The Martial ARFS® Canine Weight Loss Guide Better Health For Your Pet™

The Martial ARFS® Copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved

Your Dog Doesn’t Want To Be Fat By Dr. Eve Pugh, Martial ARFS™ Veterinarian Advisor

Overweight dogs don’t choose to be that way. Sure, they eat when given food but they don’t know the ramifications of doing so in excess. As well, most dog owners are unaware of dangers associated with having an overweight pet. Studies show that as little as 5 extra pounds will make a dog susceptible to diabetes, heart issues, respiratory disease, hypertension, intra-abdominal cancer and osteoarthritis, plus extremely overweight or obese dogs can die up to 2.5 years sooner than healthy weight dogs.

Is extra weight really that bad? Yes. Simply put, fat is not just an inanimate tissue. It isn’t just “extra padding” for your cute little “chunky monkey”. Fat is a highly physiologically active tissue that produces hormones. These hormones, called Adipokines, in excess cause damaging inflammation and physiological “stress”. The physiological stress causes other hormone producing organs like adrenal glands to overproduce hormones that will lead to more inflammation and further physiological “stress”.

This vicious cycle is what leads to the diseases of diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, heart and respiratory disease, arthritis and ultimately a decreased life span! How? Inflammation can be like a chemical burn to the body. When present for a long time, it will cause scarring and damage to the affected tissues. In bone and joints, it leads to arthritic changes and osteoarthritis. In organs, it can lead to adhesions, loss of cell function, or changes to cells causing them to become cancerous.

So what is a dog owner to do? The most effective plan to deal with fat and it’s associated medical conditions is WEIGHT LOSS. Results are best if done proactively, i.e. before there are signs of illness. The weight loss decreases the amount of fat and therefore the amount of adipokines. The closer to the ideal weight, the closer your dog's body will maintain its normal homeostasis. However, the length of time and severity of the obesity is proportional to the damage done.

If your dog hasn’t been overweight for very long, the inflammation can be reversed without any permanent damage. If your dog has been overweight for an extended period, the signs of disease and effects of the inflammation can be minimized by losing excess weight. Plus, weight loss will improve your dog’s ability to walk, breathe, move and function because the active process of inflammation will be gone allowing the un-damaged tissue to perform correctly and make your dog feel better.

Helping your dog lose weight can be challenging because of the strong emotional connection to the pleasure food can produce. Your dog freely takes food from you but he doesn’t know what that extra food will bring about. He may want that extra food, but he doesn’t want cancer. He may take the deliciousness while happily wagging his tail, but he doesn’t want to die 2.5 years sooner. Your dog trusts you with their health and it is up to you as responsible pet parents to look out for the best interest of your furry loved one. There are many other fun activities you and your bestie can do besides eat that extra morsel. Agility. Frisbee. Hiking. Biking. Walking. Running. Swimming. Obedience Training. Fetch and more.

The realities of over feeding your most loyal companion should be enough to stop you from doing so. But if you still continually do so ask yourself this: Would your dog consciously make you fat? Would your dog continually overfeed you knowing that it would ultimately lead to sickness, cancer and an early death? NEVER. Your dog would get you up to run. Your dog would make you eat healthy meals. Your dog would be your strongest advocate for healthy living, because your dog wants you around as long and they can possible have you.

How Do You Tell If Your Dog Is Overweight?

43% of Dog owners admit they don’t know what a healthy weight dog should look like, yet 95% of dog owners think their dog is an ideal weight. The unfortunate truth is 53% of dogs are actually overweight or obese. Use the references on the Body Condition Score Cards (i.e. palpable ribs, abdominal tuck etc.) to decide which category your dog belongs. Remember, as few as extra 5lbs can lead to the risks associated with being overweight so be honest.

Low Risk (20) Moderate (30) High Risk (40) Serious Risk (50) Serious Risk (60) Extreme Risk (70) If you’re not sure ask your veterinarian.

