How do you help a dog that's very over weight?

Question

My uncle has a dog that he feeds anything but dog food. She is severely over weight and I am worried about her. I don't want to tell my uncle about her cause he won't listen. How can I help out with the dog?

Answer 1

What you need to do is buy the dog some food that will help him cut back on her weight. It is healthy and filling so the dog might not even see a difference.
Apparently, the dog also needs to be more active. If your uncle can't take her for walks do it yourself or hire someone to do it for you. Even getting another dog could help. The 2 dogs would play and the overweight one will start losing her extra weight.

Answer 2

You really can't do much unless you can talk your Uncle into helping his dog. There are some premium dog foods on the market specifically made for weight control. You can even buy this type of dog chow at Walmart. But just like people, unless you follow through with the diet it isn't going to do you any good.

There is nothing worse for a dog's health, than to be overweight. Nothing. Why don't you call a Vet and see if you can get some written information on this problem that you can give your Uncle. Or check out the internet and see if you can dig up some information on obesity in dogs; download it and give it to your Uncle.

He really is subtracting YEARS from the life of his dog. I hope you can get through to him on this. Good luck.

Answer 3

Well if you're uncle won't listen there isn't really anything you can do, sadly. Overweight dogs have lots of health problems and will most likely die from a complication of being fat. It's so sad because owners feel like they're treating the dog good with table scraps or human food, when they're really killing the poor thing.

In a perfect world, the dog would be put on a high quality dog food and given amounts that incourage slow weigh loss. Lots of exercise like fetch, walks, or running would help too.

Answer 4

If a dog is obese it is the owner's fault!
Feeding dogs excessive amounts of food or food which are high in fat and low in nutrition causes most dogs to gain weight. The result is an unhealthy, unhappy dog. In general dogs should have a thin layer of fat over their ribs and a visible, tucked up waist. A hanging abdomen or fat deposits over the body are indications of obesity.

The following link provides some sensible information on helping a dog to lose weight...
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/obese.html

Ultimately it is your uncle's responsibility and there is probably very little you can do to convince him to alter his care of his dog. Maybe you can print out your question and the advice you receive and show it to him. Or if the dog is obviously distressed you can contact your local animal welfare agency.

Hope this helps,
mum2MH

Answer 5

I don't think you can if your Uncle isn't willing to help also. Look online about the risks of obese dogs, print it up and show your Uncle. Maybe if he sees what he could be doing to his dog, AND the cost he could experience w/ such diseases he might change. But your first trip should be to the vet so Fido can be put on a diet. you can tell your Uncle that you'd be willing to help by walking the dog for exercise. Good Luck

Answer 6

Well take your dog for regularly walks about 30-60 minutes a day, and if your over feeding it you might want to walk it and reduce the food amount by a little and in a while you should have a nice good looking dog hope this helped

Answer 7

One way is to take her for a walk before she eats breakfast: She'll burn the calories from foods and sugars stored from the the night before. Also if possible try to convince your Uncle to not feed her beyond 4PM. This gives her an opportunity to digest and draw calories from the foods that she's eaten earlier in the day. If she gets hungry (which I'm sure she'll act like she's dying a thousand death's) I'll tell you what my vet suggested to us which is canned green beans in water. I don't know her size, but my 10lb Pom gets, 5 or 6 beans when we eat dinner, which makes her feel like she's part of the pack. She's lost 10% of her body weight incorporating these very simple steps and now she's much more energetic and we have contributed to lengthening her little life. Best of luck!

Answer 8

Just offer to take the dog out on walks or a run. Since u cant feed him(change his diet) then all u can do is get him as much exercise as possible. GOod Luck

Answer 9

buy the dog weight loss dog food. It is formulated so that it helps the dog to lose weight along with regular exercise. You should see results in about a couple of weeks.

Answer 10

Since you can't control what she eats, take her out for long walks, or play with her in the local Park or someplace. Dogs LOVE running around outside & "checking things out..." -& the MORE exercise you can get her to do- the MORE weight she's going to lose. (& she'll LOVE every minute of it! :) ).