Week 7 Day 1
Congratulations on reaching the half-way mark of your On-boarding Program!
High fives to you and plenty of belly rubs for your gorgeous dog. Well done 🙂
Let’s see how your dog is progressing. Jump onto the scales and let the numbers do the talking! Then sit back and rehash everything you have achieved this past 6 weeks with this week’s mindset video!
Now you have a handle on habits, emotions and excuses, it’s time to power up and achieve your WAGSTA Wellness goals!
(Jump to 00:17 to skip intro. Tap cc for captions.)
Weight Loss Fluctuations
Weight management can be a funny old game for both human and dogs. One week you can be achieving fantastic results and the next, weight gain can completely stall. And for no apparent reason!
This can be frustrating and a little disheartening. After dedicating a fortnight’s effort to your dog’s diet, there’s nothing worse than sitting your dog on the scales to find little or no result!
So, what is going on?
Reasons for Stalled Weight Loss
1. Has your dog’s calorie intake increased? This is the most common cause for stalled weight loss. Remember to account for everything that your dog eats on a daily basis and keep a keen eye out for anything your dog may be secretly scavenging (fallen fruit from trees, treats from neighbors, scraps from children). Every little bit of food consumed at this point of your dog’s diet is vitally important. A relaxed attitude to food intake will not achieve your dog’s weight loss goals!
2. Dogs can undergo metabolic adaption where the body adapts to a lowered calorie intake by reducing its metabolic rate. This means the amount of energy used for core bodily functions reduces causing weight loss to stall. This natural phenomenon can be overcome by increasing your dog’s energy output or by making small reductions to their calorie intake.
 Your WAGSTA Weight plan will automatically make adjustments to your dog calorie intake based on rate of weight loss. Please maintain activity levels in-line with weekly recommendations.
3. Has your dog’s activity level reduced? When less energy is expended, a positive calorie balance occurs resulting in weight plateaus or gain. Aim to keep up with your dog’s activity program. As your dog’s fitness and stamina increases, so too will their energy expenditure, further facilitating weight loss. As activity increases, many dogs experience a compounding effect where their weight loss accelerates towards the end of the program.
4. Illness, injury and owner circumstances may interfere with your dog’s activity program. If this is likely to be ongoing, calorific adjustments can be made to ensure continued weight loss despite lowered activity levels.
Please reach out if you find yourself unable to commit to your WAGSTA activity plan.
For more trouble-shooting please read Trouble Shooting Stalled Weight Loss in your WAGSTA resource library.
Game of the Week: Doggy Soccer
Join your dog for a soccer workout!
1. Find yourself a large ball that is not easy to puncture – basketballs and footballs are ideal.
2. Kick the ball away from your dog and encourage your dog to chase after it.
3. Once your dog gets to the ball, jog on over and praise your dog.
4. Let your dog play with the ball for a bit (as a reward), and then kick the ball again.
5. Try racing your dog to the ball after you have kicked it for a dual work out!
Woofs and wags,
Your WAGSTA team.