The Martial ARFS™ Ideal Body Weight Chart

Once you’ve determined your dog’s body condition score, use this chart to determine the ideal weight that your dog should be. For example, if your you have a 50lb dog with a Body Condition Score of 30 (Moderate Risk) Their ideal weight should be approximately 44lbs. Although that doesn’t seem like much, 6lbs on a 50lbs dog is 12% of its total body weight. If it were a 175lbs person, 12% would be 21lbs!

IDEAL BODY WEIGHT (LBS) CURRENT WEIGHT (20) (30) (40) (50) (60) (70) Body Fat % Body Fat % Body Fat % Body Fat % Body Fat % Body Fat % (LBS) 15-25 25-35 35-45 45-55 55-65 65-75 10 10 8.8 7.5 6.3 5 3.8 12 12 10.5 9 7.5 6 4.5 15 15 13.1 11.3 9.4 7.5 5.6 20 20 17.5 15 12.5 10 7.5 25 25 21.9 18.8 15.6 12.5 9.4 30 30 26.3 22.5 18.8 15 11.3 35 35 30.6 26.3 21.9 17.5 13.1 40 40 35 30 25 20 15 50 50 43.8 37.5 31.3 25 18.8 55 55 48.1 41.3 34.4 27.5 20.6 60 60 52.5 45 37.5 30 22.5 65 65 56.9 48.8 40.6 32.5 24.4 70 70 61.3 52.5 43.8 35 26.3 75 75 65.6 56.3 46.9 37.5 28.1 80 80 70 60 50 40 30 85 85 74.4 63.8 53.1 42.5 31.9 90 90 78.8 67.5 56.3 45 33.8 95 95 83.1 71.3 59.4 47.5 35.6 100 100 87.5 75 62.5 50 37.5 105 105 91.9 78.8 65.6 52.5 39.4 110 110 96.3 82.5 68.8 55 41.3 115 115 100.6 86.3 71.9 57.5 43.1 120 120 105 90 75 60 45 130 130 113.8 97.5 81.3 65 48.8 140 140 122.5 105 87.5 70 52.5 150 150 131.3 112 93.8 75 56.3

Diet Changes For Weight Loss.

Once you’ve established the ideal weight, its time to determine your dog’s daily calorie requirements. The standard formula in the veterinary world for how much your dog should eat (Resting Energy Requirements or RER*) is as follows. (If you don’t want to calculate the exact number, you can use the approximations below. For your dog’s food calorie content check Pet Food Advisor.com or Association for Pet Obesity Prevention.org

Ideal weight in pounds divided by 2.2 = weight in kilograms (kg) Example: 30lb dog / 2.2 = 13.63 kg RER in kcal/day = 30(ideal body weight in kilograms) + 70 Example: 13.63 kg x 30 + 70 = 478.9 kcals/day

Dog’s Ideal Weight Daily Caloric Needs for Average Indoor Dogs 10lbs 210 Calories* 15 lbs 270 Calories* 20 lbs 340 Calories* 25 lbs 410 Calories* 30 lbs 480 Calories* 35 lbs 550 Calories* 40 lbs 615 Calories* 45 lbs 680 Calories* 50 lbs 750 Calories* 55 lbs 820 Calories* 60 lbs 890 Calories* 65 lbs 950 Calories* 70 lbs 1020 Calories* 75 lbs 1090 Calories* 80 lbs 1160 Calories* 85 lbs 1230 Calories* 90 lbs 1300 Calories* 100 lbs 1430 Calories*

Simply by feeding your dog based on their ideal weight, they should begin to lose weight, and most dogs will reach their ideal weight in 6-8 months** A safe progression of weight loss would be 3-5% of their body weight per month** However, if they plateau, first, make sure no one is slipping them treats while your not around. Second your dog may need to have their food cut back to 80% of what’s recommend for their ideal weight. However, because this could cause insufficient nutrient intake, this should not be done using commercial dog food.***

*Calorie counts provided are guidelines for average lightly active adult spayed or neutered dogs, 1 to 7 years old, and receiving less than 30 minutes aerobic activity per day. The caloric needs of a particular pet may differ depending on such factors as lifestyle, genetics, activity level, spay/neuter and medical conditions. **Association for Pet Obesity Prevention *** Eve Pugh DVM CVA CCRP

Lifestyle Changes For Weight Loss

Before we get to exercise routines, keep in mind simple lifestyle changes can help your dog be more active and lose weight. Have you ever noticed your dog is always around their food bowl? Especially when you’re in the area too? Food is like currency for dogs and there are a lot of ways to use this currency to improve their health.

