How do you put your dog on a diet?

I find it difficult enough to hold myself to a weight loss diet but how do you put your dog on one. My chacha is a bit overweight and I'm worried. She's a chow and they are prone to hip dysplasia so I know she has to maintain a healthy weight. My problem is she whines and begs for more food since I've cut her portions. Has anyone experienced this? How do you cope with it?(it breaks my heart that she looks so sad)

 

Does she like vegetables? They aren't fattening at all, so you can give her a lot of them, it won't do any harm. Whenever my Homer begs for more food, I always give him carrots, he loves them.

 

Well, I hate to say it, but it all depends of you. If she cries for more portions is because she knows she can get them from you. Just try to be strong when she does that! Think about how wrong things can go if she continues gaining weight. I'm sure that will do. It's all on you to control what she eats.

 

Years ago, my Lab was 15 pounds overweight. She had to go on a diet. This was how I did it. I changed her food to a lower calorie, Senior food. I was able to feed her about the same, but because it was less calories it didn't affect her as much. I limited human food to vegetables. I bought treats that were smaller so she felt like she was getting the same amount.

I find that some of this is routine. They get used to you given them food at certain times. Misha is like this. She will whine if my Mom doesn't make toast at 6:15 so she can have her little piece. But, she is not hungry. She has just gotten used to having it at that time. I guess you have to think about if this were your child and they needed to go on a diet, how much would you do if it was for their own good?

 

We do not give too much food and it was usually limited to two major meals in a day. We give him rice meals so he will not feel hungry easily between each meals.

 

Hi All,

Thank you for your suggestions, I will look to incorporate them into chacha's daily routine.

Melody,

I did not think of switching her food to a lower calorie one, thank you for that suggestion. I will discuss it with my Vet. Come to think of it she did gain a lot of weight when we switched dog food brands.

 

Did your chacha lose weight, Trishgl?
I had to put my Homer on a diet too, because our veterinarian told us that he's overweight. It was heartbreaking! Homer loves food more than anything in this world. Being hungry makes him unhappy.
I bought him special, low calorie dog food and I stopped giving him bread as a treat. It worked He lost some weight.