Sadly, I am fostering a 9 y.o. Pom who recently and suddenly lost his owner, a dear friend of mine from a heart attack. I knew he was overweight, tried to convince my friend to reduce his food intake, and he has lost 2 pounds over the last 10 months but he currently weighs 18lbs! I transitioned him from Cesar dog food to what I feed my dog, Blue Buffalo Adult maintenance. I wet the food and let it soak til it's soften since his teeth are so little and he's used to soft food. Fortunately his teeth are in good health. I know this because he had a vet visit last month and my friend told me. He has a vet appoint with my vet in 2 weeks but I want to start him now on a sensible diet. My big question is how much should I feed him for a gradual, safe weight loss? Thank you in advance for any and all advice. I hope everyone is safe and keeping healthy! SmokeyArnold's Foster
I would set a target weight and feed for that weight using the guide printed on the bag. Clearly 18lbs is too heavy for even a larger sized Pom, so you could set your initial target for say, 14lbs, and see how he is looking before choosing a new target weight. As he loses weight he will become able to tolerate more exercise - which will also help in converting some of the fat to energy and muscle. I would be inclined to are give at least some of his food dry, to help with his tooth care. Dental chews will be out as they are too calorific, but if he likes vegetables he could have pieces of raw carrot, or broccoli stalk as chew sticks. Poms are long-lived breed, and with your interest in his health, I'm sure he will have a good few more years ahead of him. Good luck.
Makes total sense. Thank you!!! My intent is to keep Smokey until he loses most of the weight and the right home comes. I can't be his forever home. I have a 2y.o. German shepherd who is not a good match with a small, delicate dog. She's not aggressive, but size and energy differences mean *constant* supervision is necessary if the dogs are together. I'm worried about maintaining his coat... Groomers are closed although vets are open. Would it make him harder to place if I had him clipped? (Sorry if that's a taboo for the breed but I have a Persian cat who's coat is like velcro and I can't deal with another coat that matts right before my eyes).
Please don't have him clipped, he will lose his topcoat which gives him his colour and shine - apart from the cheeky eyes, a Pom's most attractive feature, and a pretty topcoat will be a big help in finding him a new home. I can see that that with a longhaired cat and a GSD you will be spending quite enough time grooming, so I would suggest sacrificing some of his undercoat by giving him a going over with a rake - it will make him look slimmer too! This is the one that I use on my fluffy coated Beagle's chest and trousers. Bought off Amazon for about £7, (about $9), I chose a fine one, (more teeth), a medium grade might suit you better. They are double sided, so use the coarser side first. The teeth are not sharp - they won't cut the hair, but they will take out a surprising amout of undercoat.
Sigh...I get what you're saying about his coat, and he does have a magnificent coat. And of course I want to give him the best chance of finding a forever home. I have a similar tool that I've used on my cat. It didn't work very well but maybe I can find a better one. I'll certainly look. Smokey is a great example of the Pomeranian breed, happy, outgoing and intelligent. He's had a year of upheaval losing first one owner, then the other. Changing houses, being around dogs and cats when he'd never been exposed to other animals. He has been a real trooper.
He is lucky to have found you. He's a very handsome chap, and will be like a spring chicken when he is a healthy weight. Someone is going to adore him.
There is one potential problem with placing him...his owner, my friend's husband thought it was a fun game to tease the dog until he bit him. Said it made him tough. I railed against this "game". Tried to get him to play with the dog in other ways to no avail. The upshot is, the dog has no bite inhibition. Something as a German shepherd owner I preach all the time. Smokey is good natured and polite but he is independent and will stand his ground with a warning growl. If you continue doing what he doesn't like he will bite. He's never bitten me, but my theory is if he bit the people he loved the most he'll bite anybody.
I think that once he is totally away from the person who "taught" him to bite, and provided that the people at his new future home do not do act in the same way, he should not bite them. Just as he learned to bite, so he should be able to unlearn to if he is shown love and is not teased to aggravate him. As you say, he has never bitten you, presumably because you have never done so.
He's never bitten me because I heeded his warning. I have no doubt he'd have bitten me otherwise. He's not a mean dog, not at all aggressive. But he guards resources, even the raw carrot I gave him that he didn't even want. And if he feels the least threatened he'll stand his ground. For a little dog he has a lot of grit. To his credit, he's easygoing and adaptable. And he's never just snapped at anyone. He rarely growls, but if he does he gives every indication he'll follow thru.
For resource guarding always offer an exchange rather than just taking the item away from the dog. Most dogs will relinquish their trophy for a cube of cheese, - or something equally tasty. It will be worth the extra calorie intake to cure this trait. Young Beagles are notorious for resource guarding. Even though they are a loving breed, they can pull some frightening faces. It comes as quite a shock for the adoring new family, but fortunately greed is the key to curing most naughtiness!
Tikva is exactly the same with her little chewsticks even after she does not want them any more and has buried them in her nest on the couch. She will snarl and be ready to pounce if she thinks I am going near them, but I very much doubt she would carry through her posturing threats. She is always up for a "swapsie" though. For such a normally innocent looking little girl she really looks fierce though and would probably really frighten someone who did not know her.
Oh sure, he can be managed with the resource guarding, but that automatically eliminates homes that can't or won't be able to deal with the issue.
If a prospective new home cannot or will not be able to deal with Smokey's issues then I do not think it would be the right home to even consider. People who adopt a dog because they are true dog lovers, should be prepared to deal with all issues that dog might bring with them.
