Canine Green Bean Diet???

merlin44
merlin44 Posts: 426 ✭✭✭✭

Has anyone ever used this diet for their dog? My Layla Blu (pit bull) has gotten a bit on the heavy side. She's an indoor dog, though outside several times daily and takes advantage of the time running about here and there. The idea of replacing a portion of a dog's normal diet with green beans (at least for a short term) seems like it would result in weight loss but I don't want to cause any health problems for my girl. Or do you know of a better method for a dog to lose weight?

Comments

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @merlin44 How old is your dog and what food do you give her?

  • merlin44
    merlin44 Posts: 426 ✭✭✭✭

    @shllnzl she's 4 years and I feed Retriever Bits and Bones.

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I just looked up your dog food on DogAdvisor.com because I never heard of it. I would advise you to do the same. Your dog is getting way too little protein and way too many GMO carbs. Even some of the "Vet" brands are over 50 percent carbs.

    I usually check my pet food against the listing at https://www.cornucopia.org/pet-food-guide/

    There is a reason that so many pets are getting fat and developing diabetes; they are getting the equivalent of our fast food at every meal.

    Now I have to warn you that healthy pet food is expensive. Costco has a reasonable version of it that I buy for dogs and cats. I supplement with higher quality brands and supplements as I can afford it. My husband is a hunter and I have tasked him with giving me all usable meat scraps for future dog food supplements. (Unfortunately I will be cooking for the dogs again.)

    Green beans are a wonderful healthy treat if your dog like them but I think you need to look at other dry foods first before your dog goes on a diet. She is probably spayed and that can help cause weight gain. Good news is she is young and pit bulls tend to be a stocky body type.

    My slightly chubby chihuahua got nice and lean after I moved to a house with stairs. Her "walkies" rotate between upper and lower yards.

  • merlin44
    merlin44 Posts: 426 ✭✭✭✭

    @shllnzl Thanks for the info. Layla is the short, stocky type and spayed. I feed Retriever because it's the only food another, older pup in the family can tolerate due to major allergies. Will be doing some major research, maybe the answer to the weight problem AND the allergies is in the food.

  • jjocean
    jjocean Posts: 31 ✭✭✭

    Having my dogs eat as well as I do sounds like an easy choice but finding a truly healthy diet is either very time consuming or very expensive. Just think of two ingredients that are present in high doses in many foods. Glyphosate and BT corn (the BT line and the glyphosate use extends to  Bt-potatoes, Bt-corn, Bt-sweet corn, Roundup Ready soybeans, Roundup Ready Corn, and Liberty Link corn)

    The BT corn has a bacterial endotoxin designed to kill the corn borer in the maturation phase of the ear. Yes, the corn kills the caterpillar. The term genetically modified is not accurate as a chihuahua is a genetically modified wolf. All the genes are canine genes. A trans-genic product contains the genes from a different species. Two things always happen with trans-genic modification. 1. you find the effect you wanted and 2. there are a host of unforeseen and unfortunate side effects. In the case of corn the endotoxin can be incorporated in the gut bacteria thereby creating a lethal environment in your gut (or your pet's) for much of your normal biome. The round-up ready crops are sprayed liberally with glyphosate prior to harvest (just prior) so the leaves fall off and the plant dies. It's cheaper to harvest that way. The result is high levels of glyphosate which acts (among other things) as an antibiotic further wiping out the gut biome and creating havoc with the immune system. Obesity, diabetes fatty liver and cancer (in my humble opinion) result. 1 in 2 pets fed a conventional diet will get cancer. I don't eat the stuff so I don't feed it to my dogs either. I use Castor and Pollux organic food because I haven't made the homemade dog food change.

    I totally agree with @shllnzl about the food possibly being the problem.

  • greyfurball
    greyfurball Posts: 591 ✭✭✭✭

    No one here actually mentioned a diet of fruits and vegetables CAN BE BENEFICIAL for your pet but it must be supplemented with a good quality nutritious pet food also because your animal must get its quality proteins and fats from somewhere else.

    I used to have two dogs which my regular vet jokingly told me he doesn't understand why I got that breed since their average life expectancy was only 9-11 years. I immediately told him 9-11 years, it's still a puppy. Eventually we did have to have both animals put down from old age. The first one was Christmas Eve two weeks before its 21st birthday. The second one I always believed it only wanted to go because it lost its sister. That was about 6 months later.

    Both of them absolutely loved their dish of fruits, veges and dry pet food for each meal.

    Be warned though, you must research it first. There is some veges, some fruits etc which DOGS CAN NOT HAVE. You've got to learn which are good for them, which are not. Keep yourself a list of both and use it religiously and you and your pet will have a very healthy life.

  • JodieDownUnder
    JodieDownUnder Posts: 1,483 admin

    I've had a complete re think on dog food. Most companies use low quality produce to make their products. Hence many pets dying too young because of poor diet and lack of exercise. Dogs are meat eaters but in the wild also tend to eat gut contents(chlorophyll). So raw, lean meat/fish with leafy greens, spinach, rocket, kale etc. If you do feed kibble, high protein, grain free. I have a 2yr old chocolate lab and she has a medium size meaty bone in the morning and in the evening 1 cup of grain free 18% kibble and 100g of raw meat(minced) with finely diced greens(about 1/2 cup). I also add 1 teaspoon of golden paste(tumeric based). She runs many kilometres each day and looks a million dollars. I'm very vigilant about her intake as labs have a reputation for being complete gluttons. The cost of feeding her is negligible about $3/day.Hope this helps.

  • greyfurball
    greyfurball Posts: 591 ✭✭✭✭

    And yes, as with us humans, your produce must be clean (organic) and pesticide/herbicide free for the pets also. They ultimately have the same health problems as us humans ingesting dirty food choices.