The Lucky Dog Weight Loss Plan

THE LUCKY DOG WEIGHT LOSS PLAN

Vicky Marshall

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About this Book

About the Author

Table of Contents

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About The Lucky Dog Weight Loss Plan

Have you ever wondered why so many dogs seem to be suffering from weight issues? This excellent little book provides the answer: modern dog food. The author explains the effect processed dog food has on a dogʼs body and how, by switching to a biologically appropriate diet, the weight will, literally, drop off.

The diet itself couldn’t be simpler. You can get all the ingredients from a butcher or supermarket and it is easy and quick to prepare. Best of all, it works.

Vicky Marshall is an author and co-founder of Honey’s Real Dog Food – a family business based in rural Wiltshire that combines animal welfare with ethically produced British ingredients to provide a nutritionally balanced diet for dogs.

CONTENTS

Welcome Page

About The Lucky Dog Weight Loss Plan

Foreword

1    Introducing the Lucky Dog Weight Loss Plan

2    Why modern dogs have weight issues

3    The Lucky Dog Weight Loss Plan!

4    Extra tips and advice

5    Making the switch to the Lucky Dog Weight Loss Plan

6    Why wolves and wild dogs never get fat

7    Give a dog a bone

8    The unpalatable truth about modern dog food

9    A chapter about something no one likes to mention

10  Myth buster!

11  How to maintain a healthy weight

12  Safe weight loss for poorly dogs

13  Support for the Lucky Dog Weight Loss Plan

14  More help if you need it

Further reading

The Lucky Dog Food Diary

About Vicky Marshall

About Anima

Copyright

For my darling family: Gary, James, Kate and Harry… and our own ‘Lucky Dogs’ Rudi-Doodle and Fletcher

FOREWORD

When I qualified as a vet in 1973 and was therefore entitled to put the letters MRCVS (Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons) after my name, the world was a very different place, and veterinary practice was a very different world.

If you were sitting in the waiting room of your local vet in 1973, two things would have been strikingly different from the waiting room of your vet today. Firstly, the sales area (had there been one) was not packed from floor to ceiling with pet food. Secondly, there were very few obese dogs amongst the throng of pets waiting to see the vet.

Over the years, and over the last couple of decades in particular, there has been a phenomenal growth in the number of obese dogs. Why is this so? It may be true that some dogs are getting insufficient exercise, but the increase in obesity has mirrored the increase in the feeding of high-carbohydrate, low-quality protein, processed diets. I don’t believe this can be a coincidence.

Dogs in the seventies were mainly fed on scraps, leftovers, bones and cheap meat and offal from the local butcher. There were few dog treats available and most dogs had plenty of walks and runs. Obesity was rare.

Dogs today are commonly fed on kibble, a form of dried food that is high in fats (to give it some taste) and in carbohydrates, and low in high-quality protein. Essentially, this is junk food for dogs. Most canned foods are little better, some containing as little as three or four per cent real meat. There is a plethora of dog treats on the market. And obesity is common.

Dogs are carnivores. They have evolved to eat meat, offal, raw bones and vegetables. Dogs are social animals. They are designed to have lots of play and interaction with other dogs and with their human companions. If they eat what they have evolved to eat and are given the physical and mental stimulation they need, they will not get overweight.

It’s as simple as that.

One caveat – some medical conditions, such as hypothyroidism, Cushing’s disease, diabetes and others, can cause a dog to become overweight. Hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid) is often hard to diagnose, and there are probably quite a number of obese dogs that have an underlying thyroid imbalance.

If your dog is becoming obese, and does not have a medical condition that may be causing the weight gain, what can you do about it? Your local vet may well have a weight control clinic. You can take your dog for a regular weigh-in, and will be given advice about nutrition by a practice nurse, who will probably have a qualification in canine nutrition. Should you enquire about this qualification, it will almost certainly be a certificate or diploma granted by one of the major pet food manufacturers. For instance, many veterinary nurses are ‘Hills Pet Nutrition Advisers’. Hills is a multinational conglomerate that sells a range of processed dog foods, especially kibbles, sponsors many veterinary meetings and advertises heavily to the veterinary profession. There are several other multinationals that do much the same. Some provide free food to veterinary colleges and to animal charities, and some have actually paid the salaries of vets who lecture students on nutrition at veterinary colleges.

