Nigredo the fatso needs help

So Nigredo is a chunky guy. He's very healthy, he's just chunky as all get out. He's a bit past 2 years old now. He's a Labby mixed guy and is currently a horrible 93 lbs (42 kg). I picked him up to weigh him, and I instantly knew he had gained weight. SO HEAVY. I changed his food to Taste of the Wild Pacific Canine formula. He's been on the new food for maybe three weeks now. He gets fed the same amount per day, which is 4 cups.

He's given no treats now. I have tried to feed him only 3 cups, but he gets so beggy and unhappy because he is hungry with only 3 cups of food per day. He's actually GAINED weight since the switch. It has MUCH LESS fat than his old food, and is grain free so I don't get it. He's getting plenty of exercise and he's a healthy, vibrant dog.

Two recent pics...





I refuse to lessen his food, it's not worth his happiness, but is there anything else I can do to shed a few of the extra lbs that seem to keep packing on. He's been checked out by a vet and he doesn't have any thyroid issues or anything, he's just got bad metabolism due to pediatric neutering (done by the shelter before I got him) and probably genetics.

4 cups a day does not realy give much info on gaging the right amount to feed , it's who much food you are putting into those 4 cups a day, if he has no health issues that are causing the weight gain, then it's got to be either to much food or to little exercise, or a comber nation of both, it's just the same for us, we put weight on because we eat to much and don't exercise enough, you say he gets plenty if exersice, but again, what does that mean, a daily walk down the road, an 2 hr off lead run in the woods, what constitutes " enough" to you may not be enough for him,

You have to be honest with yourself and look to his diet and exersice regime, something is not working if he is gaining so much weight.

You know yourself it's nit good for him, he looks a small framed dog, and all this weight is going to give him joint problems in the future, it's good you acknowledge this, so many people will just bury their head and ignore their dogs weight issues.

Hi MJ,

I really sympathize, I've had a struggle to keep Esau's weight down ever since he was a puppy. Not because of any health reasons; he's just ALWAYS hungry and it's impossible to fill him up!

I learned to WEIGH his daily allowance out every day; don't risk juding it by a cup-size, you'd be amazed how much 'extra' goes in without you realizing!

Rather than fat-laden treats, try carrots or bits of apple, or if it's very hot, ice-cubes or frozen green beans!

Another thing you can try is to use some if not all of his daily kibble allowance for treats and games to encourage movement.

Kibble tossed into grass is a good one - the longer the grass, the harder he'll have to work to find it!

If it's raining outside, try putting kibble into a washed/dried cardboard carton (maybe an old milk carton?); cut the plastic spout out carefully as close to it as you can get, put the kibble in and give it to Nigredo. He'll make a mess ripping the carton up, but he'll will adore working out how to get his dinner out the tiny hole, and all the while he'll be using up calories doing it!

(You can do the same thing with certain toys on the market - Buster Cube, Kong Wobbler, etc).

How about games of 'Find the Lady'; put a few pieces of kibble under just one or a few plastic or paper coffee cups, and then put out several other cups with nothing under them; then let Nigredo try and find the ones with the food. You can make things harder or easier depending on how he does.

Or try hiding kibble in a pile of laundry (the stuff you haven't yet washed!) - but only IF he's not likely to rip things up!

I hope that gives you some ideas, it's never easy to help a dog loose weight, so I wish you loads of luck!

I honestly think it's too much food, but again... and I've said this so many times, he simply shuts down if I feed him any less. I can't do that to him. He's not a small framed dog. He's 26" ATS and 33" from neck to base of tail with heavy BONES and some pretty good muscle. He goes outside several times during the day and he runs until he is tired... he also gets a leashed walk as well. He does have hip dysplasia, so I realize extra weight is just BAD for him in the long run. He moves fine and has pretty good stamina if there's no heat.

Thanks, PONlady. He's a smarty pants and I'm SURE he'd enjoy some of those exercises. We will give some of them a try. I'm just confused as to why I've lessened his calorie and fat intake a TON (and eliminated grains) as well as increased exercise, and he's still putting on weight. He's not to a point where you look at him and you say... "WOW THAT IS A FAT DOG!!" but he is certainly paunchy around the midsection and it's getting worse.

From the photos you post, he is not a heavy framed dog, he is carrying to much weight for his frame, I am not talking about height and length, but dencity of bone structure, he is a light framed dog, and if as you say he has HD, then you have to be cruel to be kind, regarding his intake of food, it's been suggested ways to keep him occupied in looking for his food, but the fact is, you need to lessen the intake and up his exersice, swimming is a good weight bearing exersice for overweight dogs with hip problems.

You say he gets plenty of exersice, but what do you mean he goes outside a few times a day, is that you taking him out and walking him, or him just going outside in your yard.

It's all relevent to what exersice he has to the food you feed him.

Let's not forget he is part lab, and it's a lab trait to eat....they will eat and make you think they are starving, so you need to find other ways to keep him happy with less food.

Thanks again. I'm aware he probably just needs less food, but I haven't been able to figure out how to do that without him absolutely shutting down and being so unhappy. He's not a swimmer, by the way, he's a WADER... which is fairly useless in terms of exercise. No vet has told me that he can't run etc. because he loves to run and he moves just fine. I will sit on the porch and he will literally run circles around the house until he's tired... he will also go after sticks etc.

I'm sorry Myra , but when I say up his exersice, I mean you need to get him out walking (of lead if possible) for at least a good HOUR a day, and then another walk later in the day, he is not going to lose weight unless yo do.

Just a thought - Esau also has hip-dyslpasia; since being on pain-relief meds, we've noticed we've had to be even stricter with his diet, as the meds seem to have slowed his metabolism. I don't know if Nigredo is getting treatment too, but it might be a factor. If it is, you might need to cut down his daily allowance even more

Jackie, the problem with being out for a whole hour is that Nigredo really isn't suited well for this weather (hes mixed with mountain breed) and easily gets hot in our very hot daytime. He gives up after about 15 minutes and we go inside and repeat in a while. He's not tired really, just he dislikes the heat. We walk around the neighborhood for an hour each evening. If I douse him with water, he lasts a bit longer but I'd probably have to leash him up and force him to get additional hour of extended exercise.

He's not on any pain medication PONlady.