase his activity more.  This means more exercise.  This can be daily walks, runs, chasing a ball or laser pointer, or pretty much anything that gets your dog moving.  While you will need to monitor and possible reduce activity if you live in an area with hot (and especially humid) summers, you can still get some exercise in playing indoors if you have room. You can also try to take walks in the early morning or late evening hours.  When the weather is cold, walking is also more challenging, but your pup (and her feet) can handle it as long as it's not very icy or below freezing.  You do need to take into account your dog's age and overall fitness and medical needs.  For example, a dog prone to tearing cruciates (knee ligaments) would not be a good candidate for running but could most likely handle a good long walk.  Always check with your vet if you aren't sure!

*Calories in dog food are actually measured in kilocalories, or kcal.  You may see labels that reference kCal/ME, which is a way of measuring the metabolic energy.  For the sake of simplicity in my own research and blog, I do not convert the kCals to calories, but simply refer to them as calories.

Sources:
petMD
VCA Hospitals

Household & Environmental Dangers

 As a dog owner, you are probably familiar with some of the things commonly found in homes that are toxic to dogs, like chocolate. Unfortunately, there are a lot of household or lawn products that are toxic to dogs, and you may be surprised by some of them!



Anti-Freeze that contains ethylene glycol is toxic to dogs, and worse, it has a sweet taste that is attractive to animals!  Ethylene glycol is also found in snow globes and in some de-icing formulations.

De-icing salts used to melt snow and ice can be damaging to a dog's paws, and can make them sick if they lick it off.  Use a paw-safe product like Safe Paw, and wipe off your dog's paws after he has come into contact with any de-icing chemical or product, even those considered safe.  I keep a towel by the door in snowy weather for this purpose.


Human medicines including acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen (Advil/Motrin), cold medicines (Sudafed, Dayquil, Robitussin, etc), and vitamins are toxic to dogs.  They should be kept in an area that the dogs can not reach or climb to, and  also keep tubes of ointments (anti-itch cream, neosporin, etc) out of the reach of your dogs, too.  Some dogs will chew through the tubes and be poisoned by the contents.  Other medications like anti-depressants, those for cardiovascular disease, ADHD, and insomnia are also harmful to dogs.



Lawn fertilizer, plant food, and pest control products are generally toxic to dogs.  Most products recommend keeping your dog away from them, and you will need to make sure that the chemicals are stored in a place that an unsupervised dog can't get into.  I like to use Eco-Smart pest and weed killer products in my yard, because they are safer for my dogs (and kids, too!).  Even with safer products, I still do not let my dogs in the area until the product has completely dried.

Household indoor and outdoor plants,  like lillies, azealas, poinsetteas, apple seeds, and many others are toxic to dogs.  The Humane Society provides a great list of poisonous plants here.

Human Food such as leftover chicken bones are dangerous to feed your dog, because the bones can splinter and cause an internal injury.  Coffee grounds& beans, alcohol, yeast dough, salt, onions, and grapes are also toxic to dogs.

Hand Sanitizer  is great for quickly disinfecting your hands when you don't have access to soap and water, but they contain alcohol which is harmful for dogs.

Coins, especially pennies, are very toxic due to the zinc they contain. Zinc poisoning can lead to destruction of red blood cells, liver damage, kidney failure and heart failure, so it's very serious. Signs of zinc poisoning include weakness, pale gums (anemia), vomiting, increased breathing, increased heart rate, discolored urine, jaundiced gums, lack of appetite, and collapse/unconsciuosness.  A penny that is not removed will kill a dog.  Diaper rash cream containing Zinc Oxide, zippers, and staples are examples of other items that contain zinc and are dangerous for Fido.

Tinsel, like the kind people adorn Christmas trees with, is dangerous, though not toxic.  If your pet swallows it, tinsel or other stringy items like rubber bands, cassette tape ribbon (you'd be surprised what a dog can find and chew!), hair and craft ribbons,or any kind of string can get caught in your dog's throat and choke them.

Vaporub, which contains camphor, is toxic to dogs and causes skin irritation, vomiting, diarrhea, and seizures.  It's quickly absorbed into the skin and should never be applied to an animal. Other products like IcyHot and Carmex lip balm also contain camphor.

Brown Recluse

Spiders, Snakes, and other creatures are also dangerous (to both humans and dogs!).
The Brown Recluse and Black Widow spiders are to be avoided.
Brown Recluse spiders are various shades of brown and feature a violin shape near it's head.  They are common in the southern midwest area of the US and can also be found in the southwest.  Vomiting, fever, lethargy, and open skin wounds are signs to watch for.  There isn't an antivenom, so treatment is usually supportive care (fluids, antibiotics, pain relief, etc.) Black Widows are found all over the United States and are black with a red or orange hourglass shape on their underside.  Immature female black widows are brown and their hourglass shapes darkens with age.  Males are brown and do not have the hourglass, but are not considered toxic.  Signs of a black widow bite are cramping, walking as if drunk, drooling, tremors, lameness (from pain) and the bite is treated with antivenom, IV fluids anti-seizure medications, etc.  Seek veterinary care immediately is you suspect either of these spiders has bitten your dog.


Even more serious is the bite of a coral snake, which is extremely dangerous to dogs and are found in the southeastern United States. Bites can be fatal without immediate first aid and vet care.  Signs of a coral snake bite include acute paralysis, respiratory difficulty and failure, and collapse.  Immediate emergency veterinary care is required - a coral snake bite is life threatening.

coral snake - wide red and black sections bordered by yellow.

Rattlesnakes are found across the US, and some examples are the Eastern diamondback, Mojave, and Timber rattlesnake.  Dogs are usually bitten in the face or front legs and feet.  Signs of a rattlesnake bite are skin injury, difficulty breathing, blood not clotting, and even cardiovascular shock.

Timber Rattlesnake

Eastern Diamondback rattler

Toys, especially those with small movable parts,  can be dangerous if your dog is a chewer.  Not only might the coloring or paint contain chemicals hazardous to dogs, but your dog could chew a piece off and choke on it.  The part that comes off might be metal or contain zinc and be poisonous to Rover.

Sources:
The Humane Society
VetStreet
Pet Poison Helpline