How can I reduce my dog's calories while keeping her satisfied?

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.

Hello, both dog foods are good brands. It may be a difference in ingredients and quality of ingredients which fits better for Chloe. Both formulas are made to meet the AAFCO standards and regulations for pet food, meaning they are both balanced and will provide adequate nutritional support for Chloe. The difference in these two foods mainly has to do with price and brand. Natural Balance is still considered a good brand of food and one of the most used and well known brands of commercial dog food. Chloe can have Natural Balance if she does better on it. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Acana is a good quality food, so I think that this is a good choice if you are going to switch him to dry food. That ingredient list is comprised of primarily meat along with some legumes such as peas, lentils, and beans which are often better than grains and carbohydrates to act as "filler."

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would recommend just changing to a lower calorie diet such as the one you mentioned. Other low fat or weight loss diets that I have had a very good experience with are Hills metabolic weight management diet and the Royal canin GI low fat diet. Good luck!

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.

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 would recommend adding a supplement such as BalenceIT. Their website can walk you though creating a balanced diet using the foods you're already used to cooking for her. It's always important to have a balanced diet, but as she gets older her body will be less able to handle the stress of any imbalances. As far as her weight, I'd recommend decreasing the overall amount rather than cutting out a macronutrient (in this case carbs)