does my dog look overweight ?

[thefootofourstairs]

just interested to see what people think , the vet descibed him as 'portly' and said i ought to watch his weight .

We feed dried food, but give 20% less than the pack suggests. Our vet pointed out that it's in the food manufacturers interest for you to overfeed!

so , ours says 5kg - 10kg should have 70 - 140 g
My dog weighs 7.5kg
feeding him for the weight he should be rather than the weight he is ( as vet suggested) would mean 70 grams of food . And then 20 % less would be 56 grams .
so , ive not been far off then , ive been giving him 60 grams .

I tend to feed by eye, if mine look a bit porky I just reduce how much I give them but I don't weigh good personally.

Could you split his meals so he feels fuller throughout the day? Also use his allowance as treats rather than training treats.

You could also feed him in something like a kong which would make his mealtime last longer.

I've been giving him 30 grams in the morning and 30 grams evening . He doesnt seem interested in it as a treat when we we are out so i'm using the fish treats then but giving him tiny bits .
I will try the kong and maybe reduce it to 50 grams and mix some carrot in .
does that sound ok ?

Honestly they really don't need a lot. Do you know what weight should he be roughly? Then you initially base amounts on just under what the packet says, since you are looking for weight loss.

The guidelines on the packet really are just guidelines. My bro's dog and my dog are on the same food, both dogs have an ideal weight of 7-7.5kg. My dog needs more than the upper guideline for a 5-10kg dog, to keep weight on / stop him being underweight. On the other hand my brother's dog needs less than the lower guideline to keep weight off / stop her getting fat.

You also need to further reduce the amounts if you use any other food as treats. In the same way it would be pointless you following a calorie controlled diet, if you then eat lots of treat foods but don't count their calories.