Dottie is our Dalmatian. Dalmatians are an ancient breed of dog dating back to 2000BC and originating in the Dalmatia region in Croatia. We’ve had her for 8 years now, but she was a puppy when we brought her home. She was a rescue dog and around 2 years old. Recently she’s had to go on a weight loss regime; here’s how it’s going.
What the vet said
Back in May Dottie visited a new veterinary clinic that was more convenient for us. She went for an initial check-up and her vaccination boosters.
Of course, she is weighed on every visit and at 43kg she raised some eyebrows!
The ideal weight of a Dalmatian
The ideal weight for a female adult Dalmatian, according to dogbreedinfo.com, is somewhere between around 25kg. Something had to be done.
She’s not a greedy dog and only had two meals per day with very little in the way of tit-bits. As she used to run a lot of distance with me we assumed much of her mass was muscle – and it is. However, to ensure her long-term health something had to be done.
Feed for the weight you desire
We were asked to make a minor adjustment to her feeding regime – reduction!
Using 24kg as her target weight (for now) we are feeding her what the food manufacturer recommends for that weight. In practical terms, that means weighing her food out (190g, twice a day for her current food) rather than taking a scoop full.
More exercise
As Dottie has got older, and heavier, her exercise has reduced. But in hand with her food reduction, she has been going on more walks. She’s not running with me or anything like that, just god brisk walks.
As with human weight loss: less food + more exercise = reduced weight.
Progress report
This week she went into the vets for minor surgery to remove some large skin tags and her teeth cleaning. As usual, she was weighed on entering the clinic.
Dottie is doing great! She has lost an amazing 13kg in 10 weeks.
A visibly thinner Dalmatian
It’s hard to see with a dog you are around every day just how different she is looking. But, she does appear physically thinner.
This was Dottie back in 2012, clearly, she’s not back to this condition and I don’t think she ever will be. However, it highlights just how much size she gained.
This was Dottie (and Duke – can’t forget him) on a walk just the other day. As you can see she’s looking fantastic and in much better condition.
Keep going
I have to admit she does seem to have more energy and seems to relish going for her walks now. She’s even running around while we’re out and about when I get to let her off the lead. She’s 100% deaf, so letting her off doesn’t happen a lot, but it lovely when we can.
The vet was impressed by her weight loss so far and after giving her the once over with a tape measure she has given us the target of getting her down to 28kg by the end of the summer holidays.
We’ll keep up the food regime and keep enjoying our walks together. Once we get to her to 28kg we’ll discuss the next goal at the free monthly weight clinic our vet offers. We won’t be going back to unmonitored feeding, that’s for sure..
For now, we’re enjoying have Dottie back to good health and hopefully with us for a good while to come.
Thanks for reading.
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