We recently inherited a dachshund from my wife’s uncle. He 's a standard dachshund and a great dog although he was overweight and an alcoholic. It’s been about five months and he’s off the sauce and down to 25 lbs. The vet want’s him to loose another five pounds before he starts having back problems. He eats only low protein Moist and meaty dog food and my eight yr old daughter takes him for about a 1-2 mile walk/run every day. Now here it is how can I take five pounds of blubber off this wiener dog. No liposuction (sp.?) is not an option.
Having made his minor contribution to mankind, Mac slowly slinks off to lurkdom. slink slink slink
I lurk therefore, I am. Or at least I might be?
I had a friend who had an overweight dog. He switched it to a diet of carrots. That’s right, carrots. You could tell the dog wasn’t thrilled with the diet, but it ate carrots rather than starve. The carrot diet helped it lose the weight it needed to stay healthy.
My two dogs are almost identical in shape and size and 20 lb is their ideal weight. I started feeding them 8 Milkbone brand milkbones in the AM and 1 cup dry dog food at nite.
Over time I have found that the Sheltie gaines weight with more than 4 Milkbones and the Poodle loses weight with less than 8 - the Milkbone breakfast really helps me keep tabs on their weight.
Not only are the Milkbones easy to regulate but are low protein, too.
Your vet did not discuss this with you? Go back to the vet and ask about Science Diet’s W/D and R/D diet, or Eukanuba’s Restricted Calorie. Contrary to what was mentioned above, Milkbones are not a balanced diet. For effective weight loss while maintaining proper nutrition, keep your dog on a good brand of food, feed only specific amounts (which can be determined by your vet), and do not feed him anything else. Exercise is good, but talk to your vet about the best ways to exercise him. Dachshunds are prone to back problems even if they aren’t overweight and it would be a shame to inadvertantly injure him.
Michelle,
Veterinary Technician
I crave an art that passionately transcends the mundane instead of being a device for self-deception.–Griffin, from The Griffin and Sabine trilogy.