My labrador , Sadie has been eating alot and is over weight. I dont like her to be anymore as she can get major health problems. I was wondering if any of your labs had this problem and if they did what did you do about it? She is also very short, I know female labs are shorter then males but I mean short she is 2 years old.

What are you feeding Sadie?

Well we feed her Beniful (Diet) And I exercise her alot. I try so hard but it is impossible for this girl to look skinny again ! X.x

A few suggestions:

To start; find a vet with a scale that will allow you to come in and get a weight every week or so. This will help you monitor your efforts.

Cut the food back to a managable level. The bag recommendations are frequently where your dogs should be. Both of mine eat only 2 cups of dry per day. The bag recommends 3 1/2 but they simply don't need that much.

If you feel you need to "bulk" the diet up add Low/no sodium canned green beans or canned pumpkin (not pie mix). These are low cal and act as a filler.

Substitutue high calorie treats with lower calorie alternatives like baby carrots, a large carrot to chew on, a bananna stuffed into a marrow bone and frozen, a small amount of low/no sodium chicken broth in a kong and frozen, etc.

Watch the amount of rawhide or pig ear type treats you give (if you give them...) These are high calorie.

Lastly- EXCERCISE! Your lab is capable of insane amounts of activity. Have fun, train, play, swim, start agility, etc. The more the better.

All of this on a daily basis will definitely help. Keep weighing so you know where you stand and if you need to make adjustments. You are right to do this... a lean dog lives MUCH longer.

Oh, yeah- and don't feel guilty for doing all of this and weakend and give more food! :)

Good Luck!

Frankly, I'd get her off the Beneful and onto something a bit better. Too many carbs in that food (yes dogs can also do better on less carbs).

If money is an issue (and when isn't it, eh?) try the Iams or Purina One that you can prolly find on the same shelf as the Beneful.

If you have a Costco, try the Kirkland food. More bang for your buck. While you're at Costco, pick up a case of green beans. Cut back a half cup of food and feed the green beans instead.

My adults eat approx. 2-2½ cups of food a day. If you are feeding more than that, then cut back.

Increase the exercise slowly. Just as you wouldn't expect a human to get out and run a marathon the first week they got into training, you shouldn't expect too much out of the dog. SLOWLY work up to more exercise.

Watch those treats. You'd be surprised how many calories most of them have. Baby carrots instead (and not that many) would be better.

If your dog hasn't lost any weight in a month, you'll need to take it to the vet and have a thyroid check done. While the amount lost won't be huge in a month, the dog should lose something in that time.

Our Lab (?mixed with something) is very short, but vet says she is all lab- but she is very short, so gains weight quickly. Our vet says to feed her 1 cup dry dog food a day, and she does fine. She also chews rawhides once in awhile. Just my 2 cents worth.