For the past 4 years I've had this really nice austrailian sheep dog.
(One blue eye, one brown, no tail, half black and half white) Anyways,
she is supposed to be around 30 lbs. and she currently weighs 58 lbs.
She also has asthma and snores when she sleeps. She has no thyroid
condition, but a very large tumor on her side. The doctor says he
doen't want to operate until she loses weight. I'm wondering if this
could be preventing her from losing weight. She eats almost nothing
other than a few "crunchies" a day and a half can of diet dog food at
night. She has a hard time going up and down the stairs and spends
most of the time lying down. With all of this in mind, she is still
very playful and is not in any pain at all. I'm at a loss of what to
do. Should I find a doctor to operate and take the tumor out? How can
she lose weight if she doen't even anything all day? Has anyone else
had these problems with Austrailian sheep dogs? My last dog was a very
hyperactive terrier, so this is a real shock to me! Thanks for any
help.

Alex

In article .com writes:
For the past 4 years I've had this really nice austrailian sheep dog.
(One blue eye, one brown, no tail, half black and half white) Anyways,
she is supposed to be around 30 lbs. and she currently weighs 58 lbs.
She also has asthma and snores when she sleeps. She has no thyroid
condition, but a very large tumor on her side. The doctor says he
doen't want to operate until she loses weight. I'm wondering if this
could be preventing her from losing weight. She eats almost nothing
other than a few "crunchies" a day and a half can of diet dog food at
night. She has a hard time going up and down the stairs and spends
most of the time lying down. With all of this in mind, she is still
very playful and is not in any pain at all. I'm at a loss of what to
do. Should I find a doctor to operate and take the tumor out? How can
she lose weight if she doen't even anything all day? Has anyone else
had these problems with Austrailian sheep dogs? My last dog was a very
hyperactive terrier, so this is a real shock to me! Thanks for any
help.

Dear Alex,

How many calories are in the food you are feeding her and how many
calories does she expend per day?

How about not having her go up and down stairs but taking her out
for long walks or playing fetch or engaging in some other
energy expending activity? (I would work up to this slowly.)

--Marshall

I hope your dog is ok Alex. I guess dog's are like humans in that if we
don't actually do any physical exercise as well as eating properly, it is
very hard to lose weight. Does your dog like playing fetch? Perhaps you
could give him a good walk every day.

wrote in message
oups.com...
For the past 4 years I've had this really nice austrailian sheep dog.
(One blue eye, one brown, no tail, half black and half white) Anyways,
she is supposed to be around 30 lbs. and she currently weighs 58 lbs.
She also has asthma and snores when she sleeps. She has no thyroid
condition, but a very large tumor on her side. The doctor says he
doen't want to operate until she loses weight. I'm wondering if this
could be preventing her from losing weight. She eats almost nothing
other than a few "crunchies" a day and a half can of diet dog food at
night. She has a hard time going up and down the stairs and spends
most of the time lying down. With all of this in mind, she is still
very playful and is not in any pain at all. I'm at a loss of what to
do. Should I find a doctor to operate and take the tumor out? How can
she lose weight if she doen't even anything all day? Has anyone else
had these problems with Austrailian sheep dogs? My last dog was a very
hyperactive terrier, so this is a real shock to me! Thanks for any
help.

Alex