Make your dog earn their meals. It can be as simple as moving the food bowl to a place that will make them work to get it. For example, putting their food bowl upstairs will increase the number of times your dog goes up and down the stairs, in turn, increasing their level of activity. You can hand feed them while requiring a physical action for every bit of food. (i.e. sit/stand, down/stand kibble. Repeat.) Toss kibble across the floor so they have to go get it like a game of fetch. Dog food dispensing puzzles balls are great too! They roll around forcing your dog has to move around after them if they want the food.. , They provide more activity during feeding time and also teaches your dog that food isn’t going to be just dumped in a bowl. They must earn it.

Also, don’t let your dog free feed or graze. Again, food is like currency, if they have a constant access to food they might tend to over eat and/or be less motivated when food is not around. At The Martial ARFS it is always easy to discern the free feeders. They simply don’t want to work for food in the same manner as a dog that gets regular meals. Put their food in their bowl, give them 20 minutes to eat and then take it away. The more you control meals the more success you will have with controlling their weight.

As well, don’t let them tell you when it’s time to eat. Dog’s know how to get what they want. Whining, barking, begging or even snuggling are just a few of the many tactics dogs will use to get the food that they desire. You can substitute attention or affection when their behaving in a way that usually means they want to eat. If they really ramp up the antics, take them for a walk or out into the yard for some playtime. Though they’ll be reluctant, they’ll learn that the behavior they’re demonstrating will not get them what they want, and as a result, it will fade. You must be strong when they’re not.

Simply controlling the currency when you’re around your dog is not enough. At The Martial ARFS we always like to say dogs don’t go into the cabinets and feed themselves, and that’s true. Mostly. Counter surfers, garbage thieves, and even opening cabinets, a hungry dog is a motivated dog. If you were on a diet and your friends, coworkers or colleagues kept leaving their left-over chocolate snacks and other goodies around how hard would it be for you to resist? Keeping your food somewhere your dog can’t reach will go a long to helping your dog maintain a healthy weight.

Lastly, everyone in the house must be on the same page. Mom, dad, the kids, grandma, the in laws. If your dog is overweight even though the meals are based upon their ideal weight, there are no underlying health issues and there is plenty of activity, it might mean someone is sneaking the dog a little something extra because “He just looks so hungry”. Your dog will figure out whoever the weak link is in your house. Lifestyle changes only work if everyone involved participates in them.

What about snacks? Dogs love crunchy treats so if you or someone else must give your dog that extra bit, give vegetables such as baby carrots, broccoli, zucchini, celery and asparagus, even lettuce!! Yum! I know but just because you don’t like doesn’t mean they don’t. Worst case scenario. Give your shameless family member the ability to sneak your dog food whenever they want, just subtract it from the daily total.

Exercise & Fitness Activities For Weight Loss

According to one study, dogs burn an average of 0.8 calories per pound per mile. This means a 20lb dog walking @ 4mph will only burn about 64 calories during a one-hour walk. However, considering the average human walking speed is 3 mph and all the pooping, peeing, and sniffing, it’s likely you’re not keeping a 4 MPH pace to even burn those 64 calories an hour. With dogs, as it is with people, they need to burn 3500 calories to lose one pound. Considering the caloric expenditure of your typical one hour walk, food, is going to be the biggest factor for weight loss with your dog. However, by increasing the intensity and/or duration of the exercise, it can go a long way in helping your pet lose weight.

