dogsitting an overweight dog- how much to feed?

[keekers]

dogsitting an overweight dog- we are watching a friends fat lab for a week. its 8 years old, close to 100 lbs & very slow to walk, arthritic, etc. (gee- i wonder why). very sweet dog but i really feel sorry for her. the owners are aware that its their fault & past feeding table scraps habits that made her this way & they are regretful. but i think they feel she is going to be this way forever & wont change. she is on royal canin for labs now. how much do you think i should give her this week to eat. her activity is minimal- i mean really minimal. i am thinking 2-3 cups a day maybe to start her onsome healthy habits-the package says a lot more of course (like double that). but this dog gets hardly any exercise. she just sits all day. what do you guys think i should feed for the week portion size? i want to prove that shes not a lost cause. cause occaisionaly she gets a little spry & slightly runs a bit. thanks.. just venting too cause it drives me crazy when pets are obese..have a good day..

[kalija]

My sisters lab is overweight and arthritic too - she's doing better now cause she's on a diet! But anyway, she gets one cup in the morning and one cup at night. It would probably help their dogs arthritus if she was able to lose some weight. Then she might be more active which would help her lose more. Maybe if she loses some with you it will convince them!

[StephanieandTeddy]

A lab shouldn't need more than 2 dry-measure cups per day, IMO...and that's with exercise.

[TinyAlbinoDancer]

Royal Canin isn't that great quality of food is it? You have to take that into consideration as well as you don't want to starve her.

Is there any way you could do some water exercise with her (swimming, I mean) to burn calories and be gentle on the joints? Could you get permission to add an arthritis supplement for her too so she's even able to be more mobile?

[StephanieandTeddy]

Then again...there isn't much YOU can do in just a week...but you can always educate the owners when they return!

[Ritz459]

Blackie weighs a healthy 80lbs and eats around 3 cups of Chicken Soup food a day. He is a Lab and is twelve. Rose weighs a healthy 65-70lbs and eats around 3 cups of food a day. She's a Lab mix and is nine. Chloe weighs a healthy 30lbs and she eats 2 1/2 cups a day. She's still a puppy, however, and is five months old.
Sadie ate about four cups of food a day, and she stayed at a healthy 65-70lbs, but she was eating Pro-Plan.

I'd have to say it depends on the dog's metabolism and the food. I've seen Labs that come in for boarding who only eat only 1- 1 1/2 cups of food a day and they are still the fatest dogs I've ever seen, and yet I see some who come in that eat 4 cups of day and are still skinny.