# 7 year old border terrier bitch - 10.6kg!



## wiggy_70 (Jun 22, 2010)

Please could you give me some advice?

I had her spayed last year and since then she has got fatter and fatter!

I only feed her a pedigree dentistix for small dogs every morning for her bad breath and half a tin of pedigree chum with a handful of mixer at around 8pm. 

I used to take her on daily short walks but lately because I am pregnant we only take her at the weekend really. However she gets very tired very easily and afterwards sleeps for hours as if she is so warn out! If I call her from her basket after a walk she limps a bit as if her joints are stiff. 

I would prefer to give her dry food as before when we initially rescued her in 2011 but she seemed to hate it and would often leave food altogether rather than eat it!

She's a lovely dog with a very timid temperment. She doesn't play fetch or run away so getting her to exercise and stay active is a bit of a chore. 

Also she keeps eating lots of grass and my plants!


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## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

Have you taken her to the vet to make sure it's nothing medical? If she's not being exercised then she will be stiff and tired after a walk. Is it possible for you to take her out on a few shorter walks during the day rather than one big one?

Taking her off a food that is essentially corn with a tiny bit of meat might help as well. You can have a look at the dry and wet food indexes on here.


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## SixStar (Dec 8, 2009)

As your first port of call, I would take her to vets for full blood work, including thyroid, to make sure there are no medical reasons as to why she is not loosing weight.

I would then recommend having a look through these - http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/255727-updated-dry-dog-food-index.html and http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/305410-updated-wet-dog-food-index.html - Pedigree is an absolutely awful food, very high in unnecessary fillers, low in meat and generally just exceptionally poor. Both the mixer and the wet food is as bad as each other. Any of the green, or even orange, rated foods from the Index would be a good choice - if you want to feed her just dry food, then do so! If she is so overweight, missing a few meals certainly isn't going to harm her - choice the food you want, offer her a meal for fifteen minutes and if it isn't eaten, take it up and offer nothing else until the next meal time. She'll soon learn to eat what she is given, when she is given it!

Dentastix are high in fat, and do very little for teeth, so I would stop those and opt for these instead - http://www.vetuk.co.uk/dog-treats-f...-sea-jerky-skinny-strips-for-dogs-100g-p-4417 - they're low calorie, low fat, excellent for teeth and full of fish oil which will help her joints and coat.

Lastly, daily exercise is imperative. She will never loose weight if she isn't getting the chance to burn off what she is eating, and imagine how mind numbingly boring it must be to only leave the house at weekends! Two good thirty minute walks a day, increasing gradually at first to build up her fitness, should make a huge difference. Not entirely sure why being pregnant stops you walking the dog?  - I managed it perfectly well, as do millions of other women everyday? If you cannot do it, is there anyone else who can? Your partner, or a dog walker?


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## paddyjulie (May 9, 2009)

One of Classic signs of what could be an underactive thyroid ..certainly worth a vet visit to clear anything medically ...then perhaps thinking about a food change


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## Guest (May 31, 2013)

Dentastix do nothing for the teeth, I think of them as junk food for dogs but one as an occasional treat won't harm your dog.

Please get her off pedigree. Take a look at the links sidebar posted. The foods in red are awful, ie the likes of bakers and pedigree and chappie and others. please take her to the vets to get her checked.


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## wiggy_70 (Jun 22, 2010)

Thank you all very much for your helpful advice - very much appreciated. 

Sixstar you spoilt your orherwise bery helpful advice - I'm not entirely sure why you felt the need to be so incredibly condescending. My health and medical reasons as to why I can't walk my dog myself daily are absolutely none of your concern.


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## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

If you can't manage the walks yourself could you get someone to do it? Hire a dog walker maybe.


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## SixStar (Dec 8, 2009)

wiggy_70 said:


> Thank you all very much for your helpful advice - very much appreciated.
> 
> Sixstar you spoilt your orherwise bery helpful advice - I'm not entirely sure why you felt the need to be so incredibly condescending. My health and medical reasons as to why I can't walk my dog myself daily are absolutely none of your concern.


I understood there may be reasons as to why you cannot walk her everyday yourself, hence suggesting if it was possible for your partner or a dog walker to do so. I am not a mind reader however - you said you can't walk your dog apart from at the weekends because you are pregnant, not for any other reason.


