fat border terrier

Chestersmummy

Chestersmummy

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Today hubby and I took on a 6 year old border terrier who is, to put it polietly, obese. His previous owner said he tried him on a diet but nothing worked. His vet suggested that it may be his thyroid but he hadn't done anything about it.
Hubby and I are going to try upping his exercise and taking him for 2 walks a day to see if that helps. Any other suggestions before taking him to the vets?
 
presuming there isnt a medical problem... put him on a proper diet. Choose a 'light' food, I can recommend Arden Grange Lite and make sure he gets NOTHING else. Go by the dog you see infront of you, not the recommended feed amounts on the bag ;) For example one of my border collie's is so prone to weight gain, Ive had to keep on reducing her food and she gets 2/3 of your average teacup full twice a day.It looks like nothing in her bowl so the amount your wee one might need could be considerably less. Not saying you do, but people make the mistake of feeling sorry for dogs and thinking they need more in the bowl and of course the manufacturers will always recommend a larger amount;)
 
All his previous owner said he was fed on was dry food. He seemed a bit cagey to be honest. Just taken him for a walk with our other dog and my grans dog(who we are dog sitting) and he seemed to cope really well.
 
I'd certainly query the previous diet. An old school friend of mine had a lab who her gran looked after while she was at uni, the poor thing was so obese he could barely be dragged to the end of the road and back yet they fed him on a small amount of diet food ... They simply didn't count the fact that he was used as a dustbin for all food waste in the house :rolleyes:
 
loubymiller said:
All his previous owner said he was fed on was dry food. He seemed a bit cagey to be honest. Just taken him for a walk with our other dog and my grans dog(who we are dog sitting) and he seemed to cope really well.
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I wouldn't be surprised if, with a bit of exercise and a decent kibble, the weight drops off him ;)
 
I took on a chubber too, and the weight dropped off as he was fed a proper amount of food for his needs and given the right amount of exercise.

Here he was when I got him:
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About a year later (with a short back and sides too)
Photo0196.jpg


Don't forget, if you're going to use any kind of food for training or in a Kong or whatever, cut back his mealtime rations even more.:)
 
Wow spudlet thats a huge difference. Hes not really eating a lot. We've given him a small handful of james wellbeloved biscuits and he ate a few and left them.
Although at mealtimes he does appear to be begging so I'm guessing hes been given scraps.
Also his nails we're terribly overgrown so I'm assuming he hadn't been walked alot. Gave them a trim last night and for the next few weeks we will walk him on hard ground.
 
Sounds like you may be right - I do think that sometimes people will think their dogs are on a diet, but they forget all the little extra bits they hand out on the side. He might even have always been fed people food, and therefore not want dog food?

I'd just build his walks up over time because although 6 is not old, he's also not in the very first flush of youth so you just want to make sure he gets fit at a steady rate.:)

Take lots of pics as it is very satisfying to look back once they're looking good again!
 
We are just walking him twice a day 20 mins each walk.
Its doing our puppy the world of good too as he's learning to walk properly :)
And in true horsey style we are using a spare leadrope as a makeshift lead for him as he didnt come with one.
 
Good luck with the new regime! I have one and a half borders (one full and one is border/lhasa apso cross ;)) I do seem to see a lot of tubby borders, which is a shame for such active little dogs.

Can we see a pic of yours, coz I love them whether they are tubsters or not! :)
 
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