Trying To Keep Your Dog At A Healthy Weight? Here's What You Need To Know

Are you a pup parent who has difficulty maintaining their pups’ weight at a healthy number on the scale? If so, then read on!

Essentially, it’s similar to how humans balance their weight. If a pup consume more food, then they need to burn off more calories. If your pup is more active and goes for lots of walks or plays a lot, then it’s necessary for a pup to eat more. But if they’re more likely to laze around, their food intake should be cut accordingly.

What’s the easiest way to determine how much to feed your pup? Speaking to a vet will give you the most personalized form of advice on this matter that you can get. If your pup needs to lose weight, a vet can give you a diet plan to follow. But there are other ways for you to manage your pup’s weight, too! Here are some of them:

1. Read the backs of food packaging

There is usually a feeding guide on pet food packages. You can use this as a starting point, then round down or up depending on how much your pup exercises, or adjust how much exercise you encourage your pup to do. Observation is key. But remember not to cut down too much, as your pup needs a good dose of the nutrients in food, too.

2. Set strict mealtimes

Don’t allow your pup to graze throughout the day. Set times for each meal and stick to them. In the wild, pups have to chase down and hunt food, and it’s not available for them at all times of the day, so they’re not designed to handle constant supplies of food!

3. Set strict eating times, too

Let your pup spend about five to ten minutes on the meal, and then take the bowl away so that they do not overeat. A pup who is getting full will likely slow down in his eating, so if he isn’t done in ten minutes, it’s time to stop!

4. Consider enrichment toys

These products let you put pieces of food into a puzzle toy which your pup will then have to solve in order to find his food. This exercises your pup’s mind while also letting him move around a little while he does so, which somewhat replaces the hunt and kill process that pups do in the wild.

Studies have proven that dogs at a healthy weight live longer than those who are overweight, so it’s important to learn how to balance your pup’s love of food and his health! Do like and share this information with other pup parents!