We don't control Finley's food. We have the dogs bowls out there and he eats when he wants to eat. If the bowls get empty then I fill them. Being that he sleeps inside at night I put the bowls away about 7pm. In a normal day he will go to the bowl and eat 3 times a day. We have another dog but she is a mix and is about 35 pounds and does not eat as much as Finley but together they go through about 60 pounds of dog food a month on average. Finley is a not an overly active Husky as he likes to sleep a lot during the day and he pretty much sleeps all night also. He does love his walks when i can get them in. He weighgs about 90 pounds and does not look fat but does look big and strong. He is a 100 percent Husky but like I say he is not that active except for the walks, he is oh so not an escape artist and he doesn't really ever get bored and get destructive. I just wonder if we are letting him eat too much?

Ami and Archer, with archer visiting about half time, go through 30 pounds of taste of the wild in a month.

Ami is 25" tall and weighs 74 pounds.  I can easily feel ribs with a slight , light fat covering.

Amy went where I wasn't ready to go ... brave soul, she.

If Finley is within (or even close) to breed standard, Finley is grossly overweight.  But that's a completely unjustified statement since I have no real idea how tall he is nor how much he eats when he "goes to the bowl".  I have a girl who's at the upper limit of breed standard (22-24 inches tall) and weighs in at about 60 pounds and is quite overweight ... and she gets two cups of food a day in two meals.

Again, though, we can't really give you a good answer since you've left too much out - because you, I don't think, really know some of it.  How much is *he* eating in any given day?  How much exercise is he getting?  What are you feeding?  

I'd suggest that his sleeping all day is a result of not getting the exercise he needs and deserves <sorry, I'm not politic>, most Husky's do like to get out and take a run; I'd also suggest that looking big and strong - is more a case of being overweight.  A pure Husky should be lean, call it svelte - you should be able to generally feel his ribs and his backbone without them being pronounced, if you can't then - imho - he's overweight.

So, to answer your question the best that I can, yes, you're letting him eat too much.

I need to measure Finley and get back to you with it. Now Im not sure that he is 90 pounds but I know when we were at the vet last time he was 79 but that was a year ago. He needs a check up soon anyway. When we got him as a puppy he was 4 months old and very large for a four month old puppy. I will try to get a pic of him tomorrow also. We are getting up early and going on a 5 mile walk and we will start that again as it wont hurt me either. He really isnt a very energetic husky as our other dog will chase a ball all day long if we let her and Finley likes to sit and watch her do it. They do play together and that is mostly roughhousing and that goes on for about 10 minutes and then he takes a rest and then maybe in another 15 minutes will get back to it. I know you think he may be grossly overweight but he does not look it. Maybe a picture will help. I appreciate the input.

As far as energy level... what climate are you in?  In finger lakes summers, Ami is a rug... And here in Florida, he's sacked out.  Come winter in upstate NY, he is a crackerjack ball of energy.  And then I increase his food.  Summers, it's 3/4 cup twice a day and a midnight snack of about 1/2 c with people food (protein and veggies) tidbits with us at dinner.  An occasional ice cream treat.

And as Al says, I almost daily assess his body composition with my hands... he's a wooly so the visual is not sufficient.

amymeme wrote:

As far as energy level... what climate are you in?  In finger lakes summers, Ami is a rug... And here in Florida, he's sacked out.  Come winter in upstate NY, he is a crackerjack ball of energy.  And then I increase his food.  Summers, it's 3/4 cup twice a day and a midnight snack of about 1/2 c with people food (protein and veggies) tidbits with us at dinner.  An occasional ice cream treat.

And as Al says, I almost daily assess his body composition with my hands... he's a wooly  so the visual is not sufficient.

We are in the Nevada desert and it is hot during the summer. He loves to lay in the sun for about an hour or two before noon and then he is in the house in the AC. He is more active during the winter, that's for sure.

When you say 1/2 cup you don't mean a 8 ounce cup, do you? Finley can be quite lazy as he tends to eat laying down. I have never seen him eat or drink standing up.

So far today he has not been cooperative with a good picture but Im sure that later on I will get one.

Okay, that would put you in the Mojave (I first thought it would be the Sonoran) desert.  I'm over in the northern part of the Chihuahuan desert in west Texas.  Believe it or not, these dogs are *very* adaptable.  The double coat is good insulation, it - of course - keeps them warm in the winter but it also helps them regulate their internal temperature when it's hot (and I'm referring to what you and I would think of as hot at 95f+)  The key to any activity with them in the heat (or better said, the cool part of the hot days) is to make sure they *always* have plenty of water available.  With our unique high temp and low humidity they can go through an amazing amount fo water just keeping cool.

Your Finley sounds a lot like my Avalanche, he's an Alaskan Husky with a short coat but still has the double coat.  He too will lay out in the sun - sometimes when it's way to hot to be comfortable for me!  Silly pup!!

We walk more in the cooler months coming up than we do in the summer simply because it takes so long to cool down in the summer - 02:00AM might be a good walking time but not for me!  Avalanche is good in that he'll go for a run and come back to the house.  I lost one dog by letting her run so if Avalanche isn't back in 1/2 hour or so I go looking for him and he likes to run with my jeep so when he hears it he comes to me!  Sasha is my walking companion on the desert, she doesn't run much or often, mostly she's within a hundred yards or so of where I am.  Regrettably, as you said, we all need more exercise - I have the excuse that I'm 8 years older than you are, but still ....

