Change the diet to lose the weight

To lose weight your dog must take in fewer calories than it uses.There are two ways to approach this. One is to feed your dog less of the food that your dog is currently eating. This can work but it may be tempting to give a little extra here and there, so can be difficult to maintain. It's a good idea to feed your dog before you sit down to dinner to cut down on the begging at the table. It is essential not to give your dog scraps from the table or any kind of junk foodas these will certainly pile on the weight.

If you are feeding kibble, a good idea is to put boiling water with it and let it stand for ten minutes before serving as this will make the dog feel fuller. It also helps avoid stomach cramps that can occur when dried food absorbs moisture and swells in the stomach.

The second way of approaching diet is to alter the components of the dog's daily intake, increasing protein such as lean meat, increasing fibre, and decreasing fat and carbohydrate. Tinned dog foods are not recommended as they are often bulked out with carbohydrate and contain only cheap fatty meat in the main.

Talking into account the age, size, and breed of your dog, you can change some of its food to weight reduction foods like Hill's Prescription Diet or Eukanuba's Reduced Fat Formula. These foods contain vitamins and minerals whilst keeping calorie content low.

Many dogs will not eat vegetables but some will if covered with meat gravy, or will eat some root vegetables like pumpkin if added in with meat.

It is better to put food down at regular set times rather than allow a bowl of food to stay on the floor all day.

Once you have converted your dog to a healthy diet it is time to consider the other part of the weight loss equation, exercise...