What is the easiest way for a dog to lose weight

8 Ways to Help Your Overweight Dog

Most of the time, its a joy to share things with our dogs. Unfortunately, we share bad habits, too. It turns out our dogs are just as prone to one of our most common health problems obesity.

A few extra pounds on your pup can have serious health implications, putting your dog at risk of experiencing a wide range of diseases and conditions, including a reduced life expectancy. Added weight can also impact your dogs quality of life by affecting their mobility, energy for play, and overall mood.

As in humans, we now recognize obesity as the most important medical disease that affects our companion animals, says Dr. Alex German of the University of Liverpool/Royal Canin Weight Management Clinic.

Talk to your veterinarian for information and guidance when it comes to your dogs diet and potential weight-loss plan. In the meantime, here are eight ways you can start to help your overweight dog.

1. Know Your Dogs Healthy Weight

Different breeds and ages have different healthy weight ranges. Check what the AKC breed standard says about the ideal weight for your breed. If your dog is beyond that range, consult your vet. Its best to get a professionals help as you assess your pets accurate weight, body condition, and diet, determine if the dog would benefit from a weight-loss plan, and set a target weight to work toward.

Note that some dogs may be shorter or taller than their breed standard requirements, so the ideal weight would be within those dogs breed standard height descriptions.

2. Keep Your Dog Active

Just like humans, exercise is crucial when it comes to helping your overweight dog get healthy. Increasing your dogs activity helps burn off energy (and calories consumed).

Dont panic! Exercising your pet doesnt have to mean running marathons or going for long hikes. Regular walks and the chance to run and play in a safe off-leash environment are good forms of exercise for your dog. Participating in AKC FIT DOG is a great way for you to get moving with your pet.

Even creating a stimulating indoor environment that gets your dog moving can help. Remember, different breeds need different amounts of exercise, so consult your vet, breeder, or your dogs breed standard for guidance on how much activity is recommended.

3. Know the Difference Between Begging and Hunger

Begging is not always about wanting more to eat. In fact, its often a ploy to get more attention. (And, when its rewarded, you reinforce and encourage the behavior to continue.) If your dog begs, dont assume that theyre hungry. Trust your instincts and keep track of when the last mealtime was.

If your dog is prone to begging and youre prone to giving in to those puppy dog eyes, talk to your vet about a high-protein diet with a blend of fibers to help manage your dogs appetite and reduce their voluntary food intake. That way, you can feed your dog while knowing that they will feel fuller and stay satisfied longer.

4. Limit Treats and Table Scraps

Even when our dogs dont beg, many of us volunteer too many treats and table scraps. Dogs dont need to share everything we eat. Think of treats and scraps for your pet as you would candy for children to help you keep them to a minimum.

If you use treats for training, look for low-calorie, low-fat options and limit the amount. As an alternative, remember that clickers work great for reinforcement, and theyve got zero calories! After all, a few extra pounds can make a huge difference for dogs, who are much smaller than we are. (Even those large breeds!) So, concentrate on a healthy diet, and curb the urge to treat them with more.

5. Measure and Monitor

Once your vet has designed a weight-management plan, you should have a clear idea of how much your dog should eat at each meal. Be vigilant. Dont free-feed or eyeball how much you scoop out. Instead, use an appropriate measuring device to ensure youre managing portion control.

6. Customize Your Dogs Diet

Not all weight-loss foods are created equal, so its important to match your dog with a nutrition plan that directly addresses their specific needs. Look for a brand that offers dog food designed for your pets own issues, whether its weight management, sensitive stomachs, or something else entirely.

7. Dont Go Cold Turkey

No, this isnt about feeding your dog leftovers. Its important to ease your dog into a new diet, rather than abruptly changing what they eat. Always consult with your vet before starting your dog on a new regimen. A good guideline is to plan for at least a seven-day transition when starting a new type of food. Heres what that could look like:

• On the first two days, feed your dog 75% of their old food and 25% of the new food.
• On the third and fourth days, increase the percentage of new food to 50%, with the other 50% being the old food.
• On the fifth and sixth days, feed your dog 75% of the new food, and 25% of the old food.
• By the seventh day, you should be up to 100% of the new food.

8. Stick With It

Like human, like pet! Studies have shown that after successfully losing weight, approximately half of all dogs regained weight. The good news is that researchers also found that rebound weight gain was significantly reduced by keeping dogs on a weight-loss diet, even after achieving their target weight. So, now that youve done the hard work and transitioned to a new formula thats working, stick with it! As with so many things in our dogs worlds, consistency is the key.

How Can I Get My Dog to Lose Weight?

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By Dr. Sarah Wooten

Have you been frustrated because your dog doesnt lose weight, no matter what you do? Obesity in dogs is one of the biggest health concerns that veterinarians and pet guardians battle.

