u/Tintinabulation114

My dog is a spayed female, approximately 8 or so years old (rescued as an adult so it’s a guess). She is a hound mix, looks like an Entleblucher Mountain dog but really she’s a mutt. I adopted her from a rescue about 3.5 years ago, she had been with them approximately 1.5 years in a foster home but was hard to adopt because of her extremely shy nature. She is an EXTREMELY nervous dog with people, but very good with dogs and cats. They had no history on her other than she was rescued from a kill shelter. I believe she either came from a hoarding situation, or had very limited socialization as a puppy and that could be why she is so nervous with people but relaxed with animals.

Anyway, she arrived at around 43lbs and is now 58. The vet’s office shows slow weight gain the first 1-2 years, then much more the last 1.5 years she has been with me. The vet says she is 8 of 9 body scale. The weight is all over, not just in the belly. I measure her food, feed her less than the bag recommends (Hill’s Science Diet) to account for treats, and we walk daily. I am responsible for her fattiness, and I have started increasing the length of our walks, to help her shed pounds. We used to walk longer distances (3-4 miles daily) but I slacked off and we generally walk 1-1.5 miles now). I still measure her food, decrease her treats from 2 or 3 to strictly 1 daily (chicken jerky strip so all protein) and plan to take her to weekly weigh-ins. Bloodwork is normal, her thyroid was checked just over a year ago and was fine, recheck is pending. She shows no signs of arthritis, joints move easily and despite her plump body she loves to walk and is super excited every time we go out. But I know the extra weight will show up in her joints later so have to get it off now.

Some things working against us: high heat/humidity so we can only walk very early/late in day; her sister is old and we have to do a short, easy walk with her first thing each outing; my neighbor feeds her treats sometimes (long story there), but I am committed to getting her weight down.

I had a thought which is the reason for this long post: Could her cortisol levels contribute to her weight gain? My other, older dog eats the same thing and is an average weight for her size. I know stress levels affect humans and can contribute to an inability to lose weight, is it the same for dogs? At home she is relaxed, sleeps, plays, enjoys walks, but I often see the whale eye, or hear the nervous whine, and I wonder if this could be a factor. She is comfortable and affectionate, but it seems her nervous nature will never let her really, truly relax like a regular pup. Any recommendations other than strict diet and increased walks?

BTW, we did try to Science Diet Metabolism food about 2 years ago, around the time they noticed weight gain, and in 6 months she only lost 2 lbs. I just switched her to the Oral Care (her teeth are in decent shape but they do recommend a teeth cleaning this year). No medications other than trazadone for thunderstorms, and she also started taking Plaque Off treats. Thanks.

UPDATE: the vet called and all her bloodwork is mostly normal. There’s just a few slight elevated levels in a couple areas but nothing that was concerning. Thyroid was normal. So we are really going to buckle down and walk more for longer distances and be strict with the treats.