The best food solution for obese dogs? Part two
Your dog is programmed to be hungry (lack of natural environment/ boredom etc) and want more of the unnatural grain diet, but it won’t make them satisfied until they are fat (that’s how it works with most dogs).
You can either select bones ( a great choice if your dog can’t get to the marrow) or any long lasting treat (MEAT) because the dog is earning its kilojoules and satisfying a primal urge to rip and chew. If your dog is obese, lots of pig treats may not be ideal because of the higher level of saturated fat that more easily gets converted to dog fat than beef or chicken.
If you are super conscientious and you what your dog to enjoy more treats, then low fat options like our kangaroo range and fish range are ideal. Not only are they generally about 4% versus 10% but your dog will usually be getting a meat protein they don’t regularly eat, and diversity (in meat protein) is one of the keys to good dog health.
Why feeding on a raw diet is harder for calorie counting
The truth is that energy level is similar across carbs and proteins but over double for fat. Some fats are good, some are not so good (saturated) but dogs don’t suffer cholesterol human issues, its just a weight thing and that Omega 3 (and CLA’s) serve other great purposes in the body besides just energy.
The reason why a raw diet feeder (me) has more difficulty with feed amounts is that a commercial dog food fed dog just needs less of a scoop of pellets. If you feed a dog a varied meat, offal and bone diet, and you prepare it fresh most nights, then you are also going to have to weigh it to make sure you are sticking to a set weight.
Its not impossible but its just one more step to add into the preparation.
I also feed my dog treats after his main meal if he is still hungry but I am talking about a small piece of roo jerky or a roo tendon mostly.
Other times I use roo jerky as 25-50% of his meal, plus a human vitamin tablet that doesn’t exceed the oil based vitamin limits (on affco tables)
By weight these things are very light, and they are also very low in fat and its good fat. And they take a while to chew and digest. This helps the brain know that it has eaten something substantial, and the jaw works out also lets the dog know it earned its food.
If you want your dog to lose weight, its a matter of knowing what the weight of the dog food is – and how much fat content is in it, and if you want to feed treats, reduce the amount of dog food by the weight of the treat you are feeding your dog.
Its dog science, not rocket science!