My dog has gained a bit of weight recently after he got neutered (I heard that this was a myth, but it’s the only thing that’s changed), and I’ve been scaling down the amount of food he gets but he’s still hungry. I’ve seen people recommend giving the dog green beans to help out with this, but he won’t touch them, and I’m blanking on what else to use, at the moment, that will be low calorie and safe for a dog. Sweet peas are much higher in calories, than the beans so that won’t work. Any suggestions?
I just remembered that dogs are supposed to have trouble digesting vegetables, so would he even get most of the calories?
I’d like to stick with something edible/digestible at first, if possible.
I actually meant to ask about this in the OP. I’m probably over thinking it, but wondered if there’d be Vitamin A concerns if a dog ate a lot of carrots daily.
On preview - before, he’d eat a bit of food, then come back for a little later, and sort of eat a little through the day. He’d leave food in the bowl all day long fairly often. Now, he’s been eating it all as soon as it’s in the bowl, and sniffing around the food container after he’s finished. It’s kind of pitiful.
He’s hungry more often now, but not in the past, and that’s the only thing that has changed (he isn’t drinking or urinating more, and just had blood work a couple of months ago just before his neutering, where they checked his glucose levels, among other things). Thanks for that, though. I wouldn’t want to overlook something serious.
I read somewhere - on here, maybe - that a small amount of carrots is good for a dog. I tried giving one to my dog once, but she would have none of it.
When I was dieting my dog to get him down closer to his ideal weigh before flying to Guam (airlines charge by the pound) we supplemented his diet with green beans until he was well and truly sick of them and eventually quit eating them at all. My vet at the time recommended alternating the green beans with canned pumpkin. Just be careful it is canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling.
My dogs love baked sweet potatoes, tuna, mackarel and salmon. One of them will eat just about anything: baby carrots, cucumbers, steamed brussel sprouts :dubious: and anything with the tiniest bit of peanut butter on it (though too much peanut butter would probably be fattening.
Agreed, pumpkin is the way to go. Even our fussy basenjis like it. Chop it up and cook it yourself if you like, cheaper too, if pumpkins are as cheap for you as they are for me.
Carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, banana all are good. This new book, which I have at home but not here with me, has a number of charts in it about food equivalents, like this quite from the interview from the web site:
Sucks that your dog wont’ eat the green beans. Mine goes apeshit for them. We just started giving some to her little cousin, who’s a picky eater, and she loves them too. It’s like miracle food!
Have you tried “everything” to get pooch to eat the green beans? I’ve heard that garlic powder (not garlic salt!) can make dogs more interested in food.
Pumpkin is quite awesome tho. Mine loves that as well. She also likes apples and all of the other veggies and fruits listed herein.
Except bananas. For some reason, bananas have always made her puke. Doesn’t mean she won’t try to eat them tho
Pumpkin is what I came in to recommend. I have a dog-owning friend who hides her dog’s medicine in pumpkin and the dog LOVES it. Lower-calorie than sweet potatoes and otherwise similar.
I kind of think that if you are feeding your dog enough kibble each day, tough luck for him. Maybe just stick to the kibble for a few weeks and see what happens. My dogs sniff around the bowl for more food afterwards too, but we don’t give them extra food or snacks on a daily basis. They can wait for dinner.
I’m not trying to be rude, just sayin’! If he’s overweight, stop feeding him so much! Snacks included!