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## wiggy_70 (Jun 22, 2010)

There a lot of foods to choose from on the lists - does anyone have any suggestions for something that would be suitable for a border terrier please?


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## Dogless (Feb 26, 2010)

wiggy_70 said:


> There a lot of foods to choose from on the lists - does anyone have any suggestions for something that would be suitable for a border terrier please?


No one food suits a particular breed - I'd go for the best that you can afford comfortably / get easily based on the colour coding system.


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## wiggy_70 (Jun 22, 2010)

I see that Royal Canin is not on the list... is that bad?


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## Dogless (Feb 26, 2010)

wiggy_70 said:


> I see that Royal Canin is not on the list... is that bad?


It's on the list here: http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-heal...ated-dry-dog-food-index-2.html#post1062230216


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## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

Royal canin isn't the best you want a food with a named meat meal first, some foods have meat first but once you remove the water they're actually way down the list, no corn, few grains, no added salt or odd ingredients.


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## wiggy_70 (Jun 22, 2010)

Arrr I see it now - thank you!

Any thoughts on lovejoys?

I can't handle decision making - can anyone recommend a reasonable priced complete dry food I should start off with please?


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## Dogless (Feb 26, 2010)

wiggy_70 said:


> Arrr I see it now - thank you!
> 
> Any thoughts on lovejoys?
> 
> I can't handle decision making - can anyone recommend a reasonable priced complete dry food I should start off with please?


I would just pick a 'green' if you can afford or amber one at a good price for you. Also look at how easily you can get it. I feed raw but would go for something like Orijen or Fish4Dogs if I were to switch. Some of the better quality foods require far less of it to be fed than the awful ones.


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## Guest (May 31, 2013)

Maybe wainwrights turkey andrice?


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## wiggy_70 (Jun 22, 2010)

danielled said:


> Maybe wainwrights turkey andrice?


Thank you. This is actually the one I was thinking of going for and it's out of stock in petsathome!! Grrrr


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## Malmum (Aug 1, 2010)

paddyjulie said:


> One of Classic signs of what could be an underactive thyroid ..certainly worth a vet visit to clear anything medically ...then perhaps thinking about a food change


My thoughts exactly PJ. Have her thyroid tested because she sounds just like our Marty who tested positive for hypothyroidism. We kept reducing his meals and he still gained weight, when we took him to the vet we were told what we'd been feeding him was practically a starvation diet, the poor boy. He was fat, exhausted after half hours exercise, sleeping almost constantly and always hungry - probably because he was starving. 
There has recently been a school of thought that neutering may help bring it on, as many in studies with this complaint were neutered dogs. Early days yet but owners put the weight gain down to the neutering when it is in fact an under active thyroid.

A simple blood test, checking his T3 and T4 thyroid levels will soon tell if that's the cause and as it affects the heart is a must to rule out or medicate if it is.


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## soulful dog (Nov 6, 2011)

I've been trying to get some weight off my dog too, and a couple of things I've done are cut down the amount of food he gets, and get rid of the Dentastix!

I'll second the recommendation for trying fish skins instead of Dentastix. I originally tried the Fishmongers Fish Braids from Petsathome to make sure my dog liked them. Then followed SixStars advice and bought a big box of Jon Angell Petco's Fish Skins - Flatties. They are quite big and so I break them in two and so they'll last for absolutely ages.

My vet also advised feeding the dog twice a day, feeding the bigger meal in the morning, and less at night. Gives the dog more chance to burn off some calories. So for example, if you feed 200g of dried food daily, feed 120g in the morning, and 80g at night. Also, make sure you are strict and feed at the bottom end (or less) of the feeding guidelines on the bag of food to try and get the weight off.

If your dog is showing signs of stiffness, then short, frequent walks are probably best. No walks at all and then one big long walk isn't really ideal, probably just make your dog sore and tired the same way it would do for yourself! Incidentally, I didn't think SixStars post to you was condescending, but obviously, walk your dog the best you can manage goes without saying.

Good luck, hopefully the vet can help with a possible underlying reason for the weight gain, and if not, a few changes to your dogs diet will help her lose some weight, and that will stop her feeling so tired and stiff at the same time.


