My overweight Lab: What's the right diet, food, and feeding schedule?

It depends on what food you are feeding, since the amount of calories per cup can vary tremendously from one brand or formula to another. If Zoey is a bit overweight, I would recommend feeding a weight control formula made by a good quality brand like Royal Canin or Purina ProPlan. These foods are designed to help with weight loss, and will have instructions on the bag for how much to feed each day based on your dog's target weight.

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.

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.

I agree that you should switch him to a low calorie diet, this way he will be able to eat a little more without gaining weight. start with an over the counter low calorie food, if within 2 months you do not see any result, switch him to a prescription weight control diet.

HI, good for you for adopting an older dog! She does not look very overweight but can stand to lose a few pounds. You should be feeding her a high quality dry food like Science Diet and look for the weight loss food. Make sure you feed her what it advises you to feed on the back of the bag. treats should be low fat like baby carrots or ice cubes. Based on the picture I would say get her down to about 30kgs and see how she looks. there is no need for wet food if she likes the dry. You should be able to feel her ribs easily but not see them. She should have a tucked in waist as well. Keeping her slim will keep her healthier. Start out with short walks and gradually go on longer ones. Exercise is vey helpful in losing weight. If she feels hungry, you can give her pieces of kibble as treats or stuff a rubber Kong toy with some weight loss canned food as well. Good luck, i hope this helps!

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.

It's good that you are concerned about her getting overweight, because she does appear to be somewhat chunky. In order to get started with a weight loss plan it's good to score her current body condition. Below is a link that will help you do this. Riley is likely around a BCS of 7/9, but I would have to physically examine her to be sure. https://www.wsava.org/sites/default/files/Body%20condition%20score%20chart%20dogs.pdf After that, you can use the healthy weight calculator at the following link: https://www.petcoach.co/healthy-weight-calculator/ There are some products in the pet store that are actually formulated for weight loss and these would be the best ones to feed. I know Hills, Purina and Royal Canin all have good products, but don't know of any other. The best thing to check on the bag is the AAFCO statement, which is just below the guaranteed analysis. This will tell if the food has actually demonstrated what it claims. I've included a link to an article below that explains all of this. Make sure you feed the food according to the bag's instructions and try to cut out all treats and table scraps. I understand that this may be impossible with young children, so in this case you should account for the table scraps by feeding even less food than is recommended. https://www.petcoach.co/article/what-to-look-for-when-choosing-your-pet-s-food/ The hardest thing for pet owners is that they feel like they are starving their dog. Trust me, you are not starving them, despite how bad they may make you feel. If your dog likes any vegetables like celery, carrots or green beans, then these are great, low calorie options to give as treats that can make you and your dog feel a bit better about the diet. In the end, know that a skinnier dog will be healthier and live longer, so it's well worth it. I hope that helps and you are able to get a good plan going for Riley. I've given one more link to an article with additional information below. https://www.petcoach.co/article/5-ways-to-help-your-dog-lose-weight/