urge to herd Posted August 25, 2015 Report Share Posted August 25, 2015 I just started agility with Gibbs this summer, he'll be 8 in October. Love it, more than I thought I would. And Gibbs is enjoying himself enormously. It's never too late to have a wonderful life. Ruth and Gibbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKYWALKER Posted August 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2015 Thanks for the agility suggestion! I have him signed up for a novice class in late September. Also, I know the pics I sent have him looking overweight, but just wanted folks to see how he was found in his outdoor pen by the rescue folks. about 5 months ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mum24dog Posted August 25, 2015 Report Share Posted August 25, 2015 Just a warning about the agility though; it's not for helping a dog lose weight. You're dog should be nearing a healthy weight before you start, especially at his age and with his history. Extra strain on joints and muscles for a dog that is past the full flush of youth could be storing up trouble. I would wait until he has lost more weight before trying agility. I would hope that a responsible trainer would toll you the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maralynn Posted August 25, 2015 Report Share Posted August 25, 2015 It's good to see the change that's happening - thanks for giving him a second chance at life! Here's to many great, healthy, active years together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CptJack Posted August 25, 2015 Report Share Posted August 25, 2015 Just a warning about the agility though; it's not for helping a dog lose weight. You're dog should be nearing a healthy weight before you start, especially at his age and with his history. Extra strain on joints and muscles for a dog that is past the full flush of youth could be storing up trouble. I would wait until he has lost more weight before trying agility. I would hope that a responsible trainer would toll you the same. Depends on what you mean by start agility. Not that I'm the trainer, but a foundations class that's about handling on the flat, and maybe going through some tunnels at whatever speed the dog can go, isn't going to put any more strain on the dog than playing on flat ground. It MAY help with exercise in a very gentle way and thereby help weight come off, too. Anything with jumping or contacts though, and I agree. As for age being of concern to the OP (ie: This next bit is directed to the OP), I wouldn't sweat it. For me 8 isn't all that old for the vast majority of dogs who aren't large/giant breeds. More like toward the end of middle aged'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted August 25, 2015 Report Share Posted August 25, 2015 Agreed that 8 is middle aged for dogs who easily live to be 15. Skywalker, that photo reminds me so much of a bitch who was related to my dogs. She was used on the farm by her owner and trialed some, but seemed to stay fat. Dogs out of that line tend to have well sprung ribs and alse be easy keepers. The owner of the lookalike to your dog probably just put kibble out without any regard for what was a healthy diet. I used to hate to see her so fat and jumping up in the back of his pickup (I saw her miss once, very scary). Anyway, I think you'll find that with exercise and carefully watching intake (you can always add low salt green beans to help fill him up) you'll get the pounds off fairly quickly. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraV Posted August 25, 2015 Report Share Posted August 25, 2015 I think the problem is many people think of traditionally marked bcs and bcs that they see at dog shows. Dogs bred from working lines do not always look traditional. My bc has all his papers and people always thought he was an aussiexcellent because he is a Merle. He is also more stocky due to his breeding lines. Your bc looks bc to me. If I saw him on the street I wouldnt think he is an acd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Coyote Posted August 25, 2015 Report Share Posted August 25, 2015 One of the older dogs I took in was way overweight. I just took her out and let her run and run and her weight really came down fast. Tommy had gotten too heavy after she was spayed. I put her on grain free weight management Fromm - 1-1/2 cups a day and she is really looking a lot better. It took a while but I can tell a big difference now. Regular grain free Fromm is 407 calories per cup. The weight management grain free is 360, I think. She doesn't seem to be hungry at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligande Posted August 25, 2015 Report Share Posted August 25, 2015 When we first got Brody he weighed 43lbs and to be polite he was a little chunky, he had not been getting much exercise due to ill health and an injured back in his former family. He did yet look like a coffee table on legs but was heading that way, we got him at the end of March by the end of summer he was still 43lbs but a completly different looking dog, we fed him a regular diet for a 40lb dog he just got loads of exercise, walks, swimming, fetch etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingfisher7151 Posted August 25, 2015 Report Share Posted August 25, 2015 Holy cow! You've done a good job so far! I hear swimming is an excellent, no impact way to take some weight off. That may not be an option depending on where you are, but I figured I'd bring it up! I'll bet agility foundations would be quite fine on him, they won't have him doing any jumping or contacts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKYWALKER Posted August 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2015 Yeah, the agility will be low key of course. Luke was not very athletic when I got him. He would hit his head around obstacles in the house often. Especially when turning corners. He was used to being in boxes. Would fall off the bed at first because I suppose he had never been up on one. He can't catch really well. His brain map is off in terms of what he thinks he can do and what he can do - but the drive is there to try. When he pee's while lifting a leg he almost falls over. He's getting much much better at all these things, but clearly he is not the athlete he should have been - so I'm keenly aware not to overwork him with the agility stuff. It's agility for fun and mostly about just experiencing/challenging him and building our bond - and getting a bit of a workout in the meantime.. He is learning fast. Also, I do feed him ice cubes which he adores and also frozen vegetables. Thankfully, he loves those low calorie things so it's easy to supplement some of the bulk of his food - to keep him feeling full since he isn't getting full portions while loosing weight. Of course when I Google feeding dogs veggies, I see lots of opposing POV's. But I also know better. And finally, and thanks to reading silently amongst these boards, am grateful for this resource and everybody's help. Thanks a ton. I'll post a new post when I get Luke down to 45-50 lbs. Hopefully by Winter. And now a pic, in case anybody is still reading this far of Luke with my nephew who was catatonic around dogs but met Luke and after 2 days suddenly said "Mom, guess what? I love dogs now..." So, like I said when I first met him - Luke, aka Skywalker, is going to bring balance to the force.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Coyote Posted August 26, 2015 Report Share Posted August 26, 2015 What a lucky dog Luke is. It's so good to hear happy endings for really nice dogs and people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted August 26, 2015 Report Share Posted August 26, 2015 And now a pic, in case anybody is still reading this far of Luke with my nephew who was catatonic around dogs but met Luke and after 2 days suddenly said "Mom, guess what? I love dogs now..." Some dogs can be magical. Apparently Luke is one of them. He's very lucky to have ended up with you. As far as veggies go, dogs don't need them, but they're not going to hurt them either. I had a Lb/pointer mix who it was very hard to maintain decent weight with. 3/4 of his diet was low-carb veggies just to give him something to fill his belly and make him feel like he wasn't starving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eileen Stein Posted August 27, 2015 Report Share Posted August 27, 2015 Got some real nice dogs on the top half of that pedigree . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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