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Karen 19 years, 2 months ago.
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when my neighbor goes out of town i feed his dog and i’m very worried about her.she doesn’t get any exercies and he feeds her beniful??or something like that.at first he would only give her 2 cups of food at 5pmdaily i didn’t think it was a good idea to only feed her once a day and she was some what overweight but now he went out of town and asked me to take care of her he said she should only get 1 cup at 5 pm and only 2 treats a day.she’s huge.she is the size of 2 normal sized labs her height and lentgh.i feel really bad and i don’t know what to do he is easily made defensive and is very touchy about even the slightest advice but the poor dog needs help.he thhinks feeding her once a day will control her weight but could her body be retaining out of survival mode as to not starve.and couldn’t that food be causing the problem as well.and she must be at risk for heart disease and diabetes as well as arthritus from the strain on her joints.i don’t think he’s ever taken her to the vet(she never goes anywhere with him) i always pick up her flea meds.i doubt there’s anything i can do or say without making him mad but???? any bright ideas?? thanks
that is exactly what i thought but is it legal for me to take her to the vet without the owners permission??
The dog is eating far too little for the average Golden. There can be medical issues behind uncontrolled weigth gain and I would suggest having things like thyroid and pituitary issues ruled out. Beneful is also a lower quality food and should be avoided. Basically a general rule of thumb is if a food is found in a grocery store or department store like Wal Mart, K-Mart, Target, etc., it is a loesser quality food. These foods are carried and sold cheaply because they use cheaper ingredients and are often less digestible and have many fillers and such. So, medical needs to be ruled out. My feeling is on the very little this dog is eating, there should be some weight loss. Most Goldens and Labs I have dealt with eat two meals a day and 1 1/2 – 3 cups per meal without being chubby let alone obese.
thanks karen.i’ll try to talk to him,he’s a nice guy but a little defencive and moody.by other neighbors dogs dig and end up on my side a lot know what your going through there.they actually got out the front door the other day and attacked my foster dog while we were on our afternoon walk.
No, without their permission (and preferably written) you cannot take the dog to the vet. You could be nailed for theft. However, you can try to see if they will let you take the dog for an exam and bloods. If you have a decent relationship with them, talk to them about what can be causing this as well as the risks to the cardiovascular system and joints the addes weight has. Or, if the dog is morbidly obese and really cannot walk and if there are other symptoms of hypothyroid (thinning/patchy coat, etc) then contact your local animal control and see if they can have a talk with the owners. But aside from this, there is not much else you can do. Sadly, I am dealing with issues with my neighbor and their dog. the sadder thing is they came through my classes (for free because I know they cannot afford extras right now in theory – at least the daughter paying for the dog cannot). My next recourse will be calling in animal control if the dog escapes again. She is also loaded with fleas and passed them to my dogs. The dog was so loaded and infested their house so badly that some furniture had to be thrown out the fleas were so bad and not responding to treatments. 🙁 The dog has damaged our fence and shoves her head through coming in contact with my crew (I am sick of fixing the fence – we have to now totally replace a couple entire sections and even just the dog being near the fence, fleas jump and live in the environment). But not much else we can do as the fence is ours and not theirs.
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