Is weighing dog food and water important for my dog's health?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Physical activity would definitely help. However, a lot of it comes back to the diet that is fed. It is not necessarily about the amount of cups but it is more about the caloric content in each cup. You can follow the recommended amount of food in the bag (though they tend to recommend a higher amount than needed) or preferably have your veterinarian calculate the needed intake based on the most current weight. I recommend you try the Science Diet metabolic weight management diet which works great for weight loss. Good luck and have a good night!

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Firstly, good for you to get on top of Sydney's weight, once you get the weight under control Sydney will feel so much better! There are a few different products made for weight management, some of the best/most effective ones are the prescription diets. I personally like Hill's weight management diet, because the animals feel full but are getting less calories, and it also has joint support products in the food as well. You can try any company weight management food however, as any will work as long as you don't over-feed it. The best trick for this is to get a measuring up that is the amount you need to feed when it is FULL. Therefore you won't be tempted to 'just give a tiny bit more'. Measure the food out, and make sure everyone knows that Sydney is on a diet and doesn't get any treats! Remember, exercise is also important, to protect the knees in the start, try swimming with Sydney, it is great for the muscles and easy on the joints. Regular (every 2 weeks) weigh-ins with the vet will help you keep on track as well. Best of luck with Sydney and your weight loss journey!

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.

Adding water to her meals is fine. If you observe that she is drinking more than usual or urinating more than usual, she may need to have her urine checked. The only way to measure water intake is to separate her and measure the amount of water offered subtracted from the amount she consumes in 24 hours. Most healthy pets will consume enough if made available.

The feeding recommendations are averages for all dogs. They can vary widely based on metabolism and energy level. Based on the picture you posted of Oliver, his weight looks perfect. If you are feeding him 1 cup twice daily, but his weight stays at 16-17 pounds and your vet says he is a good weight, then I wouldn't change anything. But I find that most dogs need less than the recommendation on the bag as they get older and their metabolism and activity decreases, so be sure to monitor his weight carefully. I hope that was helpful! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Specialist weight management diets have been specifically formulated to provide all of the required nutrients in a less calorie dense formula to ensure all needs are met, whilst also promoting weight loss and maintaining healthy muscle mass. Simply restricting the portions of a regular food can potentially result in dietary deficiencies over time but can also lead the brain into not losing weight as the body is under-fed leading to rentention of fat reserves etc. Your vet or vet tech can help prescribe the appropriate amount to be fed in relation to exercise levels, current weight and target weight as well as advising on appropriate adjustments for treats/extras included in the diet

Although its a little hard to tell from the photo both of your pups look to be lean with good muscle mass. To assess body condition what you want to look for are a waist behind the ribs when viewed from above, and that you can feel but not see the spine and ribs. Young active dogs are certainly apt to be a bit leaner. You could certainly consider a diet for active large breed dogs, especially for the Dane mix. To figure out how much to feed you need to know two things. First, you need to find out how many calories are in a cup of your current food. This is sometimes written on the bag or you can go online to the foods website and typically find it. It would be written kcal/cup for dry or kcal/can for canned. Second, you need to figure out what the energy requirements for your dogs are. This will be different for different weights of dogs and for dogs with different lifestyles. A good website to go to to help you with this is the Ohio State University Pet calorie calculator. If you Google OSU dog calorie calculator it should pop up. This will show you how to calculate the energy requirement for your dogs based on their weights, and let you know what factor to multiply by for their lifestyle. Then basically when you know how many calories they should be taking in per day you can figure out how much to feed. Keep in mind if you do this and change the amount you are feeding, if you are seeing weight loss or excessive weight gain you will have to adjust the plan as it's not a perfect system. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!