My dog needs to lose weight. Is grain-free food and chicken healthy?

There is no evidence that grain free foods promote weight loss in dogs, and unless there is a medical reason to avoid grains I don't recommend feeding these diets. Reducing calorie intake is necessary for weight loss, although increasing exercise can help as well. You can either talk to your vet to help estimate Tasha's ideal body weight and calculate approximately how many calories she should be eating in a day to promote weight loss, or you can try reducing the total amount of food she is getting in a day by 25%. Remember treats and chews have calories too - think of every treat as a piece of candy and try to minimize them as much as possible or replace them with a healthier alternative like a frozen green bean.

Hi there! Let me see if I can help you with Brownie. I always recommend "The Big 4" as far as brands, as they are the most balanced diets on the market for dogs and cats. They are Purina, Science Diet, Royal Canin, and Eukanuba-Iams. That being said, I always point out that when changing diets we go slowly over a week to ten days' time. You can follow the guide in this link to try to avoid causing any gastrointestinal upset like vomiting or diarrhea: https://www.hillspet.com/dog-care/nutrition-feeding/how-to-transition-my-dogs-food I would check the bag and make sure that you measure the food and stick to the recommended calories per day, taking into account any additional calories like treats, table food, or dental chews. We can sometimes be surprised how many calories are in a milkbone even. You can try a reduced fat or weight loss diet made by one of the brands mentioned above, and see if that helps. Before starting I always recommend a vet visit. An exam can be very helpful in making the initial weight loss plan. I will often discuss trying cutting out snacks and treats, a reduced fat diet, and monthly weight checks. If there isn't a difference in about 6 weeks, I will recommend checking thyroid levels to see if that is functioning OK. If not, that can slow down metabolism and cause weight gain. And if all is well and we're still having trouble, there are prescription diets that we can try to help reset the metabolism like Hill's metabolic. I hope you find this answer helpful. Best of luck!

You are correct that it is difficult to find a good quality weight loss diet. Good quality meats and fats are high in calories. At the end of the day, weight loss is about calories. So, a weight loss food is beneficial because they can eat the same amount of food. But you can achieve the same decrease in calories by feeding less of the Acana that you are currently feeding. A 10-20% decrease in daily calories is exactly what I recommend for weight loss, so you could simply decrease from a level 2/3 cup to heaping 1/2 cup for a month. If Chloe is losing weight, then continue at that amount. If she is not losing weight, then decrease to a level 1/2 cup. Since she is a small dog, it should take her a number of months to lose the weight, so don't be discouraged if she only loses a few ounces in that first month. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Both the Royal Canin and ProPlan are balanced diets that are formulated to meet all the nutritional needs (both macro and micro nutrients). So you don't need to worry about that. Any diet can achieve weight loss if you count the calories. The issue with the 'fresh' diet is that they tend to be higher in calories which means Giuseppe cannot eat as much food. For dogs, this can be a problem because their stomachs work based off of a total volume of food. So if the total volume of food is small, their stomach does not send the signal to the brand saying they are 'full'. Typically the weight loss diets have more fiber than normal food. This allows dogs to eat more (thus feel full) but have less calories. I hope this makes sense and please feel free to post any additional questions.

I understand. I should have clarified. It is probably not the kibble so much as the canned food. If I remember correctly you also give that? If so, just cut that out completely or give only a tiny amount (like 1 -2 teaspoons per day). You can stick with Blue Buffalo if you'd like. They have an adult weight management diet that is grain free. ( https://bluebuffalo.com/natural-dog-food/grain-free-blue-freedom/dry-food/freedom-adult-healthy-weight-chicken-recipe/ )

Hello. Thank you for using PetCoach. Great question! I don't know what this "man's" background is but I don't suggest you take advice from someone who likely knows nothing about nutrition in dogs. This includes many pet stores employees, breeders and people that do internet research from sources with no factual background. Dry food is just fine for dogs and you don't have to use an expensive food. Just don't use a super cheap food (like Ol' Roy). If you are looking for a good dry food that is reasonably priced then I would use Purina One. I would use a weight control diet (it is fine to feed that to both dogs) and be sure you are feeding the correct amount based on their IDEAL weight (not the current weight). You really need to get some weight off the big dog. Minimize treats and it is suggested you not feed any people food when trying to get a dog to lose weight. This is going to be very bad for his joints as he gets older. ( https://www.purinaone.com/dogs/products/dry-dog-food/smartblend-healthy-weight ) Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is not known at this time if grain free diets are actually better than diets with grain. I usually recommend feeding a high quality diet. Purina is an excellent diet but if you do not have access to this diet, there are others that you could consider that are also excellent such as Hill's Science Diet, Royal canin and Iams foods. Grain does not necessarily make dogs gain weight so I would be more focused on the quality and balance of the diet per se. Good luck and have a great day!