u/Different_Task_1256

Hi everyone

I have a 4 year old springer spaniel for which I'm having an issue getting his weight down. He also has really bad acid reflux which my vet is not helping at all.

For a bid of backstory, Hes my first dog. I know he is very overweight and he used to be over 30kg at one point. I managed to get him down to 24kg while he was on raw but he had really bad acid reflux on it and im still trying to manage it. He went up to 27kg and is now stuck at a plateau of around 26kg for the past 5 months. I have checked his thyroid and it came back clear.

I have done everything from increasing walks and reducing food.
When I increase walks, he gets more and more reluctant to go on walks. Because of his acid reflux, he often gets a stomach ache which in turn makes him super reactive. On both parts it makes us very upset on walks.

When I decrease his food he acts ravenous and becomes irritated in the house. He will also get acid reflux from not eating enough food. ive tried adding vegetables but he doesnt always eat them.

He is currently being fed hills sensitive stomach and skin. I am feeding him the amount of his goal weight (18kg) which is 200g a day. If i go down to 150 he gets acid reflux. Im thinking about changing to hills perfect weight or wellness core low fat. I am just afraid of the acid reflux

I have brought this up at my vet but they have chalked it up to "oh dogs just do that sometimes". i cannot go to another vet because im in a stupid health plan with them and cant afford to leave.

Thank you guys in advance

I have a springer who I bathe every 3-4 weeks or so. When I used to bathe him at the place i used to work at, I was able to get him fully bathes and dried within 30-40 mins. Now that i dont work at that salon anymore I'm forced to bathe him at home. The problem is with my water pressure. it takes me over an hour to just bathe him because its so weak that it feels like there is leftover soap on him. Should I forget the baths and just do it professionally? or can i fix this at home?

Another issue I'm having is with his fur. When I worked at the salon I always had him short on a 7 blade, his fur was always nice and shiny. Now i'm growing it out just to see if it would help him with his subaceous cysts as the vet recommended it. The issue now is that its super dry and flaky. it feels like straw sometimes. He is not neutered.

if there are any tips on how to solve these issues id appreciate it very much.