**It is important to get clearance from your veterinarian before you have your dog begin any exercise program. Your dog could have an underlying health condition that an increase in activity could exacerbate.**

Even though we’ve already covered walking, and it is the least effective exercises for your dog to lose weight, we can improve the results. It is important to understand walking for weight loss is different than your usual casual walk. If we use 4mph as a baseline, a faster pace gets you more calories an hour. Unfortunately, a faster pace most likely means you’re running. Finding hills to walk or hiking can help in this area. The incline increases the intensity without increasing the pace but unfortunately, you still have to do it to.

Swimming can be great as well. It’s zero impact will not further stress the joints of an overweight dog, and the resistance of the water increase the overall intensity of the exercise. It’s great for hot days where a heavier dog might really struggle. As well, there are a variety of movements you can have your dog perform and toys you can have your dog play with to keep it fun for the long haul. Even if your dog doesn’t like swimming, there are a variety of activities you can do in shallow water that will provide low impact, resistance based cardio vascular exercises.

Fetch is a great way to increase intensity for weight loss. If your dog likes to chase, fetch can be great fun and highly effective at burning calories. Just like walking up hill, you can increase the intensity of fetch by tossing the toy up hill. Just be careful, increased intensity of high speed land based physical activity can increase the compression of the joints. Something that can already be problematic due to the excess weight.

Tug is another great way to exercise your dog. This fun activity for your dog requires intense whole body muscle contractions for the constant pulling and shaking of the tug toy. Some tug toys even have a secret treat pouch for those dogs that like food more than tugging. This will give them that extra motivation to pull harder and get a better workout.

You can use, balance discs, peanuts and other canine conditioning equipment to provide high intensity low impact strength training & fitness. The great thing about using this type of equipment is that it strengthens the muscles your dog needs to stabilize the joints and support the spine. This is important for overweight dogs because the additional weight can stress the joints eventually causing osteoarthritis. Strengthening muscles can prevent some of the ravaging effects of obesity while you’re working to get the weight of your dogs. The options are limitless when it comes to increasing your dog’s physical activity. The most important thing is to do something with them, they would do it for you!

The Martial ARFS™ provides superior conditioning and fitness programs and classes for all types of dogs, no matter age, weight, or physical capabilities. Below is a list of our classes and the fitness intensity level. Higher intensity, higher caloric output. Below is a list many of our classes based up physical intensity. We also offer private session that can be customized for your individual dog’s fitness neds. For more information about what The Martial ARFS™ can do for you and your dog call us at 1-516-280-8331 or visit us online @ www.martialarfs.com

OtoriFido™ (Lure Coursing) (Exercise Intensity: Maximum) Chasing is one of the most common behavior of our canine companions. The Martial ARFS OtoriFido™ class uses a coursing system of mechanized lures and pulleys that simulate the unpredictability of chasing live prey at speeds up to 40mph. It’s provides fun exercises to build speed, agility, endurance, and because you can control the lure, there’s much less chance for the injuries associated with other chase games like fetch.

JeetKuneFido™ (Dog Agility) (Exercise Intensity: Moderate to Maximum) The Martial ARFS’ JeetKuneFido Class goes beyond one dog at a time based agility classes to create a fitness oriented agility class that keeps your dog moving and working for almost the entire class. Each dog participates and practices on a variety advanced conditioning exercise as a “warm up”. These warm up exercises are designed to mimic as closely as possible the actual movements of Dog Agility. This helps to both improve performance and prevent injury. Once warm-up, dog practice a variety of obstacles and techniques that will be incorporated into the course toward the end of class.

Advanced KaRuffte™ (Advance Canine Conditioning) (Exercise Intensity: Maximum) Our Adv KaRuffte program is based upon 4 fundamentals, Power, Athleticism, Speed, and Endurance (P.A.S.E.). those 4 fundamentals are woven into 6 distinct exercise categories: Extend & Contract, Strengthen & Stabilize, Full Body Power, Balance & Coordination, Full Speed & The Vital Link. The basic concepts of our KaRuffte Class our expanded up to create the ultimate health and conditioning program for active companions and canine athletes.