Sometimes, when it comes to weight loss for dogs, the answer is easy: reduce calories, increase exercise, and BOOMthe pounds come off. Other times, it isnt so simple.

If you have had your dog on the diet train and nothing is moving, try these five veterinarian-approved recommendations to tip the scales back toward a healthy weight.

Be Religious About Daily Calorie Limits

If you want to help a dog lose weight, then there are two non-negotiables that are necessary for success: you must have a daily calorie limit that has been calculated, and you must stay under that number.

A cheat day every now and then is okay, but in order to get the fat to burn away, the ins must be less than the outs, and the total daily calorie count matters. This is especially true for small dogseven an extra kibble or two every day or will add up to unhealthy weight.

Not sure what your dogs daily calorie limit should be? The easiest way is to ask your veterinarianmany vets are happy to calculate this number for you. They can also tell you what your dogs ideal weight goal is.

You can also visit Pet Nutrition Alliance and use their online calculator to calculate the calories. Once you have this number, then you will need to divide it by the kcal/cup number that is on your dog food bag. This will be on the back, in the AAFCO nutritional statement. If you cant find it, ask your veterinarian or veterinary technician for helpthey can point it out to you.

Once you divide the total daily calories by the kcal/cup, that will give you the number of 8-ounce cups of food to feed per day. If there is a decimal, round down to the closest measurable number, such as , or . If you feed treats, make sure to include those in the total daily calorie count as well!

No More Doggy Dishwasher

One overlooked source of excessive calories is people food. Yes, feeding dog treats and sharing food is an important part of the bond you share with your dog, but your heartwarming goodies might be sabotaging your weight-loss efforts.

If you feed any people food, include it in the daily calorie count. Dont forget to add calories consumed from licking plates clean! Many people let their dogs lick their plates after they finish eating or while they sit in the dishwasher, but this is where sneaky calories hide, even in BBQ sauce remnants.

Either stop letting your dog wash the dishes, or include it in the daily calorie count.

Super Sleuth Serial Food Sneaking

Do you have kids? Do they drop food? Does your dog snarf up crumbs? This could be a source of excess calories. Do you have grandparents that drop by with dog biscuitsin their pocket? This is also a source of excess calories.

Do you have multiple pets? Is your pup finishing other pets food? This is another source of excess calories.

You may have to do a little sleuthing to see if somebody is secretly feeding your dog extra food or if your dog is a serial food sneaker. People are often surprised at how far their enterprising pooches will go to find food.

It can be challenging to stick to the total daily calorie count when there are multiple people or children feeding one dog. Have a family meeting, decide who is going to feed the dog, and get everyone to agree to not feed extra.

The best practice is to set out what your dog will eat for the day in baggies, and when it is gone for the day, it is gone. No. More. Food.

Utilize a Therapeutic Diet

Food technology has come a long way, especially when it comes to therapeutic diets. In particular, Hills Prescription Diet metabolic weight management dog food has been a miracle product for many dogs that arent losing weight.

If the needle wont budge even though you have cut back calories and increased exercise, try feeding a therapeutic weight control dog food, like Metabolic diet, instead of your dogs regular maintenance diet.

There are ingredients, like L-carnitine, that help ramp up fat burning, and the food still delivers a complete and balanced diet even though calories are restricted. The same cannot be said for feeding restricted amounts of regular dog food.

Have Your Dogs Hormones Checked

Most dogs should be able to reach their weight-loss goals within three to six months.

If you have followed all of these instructions and been religious about the weight-loss program and still arent seeing results, then maybe your dogs hormones are to blame. Just like people, dogs can have hormonal imbalances that lead to weight gain and having difficulty losing weight.

Conditions like Cushings syndrome (hyperadrenocorticism) in dogs and a sluggish thyroid are common hormonal problems that will make it difficult for a dog to lose weight. If you are several months into the weight-loss program and are not seeing results, then schedule an appointment with your veterinarian and ask to have your dogs hormones checked.

If your dog has one of these hormonal problems, prescription pet medicationis available to correct the condition and get your dog back on track to a healthy lifestyle.

Follow these veterinarian-recommended tips, and you should see success with your dogs weight loss.

8 Easy Ways to Help Your Dog Lose Weight

As humans, we associate food with love and happiness. Who doesnt smile after eating a donut or when someone brings them a box of chocolates?

Since we want to show our dogs that we love them and want them to be happy, we FEED them. We give them extra treats and might even share our human food to show love. Their positive response to all this makes us want to do it all the more! No one is immune to those sweet eyes and wagging tails.

