# It's BRITNEY! - Diet Thread



## LittleHead

Completely ashamed of myself. Having a "chunky/fluffy/pudgy" chihuahua isn't so cute when you see the number with your own eyes. The weight I thought she was, is LONG gone... I will be doing the Green Bean diet for Miss Britney 

Here's the first pics, taken at 6:45 AM on December 9 2010


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## N*T*M*4U

good lucky Britney !!...you will be a supermodel .....mommy will buy you lot of nice clothes......


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## cprcheetah

Awww....Britney, you'll be slim before you know it.


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## tricializ

Aww. Look at her tail between her legs in shame. LOL She really doesn't look that "fluffy" and I don't think it will take you long. Bruiser was tipping the scales and most of it was that he was eating scraps the kids gave him and way too many pupperonis. I got the kids to buy in to not giving him anything other than his dog food and now he is (recently) on raw (Stella&Chewys) and has slimmed down so much. 
IT was very quick that he had that definition again. She will be her little supermodel status in no time.


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## 18453

Oh britney you look so upset with your tail tucked bless you baby you'll be you're sexy skinny self soon!!


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## foggy

Aw she is such a cutie. Good luck, Crystal. I bet she'll slim down in no time.


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## TLI

She will get there, Crystal! Go for 5/5.25 lbs. That should put her at an ideal weight. So she has about 1 1/2 lbs. to lose. She may take off a good 1/2 lb. quickly. Then the rest will be slower, but she will get there.  You guys can do it!!!


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## huskyluv

Aww, Britney, you'll get there before you know it! Your baby cousin Faith did it and so did little Glory too. You'll get your pretty figure back in no time! Faith went from 8 lbs to 6 lbs and Glory went from 9 lbs to 6.5 lbs!


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## Brodysmom

I'm so happy to see these diet threads!!! Keeping our little guys lean and trim is SO important to their health and especially their knees. I'm so proud of you guys!!! 

GO Britney!


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## LittleHead

Daisydoo said:


> Oh britney you look so upset with your tail tucked bless you baby you'll be you're sexy skinny self soon!!


Yeah she wasn't so happy when I called for her to come to me, since she was warm & curled up in her blanket.


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## Bella&Max's_Mom

aww Britney looks like she is saying please mom do not post these pictures...
good luck you can do it.


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## LittleHead

OK, just finished the first feeding...

*Questions:*
Are the green beans supposed to be drowning in the water?? I felt like it was too much water. 

How much kibble should I give her? I feed them Wellness Small Breed and the kibble is TIIIINY! I added 20 pieces.

How many times do I feed? I'm trying to follow Kristi's guideline as much as possible, so I guess 2x would be decent enough??

*'First Meal' Feedback*:
She really liked the green beans!! I was soooo surprised. The water was a bit too warm for her so she was hesitant to stick her head in the bowl and eat, so i sat on the floor and fed her or put some pieces on the floor. Eventually she did take some drinks from the water. 

Alsooooo....Butter was being miss nosey, wanted to know what was so special that I was giving Britney, so I gave her a few pieces of the green beans and she gobbled them down. Can I give her some green beans as well? Or just stick her with their kibble?


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## LittleHead

Might weigh her today (Monday) but I don't know..i don't want to be disappointed :lol: it hasn't even been a week! 

I don't really SEE a difference in her body, but when I pick her up, she feels lighter. I thought I'd feel bad about feeding her 2 small meals a day, but I don't because I know how much better she'll look and feel  I'm still paranoid about my dad though, because he is known for giving both my girls BIG quantities of their kibble. My mom and I have just been trying to kindly remind him to not give-in to her...he's so weak and so wrapped around her little paw :roll:


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## cprcheetah

Not sure on the quantities, but it sounds like she's doing better. My dad (who's a vet) is the WORST about overfeeding, my sisters Bouvier was 110#, because he would feed her a whole bowl full.....he finally cut her back and she's down to 70#. He's horrible


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## LittleHead

Okay I don't know if I should just throw my scale away or slam it against a wall 3 or 4 times, THEN throw it away. As I said, I don't SEE a difference with her body but she does feel lighter when I pick her up and hold her.

