Is your dog overweight and always hungry? Believe it or not, helping a dog who is always hungry and begging for treats, if not more food, is far more challenging for many pet owners than we care to admit.
But, if you are overfeeding that dog to the point that he has gained more weight unnecessarily, you are practically killing that dog!
So here we are a few days into the new year, and in this post, my goal is to call upon you as the custodian of a pet’s entire livelihood to reflect on what you did wrong and what you did right in the past year when choosing the best dog food.
Trust me, if it’s not money you are saving when you buy cheap dog food, (she is not even getting helpful nutrients from), you are choosing to neglect a much more significant health problem (rampant overweight issues in dogs).
Like it or not, dogs who maintain an acceptable body weight live the longest as overweight dogs tend to have a much low lifespan. There’s countless health issues that can easily have compounding effects to the life expectancy of many dog breeds.
Maybe you are doing the same – it’s a good thing to look back at what type of food your dog is feeding on and if she is getting the necessary nutrients…
There’s always a reason why your dog is always hungry and begging for food and treats all the time.
Why your dog may be so hungry all the time?
Low-quality Dog Food: Hard to believe that the underlying cause for many of the leading increased hunger in dog breeds are nutrient-related.
Dogs like humans need plenty of nutrient-rich foods like phosphorous, zinc, vitamin K and Vitamin C.
Sadly, feeding your dog low-quality food means your dog’s body is sometimes unable to absorb the nutrients in the food or digest it properly.
No wonder your dog is always so hungry and constantly begging for more food as their appetite goes into overdrive.
When the dog food you buy for your pet dog is not delivering the best valuable cocktail of nutrients, your dog’s reason for begging for more food is likely that he is actually starving no matter how much food they eat.
And if your dog is often compensating by eating everything, the chances are that he may become overweight.
But not all is doom and groom, at the end of the year, there’s room for reflection at how you feed that dog, which exercises (routines ) you can incorporate into his life.
FACT: If your pet feed exceeds your advised amount in relation to the dog breed’s body weight, you could be putting the dog’s lifespan at risk as overweight dog’s life expectancy is low!
So what should you be doing differently than other pet owners, specifically those with overweight dogs that still beg for food after feeding?
Well, the main reason most dogs are always feeling peckish is that their owners are terrified of saying no to their dog. And on the other hand, they are failing to identify the best nutritious pet food suited for their dog’s nutritional needs!
Truth is finding the best dog food is a lot easier except that the ‘Fear of Failure’ stops a lot of pet owners TRYING new dog diets!
But any smart pet owner shouldn’t settle for less in their quest for finding good food for their pooch…
For example: When I test a new type of dog food, I don’t just throw the entire dog’s diet out of the window and bring in the new one. Instead, before invest everything in it… and HOPE it will be the best nutritional value for my dog.
I introduce the new pet food slowly while keeping an eye on how his appetite, pooping routine and if there is any form of allergic reactions to the pet food ingredients, it may be triggering.
Take your time to read pet food labels and not worry about FAILING to meet the dog’s food and nutritional needs. Because with every pet food brand that fails to make up for vital nutrients deficiencies, you need for your dog, then you know something you can improve next time or even pick a different pet food brand!
The best way to help your dog lose excess weight is not to LEARN by trial and error, rather knowing how much of what type of dog food you should be feeding your dog!
But, How much should you be feeding your dog to lose weight?
Dogs on a controlled dietary feeding must always be fed special select nutritional dog food according to their body weight proportion in line with averages for that particular dog breed.
And any safe weight loss for the majority of popular dog breeds is 3-5% body weight loss per month.
While this is not professional advisory or recommendation about specific weight loss cases, if I were a pet owner trying to help my dog lose weight safely, I would take this as a general guideline only.
And is not meant as a substitute from any of your veterinarian’s specific recommendations near you!
For most dogs, feeding the RER calories should result in weight loss. The key here is to make sure that you are following the right chart of resting energy requirement calculators to apply appropriate food measures.
But not any type of dog food works best even after using the resting energy requirements… sudden MASSIVE increment in phosphorous compounds or other vitamins may also impact the development of puppies etc.
And the good news for you is that you have an advantage over the other pet owners out there…
You already have access to the best pet guides, and all our pet reviews are built to work for pet owners who want to take MASSIVE Action to help their dogs lose weight of maintaining acceptable body weight.
How do I help my overweight dog?
Helping any dog who is overweight is a lot easier than you think! And the secret about dogs who gain and lose weight is this: If you are going to help a dog shed the pounds, then you are going to have to make sure that you are following these simple steps.
