We’ve all had that moment when we’ve eaten too much but with delicious food on our plate, it's hard to resist that extra mouthful. That’s how many dogs feel most of the time. Most dogs don’t have the ability to walk away from tasty food when they've had enough.
This can become a problem, if like many of us, you're prone to overindulge your beloved dog a little from time to time. We’ve all done it.
Weighing out dog food, calculating dog treats and adjusting portions for exercise every day isn't easy. Plus, with different brands giving different recommendations it's tricky to know if you're getting it right?
Sadly, overweight dogs are a big problem. Excess fat negatively impacts a dog's health and longevity. It can give them an increased risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and hypertension, as well as osteoarthritis and joint issues. So for dog's carrying extra weight, this could mean a reduction in their quality of life and the time we have with them.
For this blog, we spoke to our favourite Vet and PawSquad CEO, Mark Boddy and together we’ve pulled together some simple ways to see if you might be overfeeding your dog:
- They look overweight - check out our blog on this to see if you can identify that your dog looks overweight.
- They’re having bowel issues - normal in the morning, and loose in the evening is often a sign that you're overfeeding your dog - they’re getting too much and it's putting additional demands on their digestive system.
- They’re suffering with flatulence - yes, some breads are more predisposed to being on the windier side, but overfeeding, even the right food, can lead to issues in the digestive tract!
- They’re having skin problems & itchiness - when a dog needs to rid itself from too much waste in its system, this can manifest itself in different ways. One of the ways it may do this is to moult, or their skin may begin to become dry. This is because, even with good quality food overfeeding can lead to an excessive build up of toxin waste in the dog's body.
- They’re lethargic - just like us, if your dog eats too much they’ll be more tired than normal. Check with your vet if you're seeing that your pet isn’t engaging with their normal activities as you’d expect them to.
Here are some of the most common pitfalls in overfeeding your dog:
- Not measuring - measuring your dog's food is time consuming and can be a faff. Even those owners who measure our their wet and dry food, accounting for additional treats and chews each day can be challenging. For most owners there's a lot of guesswork and trial and error, especially when guidance differs across brands and it becomes easy to overfeed.
- Over compensating for exercising - the balance of exercise to food ratio is complicated. Each dog's metabolism will be different, as well their normal ‘base level’ of exercise, without knowing this, many owners will often overfeed their dog because they don’t want them to go hungry.
- Feeling bad that your dog is hungry - many dogs are always hungry, and owners often tell us they feel bad that their dog seems hungry. But remember that feeling of appetite is natural and a behaviour motivator.
- Mistaking love for food - many dog owners will use food as a way of bonding with their dog and this can easily lead to over treating your dog. Mark has another blog about this here.
- Giving the wrong food - you might think it's just a little piece of cheese or chicken, and your dog loves it, but even a small amount of this kind of rich food can be a high percentage of the daily calories your dog needs.
How can you prevent accidentally overfeeding your dog?
Here at Caboodle we’ve recognised the challenge and we’ve come up with the solution for the modern busy dog owner! We’re dog nutrition experts, we’ve done the careful calculations, measuring and portioning each day, so you don’t have to.
Our daily food boxes, are perfectly balanced with pre-portioned meals, treats and chews for your dog. By taking a short quiz and telling us a bit about your dog we’ll recommend the correct Caboodle stack size for your dog. One of our dog experts will then give you a call to make sure that your dog is enjoying their food and it’s the right plan for them. It's not just food, it's the whole Caboodle!
Why not Caboodle now and save 25% off your first oder - simply use the code FIRSTBOX25 at checkout.