The number on the scale said 5.6
Is that even possible??? I BARELY started her on the 9th!!!
I'm mad because I think that it's such a big difference when no one honestly say, "oh britney looks skinny!!!"


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## flippedstars

LittleHead said:


> Okay I don't know if I should just throw my scale away or slam it against a wall 3 or 4 times, THEN throw it away. As I said, I don't SEE a difference with her body but she does feel lighter when I pick her up and hold her.
> 
> The number on the scale said 5.6
> Is that even possible??? I BARELY started her on the 9th!!!
> I'm mad because I think that it's such a big difference when no one honestly say, "oh britney looks skinny!!!"


I am starting to think a lot of dogs carry "kibble bloat"...so what you see, is similar to what Cheryl saw w/ Leila...big loss at first of that bloat, now you get into the hard truckin' bit  But yeah, it is possible she's down that much esp if she had a few big kibble meals before you started her! I think 20 kibbles sounds like a lot but I am not at all familiar with the size so...its probably about right


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## N*T*M*4U

LittleHead said:


> Okay I don't know if I should just throw my scale away or slam it against a wall 3 or 4 times, THEN throw it away. As I said, I don't SEE a difference with her body but she does feel lighter when I pick her up and hold her.
> 
> The number on the scale said 5.6
> Is that even possible??? I BARELY started her on the 9th!!!
> I'm mad because I think that it's such a big difference when no one honestly say, "oh britney looks skinny!!!"


check out BedBathBeyond for the food scale...I paid like $25 for it...it pretty good showing lb and oz........


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## flippedstars

I definitely recommend the kitchen scales. I sprung big time and bought a postal scale when B was a baby and having his tummy issues and I needed to know exactly what he weighed...but the kitchen scales work fine for all intents and purposes and are far more accurate than the big scales


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## LittleHead

flippedstars said:


> I am starting to think a lot of dogs carry "kibble bloat"...so what you see, is similar to what Cheryl saw w/ Leila...big loss at first of that bloat, now you get into the hard truckin' bit  But yeah, it is possible she's down that much esp if she had a few big kibble meals before you started her! I think 20 kibbles sounds like a lot but I am not at all familiar with the size so...its probably about right


Took some crappy pics to give you an idea of what size they are.

















As you can see, similar to a Tic-Tac, length wise but obviously not as thick. 



N*T*M*4U said:


> check out BedBathBeyond for the food scale...I paid like $25 for it...it pretty good showing lb and oz........


Thanks Moni! I like your scale a lot. I'm not going to give up on this diet for Britney, but it's frustrating because now I feel like I don't know her Real weight.


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## flippedstars

Omg those ARE tiny, yeah, I would say 20 is about right, if 8 is what I recommend of normal sized kibbles ! Can you get some fish oil to give her a squirt of 1x a day as well? Its important to keep them up on fats even though their food intake is drastically reduced


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## N*T*M*4U

flippedstars said:


> I definitely recommend the kitchen scales. I sprung big time and bought a postal scale when B was a baby and having his tummy issues and I needed to know exactly what he weighed...but the kitchen scales work fine for all intents and purposes and are far more accurate than the big scales


the big scale is so weird....I tried to weight myself on like 5 scales and all come up different weight....


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## TLI

Crystal, I bought my postal scale for less than $20 on eBay. It's very small, but works well, and accurate. Weighing them on a "people" scale won't give you near as accurate numbers. It can be off by even a few lbs. It doesn't pick up lower amounts of weight like a postal, or food scale would. I wouldn't think she would have lost over 1 lb. in such a short time, but could have? You can take her into any Petsmart, they have a scale at the back of the store (belongs to Banfield) that you can weigh her on. Or pop by the Vet if you don't want to buy a scale. I have a digital people scale, and it really doesn't even register my dogs weights that well even with taking my weight first, then holding them. I think you are on the right track with not giving up. You will probably see right at 1/2 lb. loss pretty quickly. After that it will be similar to our diets. You can lose 10 lbs. pretty quick, then it's a slower go from there. Keep up the good work!!!