Here are tips on how to help your dog lose weight:
Feed your overweight dog more protein and fewer carbohydrates.
On their own, Carbohydrates are not harmful or bad for dogs; however, the main reason there is a need for controlling carbs intake in overweight dogs is how quickly the body converts unused energy sources into reserves of fat.
The great news is that if dogs are given carbohydrates in reasonable amounts, they can actually provide a practical source of energy.
However, many pet owners are more or less descening to what is contained in the type of pet food ingredients used to make their dog’s favorite food brand.
And for others, the real problem lies in the quantity of food the dog is fed other than the carbs themselves. There are also valid arguments for the need to remove all carbs in the dog’s diet. While this is convenient and nobble, carbohydrates perform critical functions in the dog’s body functions.
Why are carbohydrates important for dogs?
Certain vital organs of the dog utilize an immense amount of energy from readily available sources like Carbohydrates. Any form of deficiencies can hinder the performance of many vital cells and organ functions in dogs.
But don’t just take my word for it, according to published reports, carbohydrates provide a highly digestible, readily available energy source for dogs and humans.
Here’s how it works…
Every time your dog is fed with pet food rich with carbs, during digestion, all the carbohydrates are broken down to glucose. It is this form of sugars the body uses as a preferred source of energy for certain body cells, including the brain.
Avoid feeding your dog high-fiber foods.
Keeping your dog away from food considered to be high in fiber may sound insane as numerous benefits come from feeding your dog foods with fiber.
According to reports, a good measure of dietary fiber is of great benefit for pet dogs with a variety of health conditions including dealing with overweight or obesity in dogs, treating anal glands in dogs, remedy for rampant diarrhea in dogs, and mitigating constipation in pets too.
Care should be taken in how you choose to supplement or buying dog food with fiber in it as not all fiber is the same.
In fact, many pet owners spend a considerable amount of money to purchase the best dog food free from traces of fiber and grain.
So, if you are introducing a new dietary feed that is high in fiber, make sure you are not adding the wrong type to the pooch’s diet. If your dog has any of the above mentioned healthy conditions, do not contemplate of serving food with fiber as it can actually make some problems worse rather than better.
In many cases, the only way to make sure you keep your dog away from the fiber is to make your own dog’s food at home.
Make your dog’s food.
Homemade dog food for overweight dogs means you can control what ingredients go in while also keeping your dog away from harmful food preservatives.
Feed your dog the right fats.
Wild salmon and herring are a good sources of omega-3 fatty acids that are considered to the best fish oils to feed your dog.
But if you prefer plant-based oils, then make sure you are feeding your pooch flaxseed and canola oils.
Most highstreet pet food contain omega-6 fatty acid sourced from pork fat, chicken fat, but also soybean oils too.
Reduce your dog’s food portion size.
Food portion sizes are a big deal for dog’s health and body size. If your pooch is obese, it’s even crucial that you consider lowering their daily food intake by reducing the dog’s food portion size.
Your dog food contains fat and fiber, which, if you are not controlling how much fat or fiber they eat, it can accelerate obesity in dogs.
So, how much fat is too much for an obese dog to eat?
5 to 10 percent of fat is an average count; the majority of dog foods contain it as an acceptable range. So, by reducing the dog’s food intake every portion, you will help the overweight dog lower between 5 and 10 percent of fat intake.
Though every dog breed requires a varying amount of food, with fat on the lower end, which in this case being 5% as the minimum amount needed for a healthy adult dog, indeed, apartment dog breeds tend not to be very active.
In contrast, those considered to be working dog breeds, especially one that is law enforcement, hunting or herding dogs will need a much higher fat intake than the average family pet.
Measure everything your dog eats.
In the dog world, there’s no calorie counting; however, what you don’t measure can not be monitored. Record keeping is the reason why counting how much calory intake for every meal is not only for humans alone. Even dogs could use a detailed count of what they eat daily. That way, you can measure what your dog eats against her body weight.
Just ONE high intake of calories for certain dog breeds becomes an overweight trigger. Still, if you serve your regular dog meals, you are likely to avoid having to learn from the failures of others who risked a dog’s long lifespan just because they couldn’t say no to their dog begging for treats.
And managing the dog’s weight should be the goal of every pet owner from day one.
So if you do not have a concrete resolution that includes the dog’s overweight issues this year, do not fail to consider how easily you can help adog squeeze a few more years out of life!
Look out for my next post and in that next article, I’m going to share with you what brand of dog food has the most protein. And I am personally using these pet food brands to make this year my dog’s best year ever that she gets to lose weight and keep it off!
Don’t forget to check out other dog breed guides we published here and many to come too… watch this space 🙂