I'm pretty sure that Amy means a 8oz measuring cup - while that is really 8 fluid ounces, we're just using it as a measure of volume (confused yet, I can try harder )

and an aside: I'm going to be going up to the VA hospital for a follow up to cataract surgery (a couple of years ago) and since my laptop has lost it's wifi and my tablet has decided it's not going to work (well, it never did work right so no big loss!) it looks like I'm going to be out of touch till sometime Tuesday (maybe late Monday of I'm lucky, probably Tuesday)

That would be an 8 oz dry measure such as you would use to measure floor or sugar.

Here is a  pic I just took of him.  He never was a small size 65 pound Husky but maybe these pics will help.  And Aljones, good luck with your medical issue.  

 




I noticed that he is getting a bit more protective of his food and he was never like that.  I need to figure out how to change that.  We will be walking more now that the colder temps are here.  I retired as a letter carrier so walking is no issue for me but running is something that I just can't do.  I have been thinking about looking into one of those bikes that has a attachment on it for a leash but I need to research it more.

tsfrance wrote:

Here is a  pic I just took of him.  He never was a small size 65 pound Husky but maybe these pics will help.  And Aljones, good luck with your medical issue.  




I noticed that he is getting a bit more protective of his food and he was never like that.  I need to figure out how to change that.  We will be walking more now that the colder temps are here.  I retired as a letter carrier so walking is no issue for me but running is something that I just can't do.  I have been thinking about looking into one of those bikes that has a attachment on it for a leash but I need to research it more

Ok, Findly looks good to me... nice tuck up from the side, looks as though you probably can easily feel his ribs... but you should put your hands on him.

As for food protective... start exclusively hand feeding.  Portion out his food in a container and feed a few pieces to him at a time. Then talk to him as you feed him, sit beside him, offer a few pieces, let him eat it, offer some more until that meal is done.  No more free feeding.  You want to nip that in the bud, pdq!!!

Aljones, how did the eye work go?

Have you seen the pictures of Finley? I am curious as to what your opinion is also.

Oh, the visit to the VA was a normal annual followup to the cataract surgery. Nothing special since I haven't had any problems with the implants. I do love being able to wake up in the morning and not have to find a pair of glasses!!!

I really don't have anything to add to what Amy said. I do have a food protective dog and we went the route of hand feeding and she's gotten a lot better about letting me do things around her and her food. The idea is to make her recognize that it's not her food, it's *your* food and you're letting her have some.

I have an update on Finley. I took him to the vet today because I wanted a little hotspot checked and i wanted his weight checked and to be able to talk to the vet about it. I was shocked to see that when he hit the scales he was 102 pounds which is an increase of 20 pounds over the past year. The vet suggested that I cut down on his dog food by 1/3 and cut out his night time dog treat biscuit before bedtime. We will start tomorrow. He will be checked again 60 days to see how he is doing and if he has not lost any weight he will need special food. I am fully confident that we will get it worked out and he will not need special food. So tomorrow we start

WOW!!! Guess having a good tuck-up is not a sufficient measure I'm curious - when you put your hands on him, palms with spread fingers over his ribs, with thumbs on his backbone, do you easily feel individual ribs, the spaces between and a definite, almost sharp, spine? That latter description is what I use to gauge Ami's weight - if I feel an easily moveable layer of flesh (almost Shar Pei-ish) over the bones (even though I can still feel them) then I cut back on his food.

Hmmm, maybe I better drop in at the vet's and weigh Ami again...

When I use your method above I have to press pretty hard to feel his ribs. The thing is that he does not look fat but he looks big but still I agree that 102 pounds is too heavy for him. We rescued him as an abused dog and we were his second owner, we got him at 4 months and I believe that he came from a backyard breeder. I don't ever see him at 65 pounds. I think 80 pounds is good for him and that is what I am going to shoot for and take it from there. The vet said to cut his food by 1/3. He has been eating about 6 cups a day on most days. I found a dog food calculator online and by inputting his ideal weight (80) and how many calories per cup his food is (373) they say that he should get 4.25 cups a day. From what he has been getting that will be about 1/3 less so that sounds good. We feed him the Kirkland Lamb Rice and Vegetable. It's gets a 4 out of 5 review and is made by a company that also makes some high end dog food. We tried Biljac and Blue Buffalo in the beginning and he loves the best. So that is our plan and will start on Friday, just like me!

Can cutting Finleys food by 20 percent give him diarrhea? Today is his 3rd day of it but last night it started to get better and this morning it looked even better. Still wet but starting to take shape. I did give some dark meat from a roasted chicken leg on my birthday and it started the next morning. There is always a possibility that he found something dead in the yard. The funny thing is that during these three days his appetite was as good as ever and he acted his normal happy self. We have been giving him some bland diet mixed in with his dogfood but today I have been giving him all dogfood. I think tonight when I follow him around it will be almost normal. Im just curious as if cutting his dog food can do that or if there is another reason for it.

I can't think of any reason cutting his portions would give him diarrhea. The chicken, possibly, especially if he has not had a lot pure meat. Over feeding, in my experience, can result in "pudding poop".

amymeme wrote:

I can't think of any  reason cutting his portions would give him diarrhea.  The chicken, possibly, especially if he has not had a lot pure meat.  Over feeding, in my experience, can result in "pudding poop".

Thank you. Last light was even better yet but this morning he is making me wait for it but Im pretty sure he is back to normal