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## huskyluv

Is your scale calibrated? Sometimes if I get an "off" reading you can re-calibrate the scale and try again. I agree with Kristi, it is possible due to several factors, kibble bloat, BM's, heavy water drinkage, different time of day, etc.

When I do weigh ins I do it at the same time of day each time and monitor food intake, water intake, and BM's before weighing. I feed my dogs in the morning around 7:30 am. I do weigh ins in the early afternoon around 1-2 pm after they have gone out to potty and had a bowel movement but without taking a drink of water before the weigh in. For example if they go pee and have a BM right before the weigh in they will weigh noticeably less than if they had not gone potty and had a big drink of water or food shortly before the weighing, get my drift? Little things like that can really skew the reading but the scale would still be correct. Taking readings at different times of the day can also affect the reading as well. There's just a whole lot of factors to consider so don't be discouraged!


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## TLI

The Wellness Small Breed kibble is SUPER teeny. They are almost flat, and you could probably fit 4 of them on your thumbnail.


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## 18453

Crystal don't panic yourself remember you are going by her body condition not what the scales say this is so important to remember!!

Oakley is very very light but remember kristo had to get a few ounces of her weight is not important!! 

They probably have the equivalent of we do with water weight so like if someone does the Atkins they lose mostly water so is very easy to put back on!!

Keep going stay away from the scales for a bit if you do weigh her on scales weigh her the same time of day and have the scales on the same surface that will give you a fair result


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## LittleHead

TLI said:


> The Wellness Small Breed kibble is SUPER teeny. They are almost flat, and you could probably fit 4 of them on your thumbnail.


They are super tiny, aren't they? We've been in our home about 10 months and my dad (not blaming him-just saying) was the one who took responsibility of feeding the girls and he would feed them these big amounts of kibble. I guess he thought because they were so small that they needed A LOT to keep them happy! There were times when Britney would eat the ENTIRE pile and Butter wouldn't get one single piece. So, he'd leave once again another group of kibble for Butter and she'd start eating and if she left anything, Britney would eat that.  When I refer to Britney as the Queen, I am not lying and dont mean it in a "loving" way. This dog will put her weight on the back of your legs when she wants something, like, she pushes you! If that doesn't work, she will start barking. Super bad habits you don't have to tell me who's to blame ..I've spoiled her beyond belief and have allowed her to get away with a lot. 



huskyluv said:


> Is your scale calibrated? Sometimes if I get an "off" reading you can re-calibrate the scale and try again. I agree with Kristi, it is possible due to several factors, kibble bloat, BM's, heavy water drinkage, different time of day, etc.


I don't know if it's calibrated? I was getting really annoyed because I weighed her in the hall by the bathroom and it said 6.6, then I brought her to the same area where I weighed her on the 9th and that's when 5.6 started popping up. I took her on and off it about 5 times.


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## LittleHead

Daisydoo said:


> Crystal don't panic yourself remember you are going by her body condition not what the scales say this is so important to remember!!
> 
> Oakley is very very light but remember kristo had to get a few ounces of her weight is not important!!
> 
> They probably have the equivalent of we do with water weight so like if someone does the Atkins they lose mostly water so is very easy to put back on!!
> 
> Keep going stay away from the scales for a bit if you do weigh her on scales weigh her the same time of day and have the scales on the same surface that will give you a fair result


Sarah, thank you for posting. I'm not mad at Britney or myself, just that evil scale!! I say thanks for posting because I was just thinking of you and I remember what you told me about body condition. 

