[Mary B]

We have a GSD that is a picky eater and won’t eat dry food by itself. She is a rescue and during her first year, eating or I should say “not getting to eat” was a problem. She is eating a Merrick dog food now that she loves, but it is causing her to gain weight, even though we feed her a reduced portion size. The Vet is on us, telling us she will break down in her senior years if she doesn’t get 10-20 lbs. off, but she is getting less than the daily recommendation as it is now. She doesn’t like people food, won’t eat dog treats, so she truely is getting only what her daily feed is. We are at a loss as to what to feed her. Any ideas are welcome!
Thanks!

[anonymous]

Can you walk her more? Increase her activity. If you can afford it or have pet insurance, if your vet recommends aqua therapy (swimming). It would really help her burn calories and get in shape, 20 minutes 2 or 3 times a week. One minute of swimming is equal to four minutes of running. There is a veterinary clinic near me that has a heated pool and offers this. I have heard that sometimes pet insurance will pay if it is prescribed as treatment.
What else does the vet recommend? Is her lab work okay? Thyroid? If her weight issues are due to a medical condition, there may be treatment options other than decreasing her intake.
Otherwise, 3 brisk 20 minutes walks around the block a day should help. Will she play fetch? See if you can find an activity she likes.

[Mary N]

If the reason she is putting on more weight is of medical nature, then you should consider a treatment for it.

If she is a rescue dog and didn’t want to eat for a year, it could be that she is suffering from some stress 🙁

Also, how about searching for a dog food which contains similar ingredients as that one but with a lower amount of fat and calories in general?

If the increased weight is not a medical issue then you should exercise her much more, it could be that her metabolism needs some activity in order to start using that food she intakes. But I am afraid that the problem is medical..

If she has lack of appetite and can’t seem to control weight then that just speaks that something is off..

have your vet do the blood work too and check the hormone levels.

[Susan W]

I’ve had 2 GSDs in the past and both were picky eaters. Actually, that isn’t exactly true – they would eat anything I fed them by hand. Ugh! Sadly, I lost each of them before they turned 10. I WISH I had known about VeRUS when I had either of these dogs. I feel certain they would have lived much healthier lives and lived longer if I had fed them this really good dog food.
I now have 2 and a half dogs (the half being my mom’s dog who I’ve been keeping for the last 5 months). One is an 11-y-o Golden Retriever. Actually, she’ll be 12 on Jan 1st. She acts like she’s 5 and I KNOW it’s because I feed her VeRUS. She used to be itchy, lethargic, and fat. Now she’s back to being energetic with a beautiful coat. She’s bouncy! 80 pounds of 12 year old bouncy golden fur! She’d be skinnier if my husband would stop feeding her cheese, but all things considered, she’s in fantastic shape.
If you contact the people at VeRUS and tell them about your dog, they’ll email you back with suggestions on which of their foods to try, then send you samples. If they recommend more than one ‘flavor’, they’ll send you more than one type of sample. They will also give you suggestions for how to help your dog if they are stress eating or have another type of food/eating issue. Just do a google search for veruspetfoods.com.

[Susan]

Hi, for her weight is she being walked daily & throwing a ball in a park is good excercise, you just stand there & they do all the work running after the ball… My boy gets walked 2-3 times a day mainly cause I live in a unit/villa, he’s 8yrs old looks good, no joint problems (yet), I put it down to exercise being active & a lean diet, have you tried raw diet? dogs & cats love raw or freeze dried raw like “Ziwi Peak” when my boy was on raw he lost too much weight, probably cause he wasn’t getting all the carbs you get in kibbles….
I had a boxer before Patch & she was the same, she’d just look at food & put on weight, she ate 1/2 of what my Staffy Patch eats & he loses weight very quickly but he’s more active then my boxer was..

[Mary N]

Hi Mary any updates on your GSD?

Did you find any good dog food?

I forgot to ask you in my previous message above, does your dog have problems with food when it comes to taste?

[Julie P]

my GSD pinched a nerve in his back a few years ago on a slick wood floor. He limped for about four months. Was overweight at the time. 106lbs. Have since covered the floors. In order to help him loose weight faster to help with the limping issue I put him on raw food diet. And cut out ALL treats. He always loved to swim and I have lake nearby and he could do that with limp. He has been at about 90 lbs since then. Feed him Merrick for the last several years. Recently tried Zignature as the local store was offering buy one get one. Both dogs have done really well on it. My GSD has Pannus now. And eye disease. Has to have eye drops now every day for life. This disease came on at the same time I had tried Costco dog food/and had him vaccinated. Either one of these things brought it on or it just happened. The other dog got hot spots from the Costco grain free food. Do not ever feed Costco Grain free. Reviews are horrible too. And if you ever need prescriptions sign up for Good RX. They have saved me tons of money.

[Anna O]

I love GSDs! I used to have one that refused to eat anything with bread. He was so funny.

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