whine time

[hughnique]

10 year old Doberman lady, slightly overweight, and vet has said she needs to lose a bit, don't we all, however we seem to be between the devil and the deep blue sea. She would normally have a meal twice a day, 8 am and 6 pm, we have tried to cut her down a bit with her food, but not by a drastic amount. She has been diagnosed with joint pain so at first we thought she was complaining about that, but a pattern has emerged, it's like an inbuilt time clock 2 hrs is the norm before said feed times she starts this whining, afternoon is not so bad, although still annoying, but the morning stint could start as early as 4 am. There doesn't seem to be anyway to pacify her until she is fed, then it miraculously stops, and she dozes off again on the settee, so I would assume that it is food related, any dog whisperers out there??

[Blaze]

Ah, Hughnique, I understand only too well ! It has a lot to do with age according to our vet. Bimbo (15 1/2) is exactly the same thought fortunately she doesn't whine, but goes around panting. She has become quite obsessed with food and has become such a pain hanging around when we're cooking, we've had to shut her out. If I'm standing at the counter, her latest trick is to thrust her nose between me and the under worktop cupboards, in the hope that something will fall.

They are fed in the morning and at about 6pm. Bimbo starts reminding us about an hour and a half beforehand and we have to ignore it or shut her out ....

Regarding weight, Sweep has elbow joint pain and we've always had to watch her weight. She can't do energetic exercise so we weight her regularly at the vet's and id she starts putting on a kilo or two, we cutting her ration by about a third for a week or until she gets back to her optimum weight. We've always watched the weight of our dogs because if they gain too much, it's much harder for them to lose it.

[MAD87]

No dog now but I used to split my dogs' means, half morning, half evening. Exercise in the morning and more if clement. I never had an overweight dog even though they were all neutered.
With our last dog, I'd put the bowl in front of him and make him wait until I said he could have it. Just about the only time he obeyed me.

[Spardo]

No dog now but I used to split my dogs' means, half morning, half evening. Exercise in the morning and more if clement. I never had an overweight dog even though they were all neutered.
With our last dog, I'd put the bowl in front of him and make him wait until I said he could have it. Just about the only time he obeyed me.

Mine too, however bad his recall is in the forest and field if he is tracking prey, he will not move from a sitting position till he gets the magic words 'bon appetit'. Usually I give it more or less straight away but occasionally I pause longer, or even go out of the room, and call from afar. It is very gratifying. He gets a level ladle of croquettes after the morning walk and then 2 heaped ones along with sardines or chicken between 6 and 7pm. He appears to be more 'costeau' to me but when I weigh him he never varies from the 38kgs he was when he arrived a couple of years ago. He is an 8 year old Beauceron/Dobermann X.

[hughnique]

She used to be a steady 35 36 kg girl, suddenly she is low 40's, yes sure you can pinch more than an inch, but as for being obese I don't think she is that bad. My male was a good 50kg in his prime and as lean as a bit of best steak. I'm afraid, and the reason that we will not have any more dogs, that both of us are in poor health, I can just about get up the stairs without gasping for breath and OH takes forever with her knee so the walks around the block have taken a knock, probably the reason for her little spare tyre. When you put her food out it just does not seem enough, but we stick to what the quota says, if not below.

[Blaze]

We've changed our dogs' diet as they've got older as they don't have the same needs as young, active dogs : From Hills j/d normal (for articulations) to Hills j/d "light". They don't need the "extras" that a young, active dog needs and we found that Bimbo's gall bladder problems improved dramatically with the change. They both have beautifully soft silky coats. Bimbo doesn't seem to show the slightest signs of joint pain, which is surprising given her age.

Every dog is different, just as owners' ideas on what their dogs need are different. It's a question of finding which food and what quantity suits your dog ! The quantities given on the bags is a guide and we found that for our two, the recommended quantity was a little too much and we found that Bimbo needs a little more than Sweep. Neither has ever been over-weight per se as we try to keep them within a range that seems to suit them.

[tagh]

My two always had/have dry food and eat as they please with me just topping up as needed. No serious overweight problems. the elder made 15, dying just over a year ago whilst the younger one has just got to 15. He moans to go outside and to go in the car and grunts to go on the sofa at dusk. Plus smiles and tail wagging if he thinks a treat is in order.

[Char]

If it's less food that's causing this, I would have thought it'll calm down once her tummy's got used to having less.
I suppose most of us when we go on a diet get hunger pangs for a while due to feeling hungry.