I hate that scale now though; decided to weigh Butter and it said 4.4!! So yeah, I know it can't be accurate because my Butter is a tiny little thing. Her size reminds me of being similar to Oakley. :daisy:


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## TLI

Yes, they are super tiny! I totally understand where you are coming from. It's so easy to spoil them. Your Dad probably thought he was feeding them the right amount, and never really thought about weight gain. I know if my Dad fed my pups, they would all weigh 10 lbs. :lol: No joke though, he always tells me that I need to "fatten them puppies up." He is 85, and I think it's just what they knew back in the day. They fed table scraps mostly, and didn't really monitor anything like we do. I think their dogs were more active since they were mostly outside dogs, and such. It's kinda crazy to me that my Dad is that way though, considering he only weighs 140 lbs.! He's like a string bean. But anyway, our parents just don't get it, unfortunately. And spoiling them is very easy. My main fear about their weight is that obesity actually causes more health problems than anything. Scary, really. I have to watch Chance to keep him at a good weight. He will eat anything that I let him, but so will the girls, really. Jade’s appetite is beyond belief. So I think it’s just a (most) “dog” thing. :lol: Anyway, don’t beat yourself up. You are taking the steps to get her back to her ideal weight, and that is all that can be expected. Your headed in the right direction!


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## TLI

LittleHead said:


> I hate that scale now though; decided to weigh Butter and it said 4.4!! So yeah, I know it can't be accurate because my Butter is a tiny little thing. Her size reminds me of being similar to Oakley. :daisy:


It may be accurate, Crystal. I would have guessed Butter at 4.5 lbs. She is very small, but 4.5 lbs. is *very small*. She is much leggier/leaner than Britney, which is where her weight is coming from. Just pop by Petsmart, or the Vet. That will let you know for sure if your scales are accurate.


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## cherper

Good luck crystal and britney!!  Those pics cracked me up!!!  She looks like she knows what's coming! :laughing8:
The beans are drowning in water over here. lol
I put a small portion in a tiny bowl (looks like a bowl for dip not a reg.sized bowl at all) prob 1/8 c or a tad more, just cover them barely with water and nuke for 20 sec. Then they are thawed but not hot. Then i dump it in her food bowl with 8 kibbles and a capsule of wild salmon oil squirted in too. I do this every morning and then the same minus the oil at night. I am so happy with how she looks.


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## flippedstars

cherper said:


> Good luck crystal and britney!!  Those pics cracked me up!!!  She looks like she knows what's coming! :laughing8:
> The beans are drowning in water over here. lol
> I put a small portion in a tiny bowl (looks like a bowl for dip not a reg.sized bowl at all) prob 1/8 c or a tad more, just cover them barely with water and nuke for 20 sec. Then they are thawed but not hot. Then i dump it in her food bowl with 8 kibbles and a capsule of wild salmon oil squirted in too. I do this every morning and then the same minus the oil at night. I am so happy with how she looks.


She really does look fabulous


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## LittleHead

cherper said:


> Good luck crystal and britney!!  Those pics cracked me up!!!  She looks like she knows what's coming! :laughing8:
> The beans are drowning in water over here. lol
> I put a small portion in a tiny bowl (looks like a bowl for dip not a reg.sized bowl at all) prob 1/8 c or a tad more, just cover them barely with water and nuke for 20 sec. Then they are thawed but not hot. Then i dump it in her food bowl with 8 kibbles and a capsule of wild salmon oil squirted in too. I do this every morning and then the same minus the oil at night. I am so happy with how she looks.


Thanks Cheryl!! You know I love your baby girl and you guys have been great motivation for us california girls over here! :hello1: I'll have to buy some salmon oil as well.


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## LittleHead

TLI said:


> It may be accurate, Crystal. I would have guessed Butter at 4.5 lbs. She is very small, but 4.5 lbs. is *very small*. She is much leggier/leaner than Britney, which is where her weight is coming from. Just pop by Petsmart, or the Vet. That will let you know for sure if your scales are accurate.


Yeah 4.5 is small. She and Britney are so different, I guess that's why I think she might be similar to Oakley (her sister from another mother ), but I'm just basing that on photos. Thanks for all your advice and honesty T! :ngreet2:


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## flippedstars

LittleHead said:


> Yeah 4.5 is small. She and Britney are so different, I guess that's why I think she might be similar to Oakley (her sister from another mother ), but I'm just basing that on photos. Thanks for all your advice and honesty T! :ngreet2:


Yup, I always have said Butter reminds me of Oakley! I kind of like the look of the slightly longer legs and more slender build, too  But I might be biased hehehe. Bryco has a TOTALLY different build and measures smaller than her for all intents and purposes but he looks bigger b'c he's huskier.


