The Dangers of Canine Obesity

Dogs can suffer from the same things as their owners, this great guest post will help you if your dog loves their food a little too much!

A Guest Post by VetDepot

As a loving and responsible dog owner, it’s hard not to spoil that sweet pup of yours.  However, it’s important to not let those extra treats and table scraps lead to too many extra pounds. Unfortunately, canine obesity is all too common and contributes to numerous health risks including heart disease, diabetes and arthritis. Prevention is your best bet when it comes to avoiding the health complications associated with obesity, but steps can be taken  to achieve a healthy weight if your pooch does manage to pack on a few extra pounds.

Causes of Canine Obesity:

Just like people, dogs become overweight when their energy intake exceeds their energy expenditure. The excess energy, or calories, is stored as fat. Sometimes, a medical condition may be to blame for your dog's weight gain. Consult your veterinarian if your dog eats well, is physically active, and is still putting on weight. The underlying cause of your dog's obesity might be hypothyroidism, insulinoma, hyperadrenocorticism, or another condition. Treating these diseases with the correct pet medications as prescribed by your veterinarian may help your dog get back to an ideal weight.

Treating Canine Obesity:

If you have concerns about your dog’s weight, visit your veterinarian for a full physical examination and weight assessment. Your veterinarian can determine whether your dog is overweight by feeling for his backbone and ribs. In overweight dogs, the waist is not defined and a layer fat covers the backbone and ribs.

If your dog is overweight or obese, your veterinarian will work with you to develop a diet and exercise plan to improve your pet's health. Dietary changes may involve increasing the amount of fiber in your dog's diet, cutting down on portion sizes, and eliminating or reducing treats. If your dog suffers from diabetes or another health condition, more intensive dietary modifications may be necessary. Regular exercise is essential to burn calories. If your dog isn’t used to too much exercise, a gradual increase in activity is important to prevent injury. Dogs with arthritis may need some assistance in becoming more active.

In addition to changes in diet and activity level, any successful weight management program for dogs involves changes in the owner’s behavior too. Your dog did not become obese on his own, and you will need to modify your own behavior to ensure your pet's weight loss efforts are successful. Begin by removing your pet from the dining room when your family eats dinner, and resist the urge to offer frequent snacks and treats to your dog. Acknowledge your dog’s good behavior with non-edible rewards, such as playing or petting. It’s also important to keep all of your dog's veterinary appointments and work closely with your vet to ensure weight loss success for your canine companion!

A good day's work

Some days I don't seem to do much, I just drift around the house and the internet without much to prove I've had a worthwhile day. Some days it wouldn't have made a lot of difference if I had just stayed in bed.

Well, that's not actually true, the dogs wouldn't be happy with me if I stayed in bed, because if I did that, they wouldn't be able to go out, come back in, go out again, come back in, etc! I don't mind that much being the door lady, I suppose. It's a job that has to be done, otherwise the house would get very, very messy. I'm not a great housewife, but I'm certainly not that bad!

Anyway, today wasn't one of those do nothing days. Today I was out of bed before Jake left for school. Today I finished off two subjects of my TAFE studies and sent them off to my lecturer. Today I did kennel maid duties, spoke to a person about an article in the Mallala Crossroad Chronicle. Today I bought more Viscotears for Missy's eyes, and more postage stamps for the household.

Today I also filled out and sent off a questionnaire, and filled out and sent off a form to do a new volunteer thing. So the day has been a busy and productive one. I also found out there's a brand new baby in the district, young Herbie, another son to Dylan and Bek Stodart.

So today has been a good day. Now though, even though it's getting on to my usual bedtime, I have to stay up so I can pick Jake up in Mallala after the school Forum event. It will be good for me, certainly good for Jake, and I can perhaps sleep in a little in the morning.

There, that's my day, how was your day today?

I wrote this blog post some time ago. I'm not sure why I didn't actually post it, but I'm posting it today to help me to remember that day, when I did things and thought enough of those things to write them down. I've done some things today too.

I watered some of our plants, in particular our bonsai collection. Well loved little trees in shallow little pots that suffer the most when the watering doesn't occur. I watered our hanging pots too, because Graham asked me to, and I had no reason not to do it.

I filled up the dog's water bowl outside. It is our duty to make sure the dogs always have water available. I cleaned the stove top a little (not enough to make it clean, but that may happen later). I cleaned the bathroom sink well, I put away the washed clothes from yesterday.

I put dogs out and let them back in, I put our pharaoh hound boy, Lah Dee, down the back dog run because he didn't want to come inside and I didn't want to leave him in the back yard because he loves to dig holes, and we don't want any more holes in the back yard. I can hear Lah Dee barking now, no, he's stopped again. Hmm I'll see later if he wants to come inside, or I may leave him there longer.

Some of the things I've done this morning may have been because Mum's visiting this morning and I wanted to actually do something in preparation for that. Usually I go to her place once a week, but I don't have a car available at the moment, because I crashed my car on Monday night and it's been written off by my insurance company. It hurts when I thing about that, but it could have been so much worse. My car is a wreck but I am fine...

That's enough for this blog post, I might stray into too sad places if I go further right now, and I have other things I want to do now. I've written a poem about my car crash and that makes it all feel better. Writing about things creatively is how I get my head around things. Personal creative therapy is my personal healing. It's the thing I want to do to assist other people for the rest of my life. I haven't got to that place yet, but I'm edging closer all of the time.