How to Help an Obese Dog Lose Weight

Poor feeding habits and daily routines can turn a normal-weight dog into an overweight dog in just a few months, with the corresponding dangers that excess weight poses for their health.

Incredible as it may seem, more than thirty-five per cent of dogs living in Spain are overweight, with obesity in dogs being one of the main causes of illnesses such as osteoarthritis and circulatory problems.

If our dog has put on more weight than they should, it is our responsibility to look after them and help them get back to a healthy weight. Here at SoyUnPerro we are going to give you the keys you need to achieve that.

How Do I Know if My Dog Is Fat?

There are many different dog breeds and sizes, so logically each dog has a different optimal weight. That is why some simple techniques have been developed that let us know whether our dog is overweight or not.

In veterinary medicine this is called Body Condition Score. If you look at your pet from their own level, from the side: they should have a tucked-up look up to the waist rather than a bulging, sagging belly.

From that same angle, we should feel around the rib area and check whether the ribs can be felt. If they can be felt easily, your dog may need to gain a little more weight.

If, feeling around the rib area with our hand, we cannot make out the ribs at all, it means our dog has excess body fat, or in other words, our dog is fat.

Now you should look at them from above, along what we consider the back or spine; in dogs of normal weight you can see a defined waist, like an hourglass. If our dog has no curve at all and looks straight, they are overweight.

How to Help My Dog Lose Weight

You need to bear firmly in mind that a dog does not lose weight in a single week, and that it will be a hard process for both of you, since to help your dog lose weight you will both have to get to work on the problem.

It will be a process lasting between three and nine months, in some cases even a little longer, during which you must not give in to your pet's requests (forget those sad puppy-dog eyes), because if your dog is obese, giving in works against their own wellbeing.

1. Daily Exercise With Your Dog to Burn Fat

Your dog's excess weight is down to fat building up in their body, and unfortunately, however much it annoys us, that fat is not going to disappear on its own… We need to start an exercise routine with our dog to help them burn off the excess fat and lose weight through running.

We will start by taking our dog on long walks every day, without forcing them to run, since an overweight dog can even struggle to breathe if they exercise too much. Ideally, in the first weeks, start with long walks in the morning and the afternoon.

Playing with our dog is also an excellent idea; throwing them a ball will get them exercising as they go to fetch it. Letting them play with other dogs, and even taking them to places where they have to navigate obstacles.

From the fourth week, we can start doing a little more intense exercise. For instance, we can go for a gentle bike ride while our dog trots alongside us. Trotting means a little faster than walking, but we should not make them run to excess.

An hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon, plus the normal walks for them to relieve themselves, will be a good plan for exercising our fat dog and making them burn fat.

Keep up this routine daily, and remember you should never do it right after feeding your dog. Nor should you feed them right after exercising, since it could cause gastric torsion. We should wait a sensible amount of time, an hour before and two or three hours after meals.

2. A Low-Fat, Low-Carbohydrate Diet

We should not make the mistake of thinking that switching our dog's food for another one labelled "Light" will make our dog lose weight. That is not the case, since there is no single diet for obese dogs. The vast majority of dog kibbles using the label "Light" actually cause more weight gain.

This is because "Light" kibbles focus on reducing the percentage of protein and, to a lesser extent, fat, but keep or even considerably increase the percentage of carbohydrate. And this is precisely what will make our dog put on weight rather than lose it.

Dog kibble manufacturers never state the percentage of carbohydrate their products contain, since they are not legally required to… but there is a very simple formula so we can work it out ourselves.

Add together the percentage of Protein plus the percentage of Fat plus the percentage of Fibre plus the percentage of Ash plus the percentage of Moisture. If, for example, the total comes to 55%, then that kibble has 45% carbohydrate.

In other words, the difference from the total of those figures is the amount of carbohydrate a dog kibble contains. On the sack's label, or even on the website itself, you can see the amount of protein, fat, fibre, ash and moisture for each product.

Choosing a good kibble for your dog is now up to you; look for one that will help them lose weight, that is, one with very little carbohydrate. If a kibble has a lot of protein, that is not a problem; the problem is if it has too little. Try to make sure the fat level is low, but always adding up the figures to check the carbohydrate percentage.

If you have time to prepare your dog's food yourself, we recommend you look into the BARF Diet for dogs. It is the healthiest option and the one that can most help your dog lose weight as a diet for being overweight.

3. Eliminate Your Dog's Bad Habits

A dog who is fat is a dog who has been poorly trained by their human, so it is our responsibility to practise good habits to help them lose their excess body fat.

• Do not give your dog food outside their mealtimes, not even treats. No more snacks for dogs.
• Do not give your dog home-made food, do not give them anything you yourself are eating.
• Weigh your dog's daily ration on a scale and stick to it strictly (the manufacturer will state their recommended daily ration on the sack).
• Exercise with your dog daily, but without overdoing it.
• After meals you can take your dog for a gentle walk (never exercise).
• Do not let your dog eat food scraps in the street (bread especially).
• There is no such thing as food that does not cause weight gain, so focus on their diet.

If you are worried your dog might feel hungry, you should know that dogs regulate that feeling in 2 ways: through the volume of their stomach when it is full, and through their blood glucose levels.

We cannot offer them large amounts of food to fill them up, since our goal is for them to lose weight, but we can do something about their blood glucose levels: we can feed them several times a day instead of concentrating all the food into 1 or 2 meals, since glucose levels rise after eating.

Ideally, split the day's food into three portions and keep the same times for each, since this way the dog will be calmer, because they will know they will eat again in a few hours and will not get as stressed.

The Dangers of Being Overweight for a Dog's Health

If you knew that an obese dog might live thirty per cent less than a well-fed dog, what would you think? And if I told you that a fat dog suffers forty per cent more illness than a slim dog, what would you say?

Overweight dogs put a great deal of strain on their joints, which in the medium and long term causes serious problems such as osteoarthritis or even dysplasia. So not only will you spend far more money on vets and medicine, but your dog's quality of life will be seriously affected.

When a dog is fat their circulatory system is also seriously affected, which raises the risk of cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure, with knock-on effects on other systems such as the kidneys.

They can also develop liver conditions, and the much-feared canine diabetes, where you will indeed need to keep them on a strict diet for life. In short, being overweight will not help our dog in the slightest. Don't feel sorry for not feeding them when they give you puppy eyes, because what really matters is their health.