22/05/2026
“He’s on a diet, but he doesn’t really seem to be losing much weight”
These reasons might seem obvious, but it’s something we see all the time 🌚
1. Not feeding the correct food
We need to be feeding a good quality food, high in protein and low carbohydrate. Something that is going to give our dog lots of satiety. Something that’s going to keep them feeling fit and well and fuller for longer. Remember not all calories are created equal and we want those calories to be coming from where they need to be coming from. If we rotary feed (feed a range of flavours) we would also potentially look at feeding only lower fat options for a short period of time whilst in the weight loss phase.
2. Not taking treats into account
Yes okay, people tend to be pretty good with the natural treats or feeding bigger chews. They might even start watching the number of training treats or little biscuits that they’re giving the dog… but what about the small tidbits? What about the slight thing off someone’s plate or the food that the toddler helpfully feeds them from their highchair? There are often things that go overlooked and we can all be adding extra calories on without us thinking about it.
3. Not accurately measuring food
When our dog needs to lose weight, we need to be feeding them for the weight they should be, not the weight they are. If there’s a large weight loss we can drop it down gradually. When we ask people how much they feed their dog, they often say a cup, or a handful, or “to so high in his bowl”. This needs to stop if we’re trying to help with weight loss. We need to be measuring accurately how much we’re feeding our dog if we don’t make it accurately, we don’t know how much we need to increase or decrease. Yes, you can eyeball it after a certain amount of time but it’s always good practice to check in with your guessed amount once in a while and make sure that we are on track, feeding the right amount
Have you ever had any struggles helping a dog lose weight?
