Before we get started, I want to let you know what this post is about (and more importantly, what it’s not about).
This series is NOT about what food is good or bad or how much a dog should eat — yet the “Easy to follow simplistic guide to prevent and reverse obesity in dogs” I’m going to share with you will help you get exceptional results from your dog.
This post is NOT about teaching you dog nutrition — yet this information will prove to be very beneficial in everyday life.
If you are a first-time dog parent or have raised many and want to keep your dog happy and healthy, then in my experience, after working with hundreds of dogs and humans, I’ve found that it is best if you focus on feeding frequency, it is the key to have a healthy and happy dog.
So, how many times should you feed your dog and why should you do this?
THAT is what this post is about.
What is the meaning of obesity?
It was the summer of 2016 when my neighbor got a dog for them, a female PUG(Rumy).
At that time I didn’t know much about dogs.
I witnessed how Rumy was pampered by her family and everyone in the building, there were like 200+ flats in the society and she used to receive love from all the kids and adults.
Rumy’s intimate pack was small, just a small boy and her mother.
She was living a happy joyful life, or should I say it was joyful for a very brief period of time.
The boy used to eat a lot of chocolates and he started to feed chocolates and biscuits to Rumy as well, he also used to feed whatever he was eating which people often see as cute.
Chocolate and Most human food is toxic for dogs because the food which we eat can shoot the blood sugar levels of in dog’s body sky high.
Soon Rumy got obese, then she got cataracts in her eyes, then diabetes, then she lost both of her eyes and then finally she lost her life within 2 years of her taking birth.
The reason for her death is not because of genetic disease, it’s just because of the lifestyle her humans made her follow, the negligence of humans and lack of control over their own emotions took the life away from Rumy.
The Meaning of obesity for a dog is DEATH…
Diseases like Osteoarthritis, Diabetes, and thyroid are on a rampage in dogs. If you observe dogs in their natural habitat then there is almost a 0% chance that you will find a dog with these diseases.
(Side note: these are humans created diseases)
There are so many dogs just like Rumy who are suffering because of our negligence and our lack of control over our own emotions, and through this book, my goal is to make people aware that if we don’t give priority to the health of our dogs then we can’t expect them to live a happy disease-free life.
Before guiding responsible dog parents regarding their dog’s health issues, I was helping people in transforming their own health by empowering them with the knowledge of “How body and mind works”.
I started researching how a dog’s body works and also started consulting with veterinary doctors also.
I realized the physiology of humans and dogs are the same, the way organs work in our body, they work exactly the same in a dog’s body as well.
I helped many humans in losing weight and gaining health through my easy-to-follow simplistic methods, I believe health is simple but we have made it complex because I think it has become our nature to create complexity out of simple things, isn’t that so?
Rumy’s death impacted me deeply, I could have helped her by behaving firmly on making her parents understand. I got angry at them but what was needed was compassion, I should have behaved in a calm, confident & compassionate manner if I really wanted to help Rumy.
With calmness, confidence, and compassion, I am presenting you with this easy-to-follow simplistic guide to prevent and reverse obesity in dogs.
Happy Reading My Dear Responsible Dog Parents.
How to recognize obesity?
This is the question which many people ask and it is of great importance to know the answer if we want to prevent obesity from happening to our dogs.
I believe prevention is very easy as compared to reversing obesity.
I also believe Obesity can easily be recognized if we remain true to ourselves.
But, the real question is how to recognize it in the early stage when the dog is not at the obvious obese stage.
Here is the simple step which can help you figure out the state of health your dog is in from a weight point of view.
- Check from the top view if your dog’s shape is oval then he is obese or moving towards obesity.
- Check if you can feel his last two ribs easily or not, if not then he is obese or moving towards obesity. (Awesome Way)
- You should be able to easily feel the last two ribs and if you can’t then we need to work on his diet.
Through these simple steps, we can find out if we need to cut down or change the diet or not.
Which Dogs Are Most at Risk for Becoming Obese?
People generally believe that certain breeds are more prone to obesity but in reality, the dogs who are food motivated, who can make puppy eyes, and whose humans easily give in to their demands are at risk for becoming obese.
(Does it makes sense?)
Any dog can become obese who is food motivated…
How do dogs Reach this state?
In their natural habitat, you will hardly see any overweight dogs.
We, humans, are living a very sedentary lifestyle and consuming more food than we need, and we are doing the same with our dogs as well.
It’s just our negligence, our lack of knowledge of how devastating obesity or overweight is for a dog.
Dogs are getting obese or overweight because we are feeding them 3-4 times a day including main meals, small meals, and treats.
Their body is not built to eat so much food and so many times every day.
We need to keep our emotions in check which is making us feel that our dog is hungry, he needs food and we keep on feeding him out of love.
Is that love? Or our incapability of handling our emotions?
“I don’t feed my dogs again and again but my family does, so it’s hard to control them”
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
It’s about the life and death of your dog, take a stand, and be firm about your stand.
The whole family should on the same page regarding the health of the dog, it’s our responsibility to give them a healthy happy life. (Yes or No?)
Prevention & Reversal measures
A dog should never reach the state of overweight or obese, you can’t imagine the stress they feel when they become overweight.
Dogs love to play but when they become overweight they start losing play drive because it is too much for their joints to handle.
People also think that by giving the exercise they can help their dog to lose weight..
NO!! Exercise will put pressure on already deteriorating joints..
The main focus must be on the food you are feeding your dog..
The following is easy to follow simplistic approach to help your dog lose weight and gain health within 3 weeks:
STEP#1:
Where We Are?
Note down how many times do you feed your dog. This is not how much but it is about the number of times your dog is being fed, any food, anything your dog eats, and at what time..
(example: Main meal, treats, small meals, from your plate, from other family member’s place, biscuit, roti, whatever… you got my point right?)
STEP#2:
Where We Want To Be?
Our dogs should be strictly on 2 meals a day, no daily treats (if he is overweight then no treats at all until the dog reaches the optimal weight)
The window between two meals is under 6 hours not more than that. (example: if the dog gets the first meal at 1:00 pm then the next meal should be given before or at 6 pm. This process will trigger the process of autophagy in dogs which means the dog’s body will start recycling the dead cells, microbes, fungi, viruses into raw material for new cells, and the dog will start losing weight)
STEP#3:
How to achieve this?
We want our dogs to be on 2 meals a day but right now it is possible that we are feeding them 4-5 times every day.
Here is how you bring them to two meals a day:
Take a meeting with all the members of the family and tell them your plan. All members should be on the same page. (If they don’t understand then please do let me know, no need to feel alone, we can team up and schedule a zoom call with them)
Stop giving treats altogether, until the dog reaches the appropriate weight.
Stop giving all meals except the main meals, no in-between meals.
If you give more than two main meals then postpone it by 15 minutes every day until you reach the state where you can combine the first and second meals.
If you give only two main meals then start shortening the time window between the meals until the difference is only 6 hours or less, you can do this by postponing meal 1 by 15 minutes and preponing meal 2 by 15 minutes every day.
Have a fixed feeding schedule.
Always pick up the bowl within 5 minutes if the dog is not interested in eating, don’t get worried, and provide a meal the next scheduled time.
Give some time to yourself in planning this so that your dog can live a happy healthy life.