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## lola belle (Mar 17, 2011)

Border Terriers are notorious for running to fat as they age, being neutered doesn't help. Once neutered, dogs need less calories. I think lots of dog owners struggle with reducing their pets food. Why, always baffles me. I have a friend, (lucky aren't I lol) two friends of mine have Borders who are seriously overweight, yet criticise mine for being thin. One BT goes to weight management and she's huge, yes, the family are strict with her portion control of veterinary food, BUT, it's all the extras they give her that make her fat. My other friends male looks like a barrel, he's 7 now and they feel sorry for him being on a diet. I have had neutered dogs in the past and were never overweight, even my dad saying why was one dog on a 'mouse sized portion" didn't influence me to increase her food. Yes, I felt harsh at times, but, when a vet comments looking aghast, at a not overweight dog, makes it all worthwhile.
Only 2 weeks ago, my son and I were at the vet, every dog that entered the surgery was asked by the nurse to get onto the scales, 2 border collies in particular looked pitiful, so huge and panting heavily, when really they are one of the canine athletes. Our dog was in to be spayed, she's 5 now and had a weird season, I don't want to risk her having a pyometra, so the dreaded "op" had to be done. I say dreaded as I worry about anaesthetics.


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## BumbleFluff (Jul 23, 2011)

I struggled enormously with my border collies weight. I feed raw so i knew exactly what she was eating, would you not consider switching to raw? You may find it cheaper than commercial food  
I cut blues meals down, she only had evening meals anyway and cut the meat meal by half and replaced with veg as filler. The weight only dropped off her after her spay (which goes against all theories) but she was still young and maturing so i guess she helped herself by growing more in the right places. 
Dentastix, as other have said, are a waste of money. I would also recommend some raw chicken wings/drumsticks to help clean her teeth


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## lola belle (Mar 17, 2011)

I think once a visit to the vet has ruled out any specific reasons for your dogs excess weight. A natural diet is possibly the way forward, there are good wet foods, and dry if you don't want to go down the Raw feeding route. I hope there's a positive outcome for all concerned, worrying as it must be for you. In my experience Border Terriers are a very hardy breed.


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

I think you are overfeeding her. Half a tin of pedigree with mixer is far too much for an overweight and under exercised dog. When I used to feed tinned food (going back decades!) and had a breed that was similar in weight to what yours should be I fed far less than that and they had a couple of hours exercise a day.

I prefer to feed my small breed dogs wet food so I use Wainwrights trays with a bit of added dry food. I was feeding wainwrights but have just changed to arden grange and the dogs like it far better.
I have always fed by eye and if a dog is getting fat it gets less to eat.


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## lola belle (Mar 17, 2011)

Absolutely spot on Blitz. I use wet and dry food, ( including raw in my description of wet) we have toys, terriers and others, yes we're mad!!!
I feed by eye as well, when I had a GSD spayed many years ago, she had a pyometra, the vet at the time said if she was fed on tinned meat and mixer, she needed no more than two thirds of a 400g can with the same volume of mixer, not weight. It's all a matter of trial and error and each individual dog is very different.


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## Born2BWild (Jun 6, 2012)

Hello,

I'm not being rude or judgemental but is there a particular reason being pregnant is stopping you walking your doggy in the week?

I am pregnant and my girls get at least a 1 hour walk a day, Cleo normally gets an extra walk as she has so much energy. 

I know pregnancy has different effects on everyone and I can admit I do get tired but I'm solving this by doing 2 x 30-45 minute walks a day and they will also get the run of a huge deer fenced field full of vines as my partner works on the vineyard where we live and as soon as the sheep have finished grazing in there my partner will take them around with him for a long off lead run around whilst he checks the 75,000 vines!

And as others have said I would definitely rule out any medical problems that could be influencing her weight gain and have a look at changing her diet (gradually to avoid digestive upset) and would highly recommend looking in to raw. There are plenty if options feeding raw from prepping your own to raw completes (such as wolf tucker and natural instinct) but do your research first  

Also, are you feeding her by her current weight or the weight she should be at? As you should feed according to her ideal target weight and adjust accordingly by looking at her overall body condition (feed less if she's overweight for example) 

All the best x


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