Labrador Weight Loss

[Annette47]

So she has gained weight after feeding her this for about a week. I guess cutting the fat content isn't the answer. Should I cut the amount she's getting and add green beans?

I would try that for a while and see. For some reason though, Chloe has a harder time maintaining her weight on a grain-inclusive food ... she does better on grain free. You may need to experiment with what type of food works best. 2.5 cups a day is still a lot of food for a dog her size. Chloe is about 65lbs and never gets more than 1.5 cups in a day.

[Sue]

Find a low carbohydrate food. Whether it's grain free or using rice, you need to have minimal carbohydrates. That is the cause of weight gain, not so much the fat. Dogