Collie Diet

KillerKity

I HAD a very active slim border collie but our problems started during the bad winter. First it was the floods then it was the ice and snow and now he hates going out! If i make him go out he justs goes into his house and doesn't run around like he used to. Also when I let him off the lead in the woods, instead of running off he just trots beside me! He's getting his usual two walks a day but that's it. He's now getting very plump to say the least. The vet was shocked at how fast he put on weight and just suggested more exercise which is hard if I have to drag the animal from the house!

He's eating the same i.e dried food mixed with a half tin of wet twice a day and dental sticks. Any advice on how I can maybe get him more active to slim him down a bit??

degausserxo

How old is he? Our vet told us to feed our border collie once a day, two cups of dry food. He wouldn't eat any more if we gave it to him. Maybe try and ween him off the wet food as a daily thing since it contains a lot of fat, but give it to him once every week or so to prevent urinary tract infections.

You can also get doggie jackets with little weights in them which will help tire him more. Would you be able to get a friend to walk their dog with you? He might be a little keener on running around then!

andreac

Just feed less of what you are giving him and up his exercise. Have you a bike? Try cycling with him as collies love to run.

Collies are very active dogs so unless theres a medical reason that hes not feeling the best then get him running, its prob just the extra weight that is holding him back.

Try and make the exercise fun for him, does he like chasing a ball? maybe bring that on the walk too.

But def reduce the amount of food hes getting and cut out the dental sticks too, or cut them right down as this could be the reason the dog has a lot of weight.

How many does he get daily?

KillerKity

Thanks for the replys guy. He's almost 4 and we got him from the pound. He had a tough start so I suppose I'm partly to blame for his current state as I realise I over feed him and "mother" him too much! I'm cutting out the wet food so we'll see how that works. He was out for a good run this evening so if the weather keep good he might be more into it. I tried bringing him out with my friends dog once but it went very badly i.e he kept attacking the poor dog! My poor collie has so many issues...

Sigma Force

If we didn't have a big garden, over the winter, our dogs would be the same our collie hates the rain.
Although collies are active dogs and bred basically for working in all sorts of weathers as a pet our girl hates the rain and if it's windy and rainy forget it, she heads back to bed asap.

If he likes to chase a ball and return it to you to throw again go for it, it might take him a little while but as soon as he gets the hang of it he'll be addicted. Saying that when the weather is really bad even a ball won't tempt our collie girl out.

With the brighter evenings the weight should come off, as said just reducing the treats will make a difference. Our collie gets two cups of Burns a day, she's 11 now so not as active as a younger collie but she's well able to keep up with the younger dogs. Because of the garden she can run like mad when it isn't lashing rain so we haven't had the weight issue.
The wee collie coat would be an idea, I used to have one for ours and she didn't mind wearing it at all. Must invest in another one.

If he walks along side you pick up your pace he'll be determined to keep up with you. He should get back in form once the weather picks up a bit.