.com Forum · Real Show Dogs

That's true. Hopefully he loves swimming.

I definitely second adding hot water to his food - let it soak a few minutes too. When the food is already expanded before he eats it will take up more room in his stomach and he will feel fuller on less food.

Other "fillers" you can give to help him feel full (so you can cut back on his food) are green beans, carrots, zucchini, apples, etc. NO grapes!

I can't believe how big he is! poor guy, I can only imagine how rough it is on him. Have you thought about adding glucosamine to his diet? to help with/prevent joint damage?

Kudos to you for taking him in and helping him to get healthy!

Awww this poor buddy. It warms my heart to see that he's in good hands and is on the road to a healthy life. Keep us posted!

Grain free food is a must since grains are empty calories! Actually, stay away from fruits and veggies with higher natural sugars (carrots!) too. Squash takes as many calories to digest as it contains so emptying a can of pumpkin on his food will fill him up but not add calories . Give him some zucchini for treats ... just slice it and bake it with some dried parmasan cheese on it. It will mean a LOT more poop while he is dieting, but the end result of weight loss is worth the extra "scooping". I can't believe he can even walk ... Swimming will be the best exercise tolerated since as it's low impact, just walking and NO running will be hard on all his joints.

Just a quick update:

Zeke is doing awesome. He really fits in great here and has become quite a mama's boy lol. We love him to death and now he even wrestles around with our lab who is in heaven to have a dog to play with since my chihuahuas refuse lol.

It seems filling him up hasn't really been an issue, he eats his food in the kitchen and our lab and the chis in the living room, when he's done he comes in living room and lays down near the couch and waits for them to finish eating, even if they leave food in the bowls he doesn't look twice at it befoe I get a chance to pick it up. I have tried the green beans several times and he is not a fan lmao. I'll put a couple pieces in his food and when he gets to them he stops eating and looks at me like I've got to be playing some joke on him lmao. He won't finish eating until I pick them out the brat hahaha.

He has also now started laying on the couch and can get himself up there pretty easy. I was so excited the first time I came home from work and found him sleeping on the couch lmao I know, I'm probably the only person alive who is happy her big slobbery horribly shedding dog is sleeping on her brand new couch lmao.

He's moving around so much better, even saw him run once lmao when we're doing chores and the horses nicker for their feed he hurries over to the stalls and will bay at them, I think he's keeping them in line for me hahaha. Once he was outside the barn and came running in, it was so cute to watch.

He's supposed to go in again this next week for another nail trim and a weigh in, I haven't scheduled it yet, trying to figure out the best time because on tues I'm supposed to hopefully try a new knee injection for my arthritis and maybe off my feet for a couple days and I want to be able to go with him...

Ugh that was me lol timed out...

I'm so happy he has fit in so well! That's great he's moving around more! Good boy for helping mama take care of the horses!

Can't wait to see what he weighs next time!

Sounds like he is fitting in great.
BH's are such sweet dogs and love to be lap dogs. I really miss the "chorus" when we would leave for work.

Great news!

Green Beans - mine will eat them mixed in and fairly well cooked, however, if the pods break open and the actual bean is found, it gets left behind. Peas are treated the same so when I share some of my home made stew I have to mash all the peas or they are all sitting in the bottom of the bowl, all licked clean.

I remember a cartoon with Farley the sheepdog, can't recall the name of the strip off-hand, but that was Farley too.

That was "For Better or For Worse," by Lynn Johnston. I remember the husband (John) insisting that Farley would mix in the leftover peas, if they just mixed them in well with his dog food. The wife (Ellie?) mixed them in, protesting he would just spit them out. The punch line was Farley spitting out the peas off camera, after John declaring, "see? He's eating them."

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posted by gaylanstudio
Great news!

Green Beans - mine will eat them mixed in and fairly well cooked, however, if the pods break open and the actual bean is found, it gets left behind. Peas are treated the same so when I share some of my home made stew I have to mash all the peas or they are all sitting in the bottom of the bowl, all licked clean.

I remember a cartoon with Farley the sheepdog, can't recall the name of the strip off-hand, but that was Farley too.

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Taura (lab) hated beans but thought carrots were great she would eat peas sometimes but only if there was beef gravy on them she liked the pea pods better than the actual pea her vet had us using apples as filler but I always thought all that sugar even though it's natural made dieting harder.

Gayle the cartoon was "For Better For Worse" Lynn Johnston did it. little known fact "Farley" was named after the Canadian author Farley Mowatt.

Right! "For Better or Worse" by Lynn Johnston. I was a big fan. She started out in I believe Leaf Rapids in Manitoba. Leaf Rapids is a tiny little town practically in the wilderness north of Winnipeg. Yeah, I recall reading about the Farley Mowat connection. I really liked Farley; he died a hero.

About the fruits and veggies, I am by no means a nutrition expert but my understanding is that these natural sugars are more complex, take longer to break down and thus are released into the blood stream gradually providing long term energy/satisfaction. Fruits and veggies also come packed with all sorts of vitamins and minerals and if you can get your dog to eat them, especially raw, I believe they are excellent choices.

Mine, unfortunately is not big on fruits and veggies, so I have to hide them.

Zeke was weighed again today and came in at 214 (first weigh 228) I'm pretty happy with that. He is still getting so much more active and is even trying to run with the other dogs a time or two lol. Will take him in again in a couple weeks to check weight.

Excellent!

Keep it up Zeke.

That's so great! Can't wait to see pictures!

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posted by gaylanstudio

About the fruits and veggies, I am by no means a nutrition expert but my understanding is that these natural sugars are more complex, take longer to break down and thus are released into the blood stream gradually providing long term energy/satisfaction. Fruits and veggies also come packed with all sorts of vitamins and minerals and if you can get your dog to eat them, especially raw, I believe they are excellent choices.

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Vitamins & minerals yes, complex sugars not so much.
Fruit contains sugars much like table sugar but it is wrapped up in fiber so it is a bit slower to digest than candy or sugary drinks but faster to digest than starch (grains & root vegetables).
Root vegetables are similar to grains in energy content but contain more vitamins & minerals, if fed raw and in large pieces they also help clean teeth.
Green vegetables contain lots of vitamins & antioxidants and often are quite high in fiber (the more it has to be cooked/chewed the more fiber generally).
Green leafy vegetables are very low in sugars of any kind but legumes (peas & beans) contain a reasonable amount of starch but also protein.

General rules of thumb are:
Root veg > grain
fruit > candy
legumes (peas & beans) good in moderation
leafy green veg always good

grif,

I'll try to get some recent pics posted today yet. Photobucket is a pain in my butt lol wish didn't have to use it.

In the mean time my husband is trying to drive me to drink! We decided to try switching dog foods. Our lab Maya has been getting sick occasionally sick. I mean horrible sick with watery diarrhea and near violent vomiting. Only lasts a day and a half and after looking into all possibilities the vet recommended we try different food.

For some reason even after we talked about introducing it slowly he still dumped over half the bag into the food container ugh darn men. Makes it hard to mix when old food is buried on the bottom. So the result is Zeke now has watery stool. Not full out diarrhea thankfully doesn't have to go more often. So I'm keeping a closer eye on him because my husband is a putz!

On the bright side Zeke is enjoying walks down the road now instead of just in the yard. I just have to remember not to take him too far he struggles to get back lol.

New pics taken within the last week or so







And even a little video of my husband playing with the dogs lol

grrr video won't work once I upload it to photbucket

They love each other! How sweet!! Cute she's using him as a pillow.