Process for Adult dogs (aged 17 months or older)
Step 1:
First of all, if you haven’t recently had one, please arrange a vet check at the earliest opportunity.
Step 2:
It is also worthwhile assessing your dogs body condition as many professionals still use weight however weight is not an accurate measure of health on its on. Using our 9 point body condition score you should be able to gauge where your dog is.
You should be aiming for a body condition score of 5 however some stockier breeds may fall into a 6 and some slimmer breeds may be more suited to a 4. A score of 5 is perfect, a 4 is lean and a 6 means there is a little excess weight but it is easily manageable.
Step 3 - Not yet raw fed / fed a mixed diet:
If there is no medical reason for the excess weight, and your dog is not yet fully raw fed, we would strongly recommend this to improve gut health, food digestibility and nutrient availability. Please use our blogs on transitioning to a Raw Diet to do this, starting at 2.5% of current weight using our feeding allowance calculator (the reason we say to start at 2.5% of current weight is that raw is free from cheap unnecessary fillers so we do not want to shock the dogs system with a drastic food reduction & diet change in one hit)
Once the 3 week transition to raw is completed, re-weigh your dog & re-check their body condition prior to feeding.
If their condition is still above a 5, you can now reduce their food down to 2% of current weight and follow the process below Step 3 - Already fully raw fed
If their condition is now a 5 you can maintain the current feeding plan but monitor both weight & body condition every 2 weeks prior to feeding, and adjust food allowance if required
If their condition is now below a 5, please increase their food allowance to 3% and monitor their weight & body condition every 2 weeks prior to feeding, until you find the stabilised level for your individual dog.
Step 3 - Already fully raw fed
⚠️ If your dog is already fed raw, but suffers with recurring gut upsets, please use our Blog 5.3: Gut Reset Protocol first of all before attempting a weight loss journey as it is vital the gut is in tip top condition.
As your dog is already on raw, and scores above a 5 there are some adjustments you can make:
Zero treats or titbit's.
Use raw for training.
Remove ALL root vegetables I.e. pumpkin, carrot, squash, parsnips
To ensure your dog does not miss out on any vital nutrients during their diet changes consider using the Prodog Raw Perform Supplement as this is packed with vitamins, minerals, colostrum, protein and even has ginseng which may help aid in a fat loss journey such as this
Next, double check our Feeding calculator to ensure your dog is fed enough, yes sometimes eating too little can be dangerous so we have to ensure the feeding amount goes no lower than 2%.
(The amount in the calculator is based on 2.5% of current weight, so you can reduce the daily feeding amount by 0.5% down to 2%. The reason we do this is to avoid unwanted behaviour or cause any illness, so slow and gradual is essential.)
You will need to also feed low to moderate fat proteins with 1 higher fat per week & switch to quail eggs for the egg allowance
Log everything fed during 2 weeks, then reassess. If still no weight loss, recalculate feed with oily fish included in the feeding amount instead of on top of. Track for a further 2 weeks
If after the 4th week your dog still needs help with weight loss, please seek a second vet appointment and take with you:
Your 4 week feeding diary
A picture from above of your dog standing, prior to feeding
A picture from the side of your dog standing, prior to feeding
The reason we say this is that by this stage you should be seeing weight loss and if you aren't a vet will need to assess the situation more in depth
Process for puppies (aged under 17 months)
As puppies have a lot of growing to do they can sometimes seem to be a little overweight.
We do not recommend any pet guardian carried out a weight loss plan for a puppy without first consulting a vet for a thorough assessment including:
- Weight
- Body condition scoring
- Review of a 4 week food & exercise diary
There are some steps that you can safely take to help reduce excessive weight in puppies these are:
If the puppy is not fed full raw, this should be the first step to take as raw is the only species appropriate diet for dogs, from weaning onwards.
If the puppy is fed any treats, cut these out and use their raw food for any training wherever possible, or a toy or fuss for rewards.
If the puppy is only being fed "puppy" branded foods, but is over 8 weeks of age, switch to any raw foods as this will allow you to feed some leaner proteins and remove the root vegetables commonly found in puppy branded raw foods (not all but most)
If your puppy is fed any root vegetables i.e. pumpkin, carrot, parsnips, sweet potato - stop these
If your puppy is within 2 weeks of a new feeding allowance i.e. 22 weeks old, begin to drop down to the next feeding amount gradually by reducing at 0.5% per week
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