Managing a dog’s weight takes work
“So Tank,” I said in my most considerate voice. “Remember I said we’d talk if your weight went over 130 pounds? Well, bud, that day has arrived.”
There was a contented sigh, a dog stretch and Tank fell asleep against the kitchen wall, his favorite place.
A few years ago, I wrote a column about dog obesity and Tank. The gist of the column was that it was my fault, of course. Clearly, I was feeding him too much and not exercising him enough. So we committed to more exercise and less food.
The outcome after three years? Drum roll: No change.
What makes this more of a mystery, at least to me, is that our other Berner, Nellie, a female from a different litter but the same age, is lean. They are both on the same feeding schedule: A couple of cups of dog food in the morning and then again at night. A quick sidebar: While we eat pizza, ice cream, hamburgers and beer, dogs get the same food every day. Can we all just agree how boring that is? It’s amazing to me that dogs don’t rise up together and rebel, “If you feed us the same meal again … !”
Anyway, we walk each morning about a mile and try to hit the mountains on the weekends, weather permitting. The more we walk, the leaner Nellie gets. But Tank, well, his nickname is not “Mr. Chunko” for nothing.
The only real behavioral difference between them is that Tank is food obsessed while Nellie is “meh” about food. Tank wakes us up each morning at 7 a.m. to eat. At 7:20 a.m., he barks to get his “Greenie,” a teeth-cleaning snack. At 4:20 p.m. — not 4, or 4:25, but at 4:20 p.m. — Tank begins to whine and bark until we feed him dinner.
Chubby foodobsessed dog, lean food-ignoring dog. Both Berners, same feeding and exercise schedule … what to do? Time for science. I called Santa Fe’s traveling veterinarian, Dr. Amanda Mouradian, for advice. Turned out that Mouradian had the same situation with her two Labs, except they were littermates: one female who barely eats and is thin and the male who is an eating machine and is nearly 25 pounds heavier. She said that even though she cut his calorie intake back by 25 percent, he still didn’t lose weight.
Her conclusion was, just like humans, there was more to weight gain in dogs than just diet and exercise. There was still some mystery out there.
We talked about interesting research that demonstrated that because of a genetic mutation, some dogs, especially Labradors, are just hungry all the time.
I felt immediately better. There is mystery and genes. It’s not my fault. But Mouradian quickly brought me back to earth.
Even though we don’t understand all the variables in weight gain in dogs, keeping them lean is still vital for their health. Mouradian quoted a study done by Purina that tracked 48 Labradors in two groups over 14 years. “The control group was allowed to eat an unlimited amount of food during the 15-minute daily feedings. Dogs in the lean-fed group were fed 25 percent less than the amount eaten by their littermates. The half that was food restricted and maintained a lean body condition lived 15 percent longer with far fewer health problems. ”
So it is still up to us. If you are about to have the “conversation” with your dog, here are a few recommendations.
Never lose sight of how evolution shaped dogs. They were meant to be active and lean. Look at a coyote. For most medium and large dogs, that is what lean looks like.
It is easier to keep dogs lean rather than have them lose weight. Start puppies on a restricted but healthy, diet as soon as they are weaned. And keep them on it.
For the companion/couch dog that a lot of us live with, unless they are getting two to three hours a day of exercise, they do not need as much food as an active dog. A 50-pound dog who is not active can be healthy on 500 calories to 700 calories a day.
Know your dog food. Highquality dog foods will list the calories either on the package or on the company’s website.
Now I have to explain all this to Tank. Wish me luck.
For more writings by Hersch Wilson, visit herschwilson.com. Contact him at hersch.wilson@mac.com.