Shoot. My dog just put on 2lbs in 4 months.

[Deleted]

My dog was a little underweight when we got her, the vet told me she should weigh about 27lbs. I weighed her this morning and she's at 29lbs. I'm thinking I need to cut back on her food a bit since I don't want her to be over weight, but I don't want to starve her either.

She eats 2x a day and is is what I'm thinking about doing:

3oz raw venison
1.5oz brown rice (she needs this or else the venison runs right through her)
1.5oz steamed sweet potato
1.5oz plain yogurt

If I'm calculating the calories out right it's about 325 per meal. This calculator says she needs just over 700 calories a day, but that's also just over 2c and she's eating just under 2c.

www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-feeding-tips/dog-food-calculator/

She gets 1 small cookie (pb treat) and 4-5 mini Zuke salmon treats (~3 cals a piece)

We walk for 40 min 6-7x a week, but other than that she's kind of a lazy lump.

Does this sound about right?

Thanks!

[patches31709]

I'm a little confused so I apologize if this is a stupid question - is the 7.5 oz of food per meal or per day? My dog is 18/19 pounds and eats between 5 and 6 oz of raw chicken or beef a day, plus a couple treats.

Have you tried adding probiotics and digestive enzymes to help her tummy with the venison?

[Deleted]

The 7.5oz is per feeding, so it would be 15oz a day total.

I've tried OTC probiotics and enzymes, but they didn't help. The only thing that seems to help is rice, yogurt and sweet potato.

[sebd12]

If her body condition is still within healthy range, I really wouldn't worry about 2 lbs over a recommended guess. Counting your dogs calories down to a 3 calorie treat seems a little obsessive.
Make the rice scoop a little smaller maybe, just tweak. If she maintains, great, if she loses too much, tweak back up. From week to week as the weather and activity levels change her calorie needs will be different.
Unless you are going to strap a heart rate monitor on her for walks you really don't need to be this exact with the calories.
To make sure I'm not dismissing, this would be a 6 lb gain in one of my dogs. I would tweak their food down, a little, but I would keep more of an eye on their waistline and not on the food scale, KWIM?

[Deleted]

The only reason that I know that the salmon treats are 3 calories is because it says it right on the bag.

Thanks for the help!

[sebd12]

Oh! Haha.yeah I think you are good just tweaking. She is on a very good diet so she may putting on a larger amount of lean mass, whereas a cornfed dog would just be getting porky. Keep an eye on body condition overall. My rottie puts on a few extra lbs every once in a while and if its in her waist I temporarily rename her "Porkchop" and she gets a level scoop instead of a heaping one.
Just like people, the number on the scale is sometimes a poor indicator.

[patches31709]

I think that might be a little too much, especially since she's eating quality food and not food containing lots of fillers. I would do the sweet potato and yogurt once a day, or even once every other day.

Like I said, my guy is 10 pounds lighter but a lot more active and he eats 8 ounces a day.

[calico]

You have analyzed your dog's diet with a finer comb than I analyze my own. Echoing pp's above- just keep an eye on her waistline and then make adjustments.