Unfortunately, this type of love ends up as excess calories which causes weight gain for our dogs. A better way to show our love for our dogs is to control feedings, make sure they get enough exercise, monitor how many treats they get every day, and incorporate real-life rewards. That way we're cutting back on excess calories and keeping our dogs healthy and happy!

Check out these eight ideas for trimming down your pooch.

1. Pay Attention to How Much You're Feeding Your Pet

You can help your dog by getting a set of dry measuring cups specifically for your pets food. Theyre inexpensive and easy to find. Or you can make feeding even more precise, without spending much more money, by getting a small kitchen scale to weigh the amount of food youre feeding your pet.

OXO Good Grips Plastic Measuring Cup SetWeighmax Electronic Kitchen Scale

Use Your Pet Food Scoop Correctly

There are fine lines on the inside of most pet food scoops that indicate where the 1-cup and 2-cup measurements are. If your scoop doesn't have these lines, stop using it and start using proper measuring cups! Avoid adding just a bit more food above the measurement lines. Those little bits add up over time, especially for smaller pets under 25 lbs.

Not sure how much food your dog should be eating every day? Read more in this article about "How Much and How Often You Should Feed Your Dog."

2. Talk with Your Veterinarian about Your Pets Weight

Each year (or every 6 months for senior pets) at your pet's wellness visit, ask your veterinarian to evaluate your pets weight and body condition. Ask them if your dog is just right, too high, or even too low. Here's a chart developed by Nestl Purina that many veterinarians use when evaluating a dog's body condition:

Once you know where your pet falls on the body condition scale and the regular scale, you and your veterinarian can come up with a plan to eitherkeepyour pet at their ideal body condition and weight, or to help get them there. Knowing what to aim for is very helpful.

PRO TIP: Before going to your dog's wellness visits, write down the brand and formulation of the foods you're feeding your dog, as well as the amount you feed. That way, when your vet asks, you're prepared and can get the most out of your pet's visit. You can also take a picture of the front and back of your dog's bag of kibble or can of food to save a piece of paper, and also do the same for any treats you regularly give your pup.

3. Weigh Your Dog Regularly

I always recommended to my clients to regularly bring their pet into the office just to weigh them. Many pet stores also have a pet scale available for dog owners to use in between clinic visits. I have found that regularly tracking a pets weight, rather than just at yearly check-ups, helps owners notice the slight changes in weight which might be hard to see.

It is easy to not notice a few pounds of weight gain, but after a while, those few pounds start adding up. Its easier to be proactive about weight gain if you know your pets ideal weight for their age, breed, and size and can frequently check what they weigh.

How to Weigh Your Dog

Many dogs and cats (and humans) dont love getting on a scale. Here are a couple of tips to get your pets weight:

• If you know your weight, stand on your scale with your pet and subtract your weight from the total.

• Weigh your pet inside their carrier, subtracting the weight of the empty carrier from the total.

• Teach your dog how to stand-stay at home and then practice this behavior on a pet scale.

• Teach your dog how to touch or target your hand and use this behavior as a way to guide them onto the scale and keep them still.

• Place a towel or non-skid mat on the scale, make sure its reset to 0, and then have your pet step on. Often, simply changing the surface of the scale helps pets feel like they have better footing, encouraging them to stay on longer.

4. Monitor Your Dogs Treat Intake

Do you give your dog any treats? Our pets care most about getting the treat and positive feedback from you they dont necessarily care how big the treat is. Many dog training treats are made for medium to large-sized dogs, and a small dog can consume lots of calories quickly while chowing those down. Consider breaking those treats in half or smaller, or switch to low-calorie treats.

For example, you can cut Zuke's Mini Treats in half (as seen in the photo below), or even into quarters. This is perfect for when you need to use a lot of treats, such as training classes. One of the easiest ways to cut treat calories is to use a portion of your pets regular food as their treats.

If you feed your dog wet food, simply take a portion of their daily amount and use a squeezable food tube to make it easy to use as a treat without getting your fingers messy. Save the higher-value (and higher-calorie) treats for when youre training around distractions! Check out "What Kind of Treats Should You Use for to Train Your Dog" for more tips on when to use high-value treats.

Cutting up treats makes them last longer, which saves you money! In the eyes of your dog, 1/2 a treat or a whole treat is all the same to them!

Or use extra tiny treats for training if you don't want to spend the time cutting up treats, such as Wet Noses Little Stars Treats or Grizzly Crunchy Smoked Wild Salmon Training Treats.

Wet Noses Little Stars Tiny Training TreatsGrizzly Crunchy Smoked Wild Salmon Training Treats

How many treats can you give your dog? Ideally, treats should make up only 10% of your dog's daily calorie intake. See this article to learn more about dog treats and how to calculate how many treats you can give your dog.