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## cherper

LittleHead said:


> Thanks Cheryl!! You know I love your baby girl and you guys have been great motivation for us california girls over here! :hello1: I'll have to buy some salmon oil as well.


Thank you!! I know you guys will do great. 
Yes the fats are necessary when cutting their food back so much!


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## TLI

LittleHead said:


> Yeah 4.5 is small. She and Britney are so different, I guess that's why I think she might be similar to Oakley (her sister from another mother ), but I'm just basing that on photos. Thanks for all your advice and honesty T! :ngreet2:


Once Britney gets down to around Butter's weight, you will be able to see what I mean. Even if they both weigh 4.5 lbs., Britney will look much smaller. For lack of better comparison, it would be similar to a standard Chi vs. a Whippet type body/shape. They are both adorable, though!


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## 18453

Sorry crystal I forget about diet threads diet Is a bad bad word to me as you know but seriously I'd just go by her body condition people are suggesting all sorts of weights and realistically it's hard to say what she should be I'd just carry on and wait for her to hit her optimum condition it's fab seeing you guys getting your dogs lean it is so much better for them


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## LittleHead

Poor Britney...yesterday was a bad day for her. Not sure what words to use to be more descriptive but basically, she was hungry!!! She did good in the morning, spent it on the couch as usual but once the early evening came (4:30-5:00 pm), she was was hovering around in the kitchen! My mom said Britney was pushing on the back of her legs and she wouldn't just be still, she was all over the place...would go in the living room, the kitchen, my room, and the same routine over and over. 

I've been doing her feedings at 10am and 7pm...is that too late??
Yesterday I did feed at 10am but because she was being quite.."expressive" in how hungry she was, I feed her at 6pm. After that, she was content and relaxed.


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## 18453

I'd swap her times around don't stick to a specific time as they start to whine for it


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## N*T*M*4U

I feed my at 9-10 and then 4-5 .....I do give them some green beans as treat sometime...


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## LittleHead

Just a couple observations about Britney...
-I know this isn't JUST in overweight dogs, but she hasn't done that reverse sneezing thing since on her diet.

-She's definitely a little more energetic! She'll have random little spurts...sticking her butt up in the air and doing little spins.

-She still acts like she can't jump on the couch, but if I ignore her she's able to get on after 2 or 3 tries as opposed to before when she would try and try and eventually give up. 

-The snoring is still there but I haven't noticed anything as loud as before.

Noticing little things like this are keeping me motivated to continue her on this diet. I should slap myself because, to be honest, I always thought trying to get her to lose weight would be a BIG inconvenience on ME..selfish, I know. Butttt, things have gone great so far!

:ngreet2:


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## huskyluv

That is fantastic news, Crystal! Keep up the good work!


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## 18453

Awww crystal that's great you're doing so well

It's no inconvenience  you're doing very well as is she keep going she will be so much better and live far longer for it!


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## LittleHead

Just a mild update guys :ngreet2: No pics nor have I placed her on the scale (maybe I can do that in the morning..) but people are beginning to notice quite a change in Miss Britney!! My brother Joe kept commenting throughout the entire day how much smaller she looks, especially around the neck he and his bf said it is noticeable!! 

:dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:
They (my bro and his bf) were at the kitchen table eating before I left for work and I could hear him talking to her saying, "No Britney, you can't have any food..it's not good for you. you're on a diet, so you can live longer with us" :love3:


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## N*T*M*4U

Yay Yay Yay for Miss Britney!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## LittleHead

^Thank you! I'm very proud of her 

I have three digital cameras and I can never seem to pick the right "setting" for the pics to come out good so please excuse the bad quality.

