Question:
chaquita's fat. everyone tells me she's fat and yes, i see that she's gained weight. i KNOW she has. but i didn't realize how fat she is until this pic!

i am already giving her extra exercise (more walks) so thank goodness!


Answer:
Fat??? I'm NOT fat I'm Fluffy!!
My dog Montana has put on a few extra pounds too.. It's her 'winter weight'.. it'll disappear as soon as all this snow is gone..


Answer:
She's still cute! Cute and pudgy. One of the skinniest and most athletic dogs I know has gained weight over the winter too, I swear he has rolls of fat, so don't feel bad.


Answer:
What a great picture! She'll probably chew up your favorite undies for that or something!
You might look at calculating her caloric needs in addition to increasing the exercise (usually for a less active adult works well, it does for Gumbo and he's a maniac as far as around the house activity). Here's a great calculator: http://www.mycockerspaniel.com/mer.htm
If the food you feed doesn't have the calories per cup, you can call the manufacturer - they have it on file. Since doing this, Gumbo has maintained his weight and is thriving well.


Answer:
jade- no, she KNOWS she's fat! even penny does. look at her. she's thinking, "gosh, you'd better lose some weight, girl." hahahaha!

the problem is that...i free feed. i used to feed them on schedule and chaquita would eat, but penny wasn't EVER hungry. i even did the thing where i just make her go without eating (cause her time was up) and she just wouldn't eat and then would barely eat at the next meal time. i don't know. even now, she hardly eats. but chaquita, on the other hand, eats all the time. i try to put less food out, but then she just eats penny's cause penny isn't ready yet. i'm going to try and exercise her before changing the eating thing. unless anyone has ideas. is there a Nutro formula for "indoor dogs" or something like that (i know they do it for cats).

oh, and i feed them Nutro Natural - Small Bites - Lamb and Rice (or lamb and something else).


Answer:
I used to feed the same, Nutro Natural Choice Lamb & Rice small bites It's a good food. Have you tried the Lite version of Nutro? I think they have a lamb and rice lite formula that's for overweight and senior dogs, or it might be a chicken based formula.

Lavander's kinda on the pudgy side too, I keep telling myself she's stout, not fat, hehe Her eating habits can be sporadic as well, some days she eats less and sometimes more when it's kibble. But the minute I add canned food you'd think I dumped a can of caviar in there 'cos she almost INHALES the food.


Answer:
That's too bad that you haven't been able to feed on a schedule.

I would recommend a vet visit before putting her on a diet, but a lite food might help to bring her weight down.


Answer:
She can be buddies with Ollie.


Answer:
Jane, she is a bit overweight. Can you buy her a girdle or something to hide the bulge? They make a lot of great tummy control nylons these days.


Answer:
candice - well, the vet was the one who brought it up and said this: "more exercise and less food." so i am emphasizing the "more exercise" part. jim just took them on a walk at the park today. they were there for an hour so that's good.

and yes steph, she and ollie must somehow be related!! haha.

denise - i can't afford that right now. i just splurged on some Manolo Blahnik's for her! makes her legs look faaaabulous!