Overweight rescue, diet and dog ramp advice please

Great advice ThursdayNext thank you.
TheresaW, that sounds heavy for a Border Collie. My female flatcoats weigh 30 to 32kg and they are a much bigger breed.
Everyone has said how good MWH is but I found the website confusing and the prices huge.
I may well stick to Skinners but I am going to sample Growling Tums who have a great website. I have also discovered another food called Guru, again expensive though.
Thanks everyone for so many helpful suggestions both for feeding and ramps. I will let you know what the dear boy is like when he eventually gets here on Friday evening.
 
Chiffy-I agree MWH website isn't ideal and that some might find it expensive but they are great at answering emails for feeding advice just fyi. I only have the one atm and don't find it nearly s expensive as trying to feed my old setter but then he was a special case. I'm one that agrees that your normal food will be fine I expect, he just needs better nutrition than he's been getting.

I took on my brothers hugely obese mongrel bitch back in the mid 90s. She was about 8 and the change in her from a fat little thing that could hardly walk down the road to a hard ball of muscle was brilliant-and that was done with tins of Chappie! Not the best for a large Goldie however but still.
 
Thanks for the encouragement MOC, I am just having a few moments of anxiety how I shall manage just at first with the flatcoats wanting to do so much more than the old boy. May have to do training exercise in the garden over the weekend with them until I can assess if he is settled enough to leave alone.
 
Thank you Thistle, if I go for MWH, I am not sure where I order it from?

I hope to be able to exercise as you say but am just worried at first as he is SO overweight that I must start very gently. I don't really know for how long he has been vastly overweight and under exercised. The owner's son told me he had always been a lazy dog which sounds to me as though he was never motivated.
I have a challenge ahead to see if I can give him a better quality of life.
 
He is a lucky dog.

You order MWH direct from them, just click on the amount you require in the box which takes you to a login/registration page, then you can PayPal or use many other methods. It comes by DPD here, I get a hour delivery slot the morning it's due having previously been advised a day. My driver leaves it over the gate if I'm not here.

If you scroll down on that link you can click of ingredients and delivery info, it contains joint supplements so you won't have to buy extra. If you ring or email they are very helpful.
 
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Chiffy said:
I hope to be able to exercise as you say but am just worried at first as he is SO overweight that I must start very gently. I don't really know for how long he has been vastly overweight and under exercised. The owner's son told me he had always been a lazy dog which sounds to me as though he was never motivated.
I have a challenge ahead to see if I can give him a better quality of life.
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I think you should find that playing with the others and just having more of an interest in life will get the pounds off without too much worry. I really feel dogs do better with others on the whole, am sure he'll do just fine.
 
Thanks MOC, think I am just having last minute nerves at what I have taken on! I am a confident and reasonably knowledgeable dog owner usually!!
 
Morning Clodagh, thanks for asking. Heartbreaking to be honest. The courier rang me when he was on his way to warn me that he was shocked by the size of the dog.
He is vast and can only just support his own weight. He struggles to stand and struggles to sit down again.
He just drank water on Friday evening, I think he was dehydrated from the journey, he would not look at food. He ate a tiny handful of breakfast on Saturday.
He will follow me into the garden or down our grass lane but if you are not with him he just sits down. I have to go out with him just like pup for a wee.
My dogs are lovely with him and I think he gets some comfort from their presence.
At the moment it is hard to know if he has just shut down from the trauma of change or if he just physically can't cope. It think it would shut him down even more if I took him to the vet for advice at the moment. It's only day three so I will give him time.
 
It may be both the change and the stress of travelling, if he has never done it before and particularly if there were other dogs in the vehicle being noisy or excited. Hope he improves soon.
 
Poor old boy, I am sure he will come round, it must all be very distressing for him and if he feels frail it must be worse.
 
Thanks all, I have never been quite so affected by a rescue before but my others have all been young.
He is the same age as my older flatcoat but you would think he was twice the age.
He is a sweet kind gentle dog, I will have to be patient and hope he will improve.
 
Well done Chiffy for taking on this poor boy. It's so sad that he's not had the life he's deserved and I hope you can get him well enough to have a bit of fun in his latter years x
 
Sorry im late to the party!
Good onyou for looking aftee this old lad!
My largest goldie is 40kg of hard muscle (and hair! God the hair!) but he is a bit taller than breed standard.
My other goldie was a rescue too, except he was the opposite and had been starved! He is now 16 years old 33kg and still active!
 
Thanks Connie girl, that's interesting. The vet hopes I can get him down to 40kg in 6months. Slightly worried it's a tall order.
Please don't frighten me about the hair! My flatcoats have far less than this boy, daily groomingI think!
 
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