Hi, My partner and I are experienced collie owners (He had his two rough collies for 10 years before I met him) but we have recently lost both of them to old age. We are today bringing home a new Rough Collie bitch (6yr old tri colour) but unfortunately due to lack of walks and a passion for human food over dog food, she is rather overweight for such a petite little lady. While we do know how to care for this breed (grooming, grooming and more grooming) we have never had to have one on a weight loss diet before. She is currently being fed on Pedigree Vital, which I have heard negative things about, with added treats and leftover human food including toast, fish, meat, chicken, omelette and cheese. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how best to try and bring her weight down without pushing her too far too fast. We will be taking her to our vet in a couple of weeks but we were hoping to get her off to a good start from day one. Thanks
Hello Helen I have no idea what Pedigree Vital is but first of all I would try to find a more suitable food - have a look at http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/ to compare it with a possible food more ideal for her. Ignore how much they say on the can or on the bag if it is kibble - most of them are wildly inaccurate and say you should feed X amount when the dog only needs x amount. Then cut out the human extra food and treats. Less food, less treats, more exercise and no more left-over human food. That is what I would advise. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than I will be along soon - I am a raw feeder so do not know anything about pre-prepared dog food, canned or kibble. In the meantime, it is so good of you to have taken this girl on, and
Weigh the food. It's surprising how the amount given can creep up when dishing it up 'by eye'. If you need to cut the amount, do it slowly so that her stomach has time to adjust to the new amount. If giving her bits of human food (and I'm very guilty of this), make sure the amount is small. If you want to wean her off it, give her bits of kibble when you would normally give her a treat 'from your plate' and take the amount off her next meal. Walks are the best way to exercise. Go at a speed she can cope with and gradually up the pace as the weeks pass. Good luck with your new girl
Afraid im not a fan of pedigree feeds and vital has a bad scoring,http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-reviews/0053/pedigree-adult-vital I would look for a grain free food, which will have fewer calories, if cutting down her food I would split it into 2/3 meals per day that way she wont feel so hungry. Swimming is also a good form of exercise.
Another suggestion [and question] - will you be getting her food bowl/s? If so, buy a slightly smaller one so she does not realise that she is getting a bit less food as it will look the same amount to her. I bought new small bowls for Tikva, who is a tiddler compared to my angel Pereg, and put the amount of food in according to the size of the bowl. That way I did not have to worry about weighing it apart from initially weighing the meat for her second meal until I had gotten used to it by looks, and if the amount in the bowl looked like Pereg's did, although of course much less, then that was the right amount for her. But I still weigh certain things, although it was the smaller bowls that helped me to judge the amount of food she needs. She also has a smaller bone meal for her breakfast, ie a chicken wing, or neck whereas Pereg would have half a chicken back or half a turkey neck. Good luck!