As you still see, Britney still has "rolls" and also there is no "tuck" as I think people here call it, you still can't see any separation between her ribs and her stomach. :-/

this first pic taken december 18 & the next 2 taken december 27

























December 9th, 6:45am









December 27, 11:15pm


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## 18453

How much has she lost now crystal?? She still has a way to go but keep positive


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## LittleHead

I think she's at a standstill of 9 ounces lost; I put her on the scale a couple of days ago and it was 5.6 still

you know...I'm unsure whether she will actually have a tuck because I'm looking at old photos of her now and she's never really had one :tard: Or am I just trying to justify this?? LOL


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## 18453

She did have a tuck lol puppies don't always have them!! She will get there some don't have majorly noticeable tucks I'd be mote concerned about getting her a waist xx


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## LittleHead

Well let's hope a waist happens soon!! I'm following the meals as instructed, have given her 2 treats TOTAL throughout the last 3 weeks, and she has responded well. She does have her hunger moments obviously, which seem to occur during the afternoon but I don't give in to her. 

I'm so proud of her thus far :love2:


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## 18453

You should be proud of you too Hun

Can I ask a question I don't mean to sound rude but how comes she got overweight and butter hasn't??


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## foggy

Great job so far, Crystal.


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## LittleHead

Daisydoo said:


> You should be proud of you too Hun
> 
> Can I ask a question I don't mean to sound rude but how comes she got overweight and butter hasn't??


lol You're asking the same question I often wonder about!! The only answer I can think of is that Butter has excellent metabolism; I remember once when my mother had seen the woman that we got her from, my mom told her that she was so skinny and the woman said that the other dogs, meaning Butter's littermates, were very slender as well. So I think that and the fact that she is about 2 inches taller than Britney is what makes her look incredibly slim.


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## 18453

Yeah I suppose so it baffles me


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## N*T*M*4U

what's a tuck?.....


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## LittleHead

Someone else can confirm but I think a tuck is the area where you can tell the difference between the ribs and the stomach. Here's a picture of Butter to show an example, see how after her ribs it goes inwards


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## N*T*M*4U

oh ok....LOL.....that picture is too cute !!..
thanks!!


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## LittleHead

No major update, but I finally got a scale that is more weight sensitive..anything up to 13 lbs. After getting Britney to finally sit (it's a pretty small scale - kinda disappointed but it gets the job done), it looks like she weighs 5.5 lbs  

I'm happy I got this scale because the "people" one that I put her on, said she weighed 5.2. She still has a ways to go, maybe as much as 1 lb. 

I need to start annoying my dad again because he's been feeding her early in the morning on days when I'm at work and he says he gives her green beans too, but the thing I'm worried about is how much kibble he's feeding her.


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## LittleHead

Weighed Britney and scale said 5.28 lbs 
I was looking at a pic I took of her that is less than a year old and I noticed she is much slimmer in the shoulder area and also when I rub my hand through her neck, it's not all bumpy with fat rolls now, it's nice and smooth :dance:


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## flippedstars

Good work! If you can "tare" the scale (zero out weight on it), put a bowl or plate on top of it, zero that weight out, and put Britney on top of THAT. That's how I weigh mine.


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## LittleHead

Ohhh good idea! It's such a small scale, even for a small dog like a Chihuahua. bit of a hassel to get her comfy on it. Thanks Kristi!! :ngreet2:


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## LittleHead

hehe so I now know why I should wear my glasses at all times. I thought she was 5 pounds, 28 ounces but that would put her at over 6 pounds. I had put her on the scale after my last update and saw the tiny little decimal point between the 2 and the 8, so she was 5 pounds 2.8 ounces :lol:

Anywho, I ran outta green beans for about a week and she did well maintaining. She's pretty much between 5 lbs 2.8 ounces and 5 lbs 3 ounces


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## bayoumah

hi my goodness she did so good on her weight reduction im going to try the plate method to weigh buster i couldnt figure out how to get him still on the scale but the plate idea is great, see i learn something to the good everyday by reading all yall's imput thanks everyone


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