Recently my boyfriend adopted a 7 month old lab mix puppy . I own a dog myself and am very invested in his health . She's pretty great but I noticed right away she's fatter than she should be and she's got some serious food aggression. She really loves my dog but she can be a nasty brat at dinner time or with bones.
We took her to the vet in a turns out she weighs 75 pounds and is more unhealthy than she looks. She need to go on a diet immediately. this is not shocking to us bc she outweighs my male husky and she has trouble getting up the stairs ! and even more so getting on the bed. at 8 months old she should be thundering around the house like a goddam rocket. Not needind Assistance to get onto the bed( which by the way is a on a very low frame because I myself am 5 feet tall and have very low furniture to accommodate my stature )
We did some research into her history and her 1st owner was an elderly lady who adopted her as a young puppy the found that she grew to be too big too fast and had too much energy. She was given to a kill shelter. Her 2nd owners Were a couple who have small children and an elderly dog who doesn't get along with other dogs. (At least not her) . After having a few short days we emailed her previous owners the couple and asked her how much she was being fed. That way we could start off her diet slowly.
4-5 cups a day they said. I was shocked. 3 cups a day 1 per meal was what she needed to be at. 5 cups?!? Where did they get that number?( Honestly they could have got that number of the bag because I know for a fact that the food bags always recommend way more food than you need to be feeding them so that you'll go buy more food) That's way to much food for an adult dog let alone a puppy. To make matters worse puppy food is even higher in calories than regular food. No wonder she's fat and is so aggressive with food.
I don't think any of her owners adopted her with bad intentions but they didn't get a dog that suited thier needs and They didn't do any research into what that breed needed health wise for food or exercise needs and ended up giving her up bc they couldn't handle a high energy breed.
It pisses me off because she's so young and vibrant And it makes me sad because she should be running around a to her fullest ability not huffing and puffing a like an old dog. And breeds like hers are prone to hip dysplasia. All the extra weight would have been detrimental to her health. had she stayed with her old owner she might have suffered serious consequences in the future. luckily we got her young so we can get on the right path. It's not cute
If you adopt a pet please please Take the time to figure out what they need to thrive
You should never get a dog based solely on looks You should never get dog because you think it looks cool or tough. you should get a dog that matches your lifestyle . not the lifestyle you like to imagine yourself having but your actual lifestyle and make adjustments when necessary.
Please don't over feed your pets out of "love" if you really love them then you have to be a good parent and do what's best for them. and what's best for them is a diet that puts them at a healthy weight range and meets the nutritional needs yes its OK to splurge every once in a while and give them some unnecessary treats but you should always be conscious of what's going on with their body. You don't want them to suffer down the road you don't want them to have health problems that could have been avoided by simply changing their diet.
There is nothing wrong with crating your dog Sometimes it's necessary . However I do think If you are a person who works all the time and are never home and kennel your dog 8 hours A-day for most days out of the week I'm just gonna say that I think Its abuse. However being in a crate all day is better than being at a kill shelter so if you do have to crate A dog I understand, but please please try and train them to be ok home alone or find a babysitter or a dog Walker. And if you are looking into getting a dog and you work full time and you don't have any way to have a another person help you out with training and taking them out and with exercising them you should get a cat. Bc a cat would love to sleep 8 hours a day. A cat does not need to be locked up in a crate and the cat does not need to go to the bathroom outside every couple hours. Get a cat . They will live lavishly sleeping alone all day . A dog is not a fucken cat a dog doesn't wanna sit and sleep for 8 hours A-day in a cage.
Tldr: Our new pupper is obese has had a sad life from people who ment well. They weren't monsters but they fucked up by not looking for a dog that suited thier lifestyle and by not Doing the research into what she needed when came to health and exercise. the puppy suffered for it.
We took her to the vet and are starting a diet ( Exercises is not an issue as I have a fenced in back yard and I also take my dog to the dog park every day so now she gets to play with my dog in the yard and go to the dog park and play with other dogs on a daily basis) We emailed the humane society About training classes and the bf will shortly begin classes to deal with her food aggression
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/bjpe6f/its_shitty_to_get_a_pet_and_do_absolutely_no/
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