CapPawEra™ (Disc Dog) (Exercise Intensity: Maximum) The Martial ARFS CaPawEra™ classes take advanced conditioning techniques and exercises that are designed to mimic as closely as possible the actual movements of Disc Dog, however, under the controlled execution of the training routine. This we help to create a dog with supreme strength, balance, coordination and will remove the FEAR and hesitation many dogs have for THE BODY BALANCES and VAULTS that make for an exciting canine disc freestyle routine. In addition, this method of training will help prevent many of the injuries associated with participating in Disc Dog.

Fido Tsunahiki™ (Tug Of War & Drive Building) (Exercise Intensity: Maximum) The Martial ARFS Fido Tsunahiki Class will motivate your dog to work, because working for the tug is lots of fun!! This creates an opportunity for both exercise and obedience your dog will never even realize they’re being trained or exercised! Almost any command can be worked into a tugging routine, sit, down, stay, come, leave it, drop it, take it, back up, even spinning in a circle. Tugging is also whole body exercise. If you hold the tug high it strengthens the hindlimbs, or if you hold it low it strengthens the fore limbs, holding it straight out strengthens the core, fore and hindlimbs equally.

K9 TreadSpin™ (Treadmill Fitness & Coordination) (Exercise Intensity: Maximum) No other dog training facility offers anything like our K9 TreadSpin™ class. Imagine the excitement and challenge of a human Spin class, but for your dog! Pace, time, distance and incline are only the beginning. Our K9 TreadSpin is much more than running or trotting. Each class incorporates, hind limb & fore limb isolation exercises, balance and coordination exercises, injury prevention exercises, core & limb strengthening exercises, to create the most fun and unique class available for your dog. This class is the premier conditioning class for your active companion or performance dog.

TaiPoochi™ (Physical Limited Fitness) (Exercise Intensity: Minimal to Moderate) The Martial ARFS TaiPoochi Class provides exercise and physical activity for senior, arthritic, dysplastic, and even blind dogs. Age, injury a sedentary lifestyle, or genetic defects can lead to a number of physical conditions and ailments for your furry family member. This leaves little chance to participate in activities available to most dogs. Exercise can be extremely beneficial to helping your pet cope with or even improve their deteriorating physical stature, improve your dog’s quality of life, and keep them happy and healthy for many years to come.

KaRuffTe™ (Obedience & Exercise) (Exercise Intensity: Moderate) In this class dogs work a variety of exercises that help strengthening the muscles that support the spine, knees, elbows, and hips, while practicing the everyday obedience commands that you want from a well-behaved dog. Exercises are taken from canine rehabilitation, dog agility, human fitness, and a variety of other challenging and fun physical activities that will sure to help your dog lose weight, stay health, and improve their behavior at the same time.

PoochItSu™ (25lbs & Under Obedience & Exercise) (Exercise Intensity: Moderate) With variety of fun and challenging activities borrow from agility, PoochItSu will sure to help your dog lose weight, stay healthy, and have fun at the same time. In addition, dogs work a variety of exercises that help strengthening the muscles that support the spine, knees, elbows, and hips, to prevent injuries that can happen from couch, car, and bed jumps. No dog training class is complete without obedience training. Each class incorporates the everyday obedience commands that you want from a well-behaved dog.

TaiPoochi™ Pool Session (Swimming, Aquatic Conditioning) (Exercise Intensity: Minimal to Maximum) Swimming for dogs can create up to 4x the intensity of running. At 10ft x 18ft Martial ARFS™ has Long Island's biggest & best heated indoor exercise & aqua therapy pool for dogs. In addition to just swimming, we incorporate our advanced balance, coordination, jumping, surfing and conditioning drills, right in the pool to create a more intense workout or improve your dog's athletic performance.

PupKiDo™ (Puppy Manners/Socialization/Physical Activity) (Exercise Intensity: Moderate) A healthy active adult dog starts with a health active puppy. The Martial ARFS incorporates a variety of behavioral, social, & physical activities that will help your young pup be healthy, confident, and well behaved. The physical activities of PupKiDo are safe for puppies & they can help prevent injuries your puppy could sustain with their reckless abandon.