Sorry if already metioned! Weight loss for dogs

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poiuytrewq

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Did anyone else see this talked about on TV this morning?
Although they made out the feature was weight loss jabs it's actually am implant that sits under the dogs (or cat i think) skin! I know obese pets are a real problem and they realed off lists or illness etc caused by weight but really?
I've never had a dog tha I couldnt control its weight by diet management and exercise (maybe i got lucky though?) Its not like a dog can go to the shop and buy cake...

What do you think?
 
[Guardian article for reference]

I think like any other medical intervention it should be for when other avenues have been explored and have failed. I know this exists for horses already, my own vet said she won't prescribe until it's more established as she doesn't feel it's been in use long enough to know what long-term side effects might be, and I agree with her.

This bit
A strong selling point of the medication is that it helps pet owners navigate one of the biggest obstacles to pet weight loss: what many vets describe as “pester power”, or, to put it another way, humans’ inability to say no to their loyal companions.
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just makes me think "catch a grip." It is MUCH easier to say no to a dog or a cat than to yourself. That is not a huge obstacle.
 
As well as pester power, a lot of people equate food and the act of feeding or eating (and too much of it) with love/care and unfortunately that transfers to pets. It's a lot more common than people want to talk about.
By feeding a dog (or yourself, or someone else) what it wants, when it wants, you are proving how much you love and care for it. If you feed a dog lots, and often, you will become the centre of its world, but not for the right reasons. But some people enjoy that co-dependency.

It's a psychological issue that causes physical harm to humans and pets.
Addressing it would be more worthwhile.

Plus a general lack of knowledge about nutrition in both the human and animal world.
 
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CorvusCorax said:
As well as pester power, a lot of people equate food and the act of feeding or eating (and too much of it) with love/care and unfortunately that transfers to pets. It's a lot more common than people want to talk about.
By feeding a dog (or yourself, or someone else) what it wants, when it wants, you are proving how much you love and care for it. If you feed a dog lots, and often, you will become the centre of its world, but not for the right reasons. But some people enjoy that co-dependency.

It's a psychological issue that causes physical harm to humans and pets.
Addressing it would be more worthwhile.

Plus a general lack of knowledge about nutrition in both the human and animal world.
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A much kinder and more considered response than mine, you're 100% right. It is harder for me to show as much compassion for people who kill their dogs with "kindness" than when they do it to themselves, but doesn't mean you're not right.
 
smolmaus said:
A much kinder and more considered response than mine, you're 100% right. It is harder for me to show as much compassion for people who kill their dogs with "kindness" than when they do it to themselves, but doesn't mean you're not right.
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It's a family thing for me so I try and deal with it relatively sensitively. When ALL someone's cats and dogs have been overweight over the years and they do nothing about it or say things like 'oh but he loves it/it's not doing any harm/I am feeding him less, walking him more' but there's no change, it's a big clue.
If someone struggles with willpower themselves then it's easily transferable to kids and pets and it can seem like a personal attack when it's pointed out because it comes from a (misplaced) viewpoint of love or care.

And there's two types of people, those who take it well and those who don't and it's easy to turn folk off to what you are saying.

The breeder of my old dog told me in a very blunt way that my bitch was fat and looked pregnant. I said 'oops, so she is' and cut her back. She's quite small and fine so it shows on her easily. I was feeding fatty stuff as motivation in training so it was my bad. It was an observation, a correct one, not criticism.

I've diplomatically told others that their dog(s) (think blob with little legs) needs to be cut back/don't need to eat human food/be fed off the plate at human mealtimes, as it's not healthy and their joints will be struggling, and it's been taken as a huge personal affront.

There's also the thorny issue of overcompensating in the case of an animal who's had a real or imagined rough start in life. And when a dog has had to conserve energy on very small amounts of food, when they start getting normal or too large amounts, they'll balloon.
 
I used to meet a woman when I was out with my dog, who gave her overweight lab toast and marmalade when they were eating their breakfast. They didn't want her to feel left out :rolleyes:

I've never understood why people use their dog as a waste disposal unit. Throw your pizza crusts into the bin.
 
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CorvusCorax said:
It's a family thing for me so I try and deal with it relatively sensitively. When ALL someone's cats and dogs have been overweight over the years and they do nothing about it or say things like 'oh but he loves it/it's not doing any harm/I am feeding him less, walking him more' but there's no change, it's a big clue.
If someone struggles with willpower themselves then it's easily transferable to kids and pets and it can seem like a personal attack when it's pointed out because it comes from a (misplaced) viewpoint of love or care.

And there's two types of people, those who take it well and those who don't and it's easy to turn folk off to what you are saying.

