How much should I feed my overweight 8-year-old yellow Lab per day?

First of all i would not recommend soaking any dog food in water. if she is just slightly overweight you can put her on an over the counter reduced calorie dry food, you can chose the same brand you are using at the moment or any other brand that you find in your pet shop. if she is more than a little bit overweight then she will need a prescription low calorie food from your vet. for each food the quantity will be different but it will be written on the food label with clear instructions.

I think the main thing you will need to do in this case to get him on the path to weight loss is caloric reduction. 4.5 cups of food is a very large amount for this pup. I would go ahead and start by reducing it by about 25% to start and see how things are looking after a week or two. Once he sheds some of that weight, he may want to be a bit more active and willing to do things he wasn't doing previously.

Figuring conservatively, if we say that his target weight is about 30 kg and we want to feed 3% of that daily, this works out to 900 total grams of food per day. So you may want to increase to 300 grams, three times daily for now. Then weigh him in 30 days to see if you're making progress, and adjust accordingly.

Hello. This is a great question! She should be eating about 500 -550 calories PER DAY which includes all food and treats. She can eat any food as long as she stays inside that calorie window. If you feed her a lower calorie diet then she will get to eat more food and be less hungry. Purina ProPlan Weight Management Dry Food is 337 calories per cup so if you feed her this food she can eat 1.5 cups per day with a little left over for a treat or two. http://www.petsmart.com/dog/food/dry-food/purina-pro-plan-weight-management-formula-adult-dog-food-5148013.html?gclid=CKrvp4aRkdQCFZBgfgodPccMzA If you don't like this food you can use any diet. Just check the bag, it will tell you how many calories per cup. Take the 525 (using the middle of her calorie range) and divide it by the number of calories in each cup of food and that will tell you how many cups of that food she can have PER DAY. Example as above 525 / 337 = 1.55 cups I hope this helps. Best wishes. Dr. Amber

Zoey is adorable!! I would recommend a weight loss food and a gradual transition to the new diet. I would also need to know exactly what Zoey is eating now to give you a good amount to give her. If you increase exercise, stop all treats and human food then many times dogs will lose weight just with that. I would also recommend weighing Zoey every 2 weeks to make sure she is continually losing weight. If you do put her on a diet and she does not lose weight you can always talk to your veterinarian about hypothyroidism which can make it difficult for dogs to lose weight. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello. In bad weather, just do the best you can. Walking in the snow actually burns quite a few more calories then an easy stroll in the grass. Even just walking around the house or up & down stairs is great exercise ( if Simba has no problems with his hips ). Just like in people, it is not what you eat, but how much. You can easily control how much he eats, but you can also switch him to a weight control diet. There are many available, some you can just pick up, others like Hills w/d or r/d require a prescription from your veterinarian. Cut out all treats & table scraps & if Simba begs for treats you can give him a couple of baby carrots, or a few tablespoons of salt free canned green beans. With time, the weight should come off. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi there and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! 3/8 of a cup twice daily for a growing labrador sounds a little under the calories he should be getting daily. He should be consuming closer to 2 cups of the royal canin maxi food daily. Chicken stew and rice are not good sources of nutrients for a growing dog and should not replace eating his regular puppy food and should be discontinued. Just feeding more of his puppy food will help him grow and put on healthy weight. Thanks again for posting!