It seems unlikely that a major pet food company can train a veterinary nurse in nutrition without just a smidgen of bias towards their own products – which are likely to be expensive and, in my view, entirely unnecessary ‘therapeutic’ weight-reduction diet foods.

Vicky Marshall explains clearly and straightforwardly what dogs should be eating, how their digestive systems work, why they can become obese, and how to get them back on track if they are getting overweight.

Lucky indeed is the dog that benefits from the wisdom and common sense of the Lucky Dog Weight Loss Plan.

Richard Allport

BVet Med. Vet MFHom MRCVS

01

INTRODUCING THE LUCKY

DOG WEIGHT LOSS PLAN

01

INTRODUCING THE LUCKY DOG WEIGHT LOSS PLAN

The old ways are sometimes the best ways. A hundred years ago, even fifty years ago, very few dogs had weight issues. Whatever they were doing or being fed, it wasn’t affecting their collar sizes or their waistlines. Today, however, approximately half of British dogs are either overweight or obese.

What has happened to bring about this change?

Certainly, it doesn’t help that society as a whole has become more sedentary or that legislation means that a dog can no longer get extra exercise by roaming freely around the neighbourhood where he or she lives.

It is possible, too, that dogs have become more persuasive when asking for extra food and treats.

However, I am certain, based on my experience of feeding several thousand dogs a month, that the main cause is modern dog food. Modern dog food is high in simple carbohydrate, low in protein and full of harmful fats – the perfect recipe if you want to push a dog’s weight up.

Indeed, it is no coincidence that within a few years of the formula being developed, a growing number of dogs began to pile on the pounds.

Thankfully, the effects of modern dog food are quickly reversed. If there is a dog in your life who isn’t quite as slim or svelte as you would like, the solution is straightforward. All you have to do is feed your four-legged family member a more traditional, more natural diet: the same sort of diet that our great-grandparents fed to their dogs. The same sort of diet, in fact, that wolves and wild dogs eat. Dogs, as I explain below, have a digestive system identical to that of the grey wolf (not so surprising given that they are so closely related they can interbreed) and flourish on the same diet. It is thanks to this diet that you never, ever see an overweight wolf, no matter how much he or she eats.

Implementing such a diet is simplicity itself, which is why this book is relatively short. Moreover, not only will your dog adore the change, but also his or her excess weight will fall away as if by magic. This will bring about another benefit: better health. All the research indicates that dogs who are the correct weight suffer less illness and disease.

What Is The Lucky Dog Weight Loss Plan?

I developed the Lucky Dog Weight Loss Plan through observation and experiment, but my findings reflect extensive scientific research. The predominant components of the Lucky Dog Weight Loss Plan are high in protein, low in carbohydrate and contain the right quantity of ‘good’ fat.

I have spent the last eight years providing thousands of dogs a raw food diet through my business – Honey’s Real Dog Food. It took me a while to notice, but I began to realise that none of my canine customers who were fed to our guidelines were overweight. This was during a time when pet obesity was on the increase with over 50% of pet dogs with weight problems. With two male, castrated, Labrador X breeds … keeping trim is an important on-going part of my life too !

Because modern, processed dog food has very low levels of very poor-quality protein (often from vegetable sources, which dogs can’t absorb), manufacturers have done their best to persuade everyone that protein is not good for a dog.

In fact, high-quality, animal protein is exactly what your dog needs to thrive. The secret is to give your dog the same levels that he or she would enjoy if they decided, as a result of seeing too many disaster movies, to leave home and become self-sufficient survivalists, living in the wilderness and fending for themselves.

This would vary from meal to meal, of course, as I explain later on. The real point I want to make now is that the natural level of protein found in the diet I am recommending is perfect for your dog.

It can take as little as two weeks for an overweight dog to achieve meaningful weight loss on this diet, although I generally suggest that you don’t rush the process and allow between 60 and 90 days, or longer. One of the many benefits of the diet is that it leads to the loss of fat, not muscle mass, which is much healthier for your dog. Independent research, incidentally, has shown that the two main components of the Lucky Dog Weight Loss Plan leave dogs feeling fuller than a wide range of alternative ingredients.

Honey’s

If you read this book through to the end you will find a chapter about my own business: Honey’s Real Dog Food. We have a policy at Honey’s of providing free diet and health advice to anyone who contacts us, even if they never intend to become a customer.