Replace some or all of your pets higher calorie treats with dog-safe fruits and vegetables, such as carrots (use caution not to overdue carrots I have had patients get heavier on them!), green beans, or apples no apple seeds, though. Get more ideas for healthy dog treats in "Choosing the Best Dog Treats."

Do you love to bake? You can make your own higher-value dehydrated chicken,beef,orliver treats using a dehydrator or baking treats in the oven. Need some inspiration? Here are three homemade dog treat recipes formulated by a veterinarian for you to try:

5. Increase Physical Exercise for Your Dog

Take your dog for more frequent or longer walks, or get them into a new sport like agility, nose work, or another. If the weather isn't the best for outdoor exercise, incorporate fun indoor activities like hide-and-seek or setting up an indoor agility course. You can also do basic canine fitness exercises to increase balance and muscle strength.

Training your dog to use an indoor dog treadmill can also make exercise easier and more consistent. Watch this Yappy Hour for some fun indoor activities you can do with your dog to keep them active.

Please remember, just like we cant go out and run a marathon without conditioning our bodies, neither can our dogs. Plus, a lack of physical conditioning can create an increased risk for injury and arthritis. Taking it slow is especially important for obese or senior dogs and those with health issues. Consult with your veterinarian as to the best way to start and continue an exercise routine. Remember, slow and steady wins the race!

6. Use Slow-Feeders or Interactive Food Puzzles

Slow down the rate of your pet's eating to help them feel full faster by skipping the regular bowl and feeding them with a puzzle or interactive toy. Another way you can slow down their eating is to add some water to their food. See more of our favorite interactive dog food puzzles here.

West Paw Toppl Interactive Feeder

PRO TIP: You can stuff a Toppl with both wet and dry food or link the two sizes together to make a dry food puzzle ball.

Nina Ottosson By Outward Hound - Interactive Puzzle Game Dog ToysPetbaba Slow Feeder Dog Bowl

7. Monitor for Medical Problems that Contribute to Pet Weight Gain

Talk to your veterinarian to see if there might be a medical problem that could be contributing to your pets excessive weight (such as a low-functioning thyroid, overactive adrenal gland, a buildup of fluid, or one of any other number of possible underlying conditions).

If your dog gets the all-clear, talk to them about a safe and effective weight reduction plan. Weight loss in pets should be slow and steady to be safe and effective. Typically, cats and dogs should lose no more than 12% of their body weight each week.

8. Dont Free Feed Your Pet

If your pet is a "grazer" (they don't eat all their food at once and eat slowly throughout the day), you still need to properly measure out their food to ensure proper nutrition and the correct amount of calories each day. Don't just keep arbitrarily filling their bowl.

"Free feeding" isn't just a big contributor to the pet overweight and obesity epidemic; it also prevents you from picking up on early signs of pain and other problems, deprives your pets of an opportunity for mental stimulation and enrichment, and can make potty training much more difficult. Read our Think Twice Before Letting Your Dog or Cat Free Feedarticle for more on this topic.

Also, leaving food to sit out is not ideal. The food can get stale, making your pet not want to eat it. Or if it gets wet, it can mold, which can then make your dog sick if they eat it.

How to Manage Your Dog's Calorie Reduction

Dealing With a 'Hangry' Dog

There are prescription diets your veterinarian can recommend to help your pet feel more full on less food, so they dont feel as hangry and beg. Remember, never suddenly change your dogs diet. Gradually, over a 7day period, switch from the old diet to the new diet. Read more about how to switch your dog's food here.

If your pet is on a specialty diet, you can add some Psyllium husks. For dogs, add about a tsp per 10pounds twice a day to their meal. Do not go over 2 TBSP in a day. Monitor their stool closely. Also, when adding fiber to your pets diet, you MUST be sure they have access to plenty of water. One easy way to do this is by adding some water to their dry food when mixing in the fiber. This has two benefits it causes them to eat slower (allowing the body to recognize feeling full), and it helps increase their water intake.

How Quickly Should I Cut Back My Dog's Food

I dont know about you, but I can never survive a diet when I have to suddenly and drastically cut back. Your dog cant either! I recommend gradually cutting back small amounts of food per feeding until the ideal portion size is reached. For example, if you have a small breed dog, cut back a to a tsp per meal. For medium to large breeds, you can start with a to 1 TBSP per meal. Slow and steady!

What Rate of Weight Loss is Ideal for Dogs

Your dog can safely lose 35% of their body weight per month. Generally, you can expect your pet to reach their ideal body weight in 6 to 8 months. If they are not progressing as they should, changes are needed. Your veterinarian can help you determine the number of pounds per month they can and should lose.

Remember we are all in this together! Your veterinarian is a valuable resource who can answer questions and guide you through this process of your dog's weight loss and control. Patience and consistency are the keys to success.