The breeder of my old dog told me in a very blunt way that my bitch was fat and looked pregnant. I said 'oops, so she is' and cut her back. She's quite small and fine so it shows on her easily. I was feeding fatty stuff as motivation in training so it was my bad.

I've diplomatically told others that their dog(s) (think blob with little legs) needs to be cut back/don't need to eat human food/be fed off the plate at human mealtimes, as it's not healthy and their joints will be struggling, and it's been taken as a huge personal affront.
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Well, family thing for me too. My Nanny overfed her dog to the point he had diabetes, then immediately had him PTS at point of diagnosis instead of treating or managing. Still talks about him as if it was an unavoidable accident which is... difficult. I'm obviously not over it, he was a very very good dog.
skinnydipper said:
I used to meet a women when I was out with my dog, who gave her overweight lab toast and marmalade when they were eating their breakfast. They didn't want her to feel left out :rolleyes:

I've never understood why people use their dog as a waste disposal unit. Throw your pizza crusts into the bin.
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This exactly. Indy HAD to get his bread and butter every evening or he would be SAD. He was PTS at 6 ffs.
 
So something I say in training a lot, when people say they feed their dog XYZ or let their dog chase a ball to the point of collapse/their joints crumble into dust, and justify it with 'but they look so happy/they love it!'

"I would look happy and love it if I had cheesecake for every meal. It would not, however, be very good for me."

We are supposed to be the intelligent species....
 
Don't.

All of my mums dogs are overweight.

She has this Chihuahua type thing that looks like a football, it's that fat.

They all get sweet biscuits from the biscuit tin and when I used to see the size of their meals it was terrifying.

I once convinced her to put them on diet food. Lasted no time at all before she declared 'they don't like it' and switched back again.

She is aware they are overweight and has no inclination to do anything about it, so there is no point wasting my breath.

ETA: we went on a short break a few months back. I took one of my dogs and she took one of hers. Only two nights. She took CAT FOOD with her to make sure her Football would eat as he stops eating away from home.
 
Everyone wants to see their dog happy and joyful and wagging their tail, everyone wants their dogs to love them. But sometimes we have to be cruel to be kind. But again some people struggle with the concept of no one, even themselves, ever being slightly inconvenienced or temporarily unhappy, for a better end result, across all walks of life.
 
Jenko109 said:
Don't.

All of my mums dogs are overweight.

She has this Chihuahua type thing that looks like a football, it's that fat.

They all get sweet biscuits from the biscuit tin and when I used to see the size of their meals it was terrifying.

I once convinced her to put them on diet food. Lasted no time at all before she declared 'they don't like it' and switched back again.

She is aware they are overweight and has no inclination to do anything about it, so there is no point wasting my breath.

ETA: we went on a short break a few months back. I took one of my dogs and she took one of hers. Only two nights. She took CAT FOOD with her to make sure her Football would eat as he stops eating away from home.
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My parents were a bit like that. My dad had a spaniel who would get tinned meat and mixer then he would either give any left overs or cook potatos and gravy and god knows what. Literally volume wise she would have been given more than my 4 put together. Her back was flat, her joints knackered.

@skinnydipper I wasnt really watching until that point but OH usually has the breakfast show with Kate Garraway on in the morning- so the ITV one.
 
I was told this morning that one of mine is thin.
By a woman trundling along a brown sofa that might once have been a Labrador. 😳.
People don’t believe how little mine eat. Quite apart from anything else I can’t be doing with all the poo if you put too much in the front end.
I do have to ask what is wrong with pizza crusts? 🤣. I have pizza about once a year and on those days the crusts replace the bedtime bonio.
My Grandpa used to butter toast for his lab. It could literally barely walk.
Seeing as I’m deeply ambiguous about human weight loss drugs being used when there’s no need (not disputing sometimes there is) I can’t think it’ll help the fat dogs.
 
smolmaus said:
Pizza crusts are just vehicles for garlic mayo. Related: my pet pizza fail is that one of the cats will lick the garlic mayo bottle all over if you're distracted for even a second.
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Oh yes I admit, if I have a dominoes with the dip then the crusts are toast. 🤣🤣🤣.
 
BallyRoanBaubles said:
My dogs sometimes get left overs, and my nanna will on occasion give them digestive biscuits 🤣 but I will reduce their meals if so/no other treats, and they are not fat
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Mine get all our leftovers. And pub leftovers on a Monday. They had steak and kidney pudding for dinner last night.
 
The staple diet of greyhounds back in the day round here was 'brown bread and black tea'.
My Nan used to mix in leftovers, including bread, with half a tin of cat or dog food (in later years, the tins were a bit of a pick and mix, my dog ended up eating Choosy a few times).
But I think we are all talking about working dogs ;) apart from my aforementioned dog, she was faaaaat.
 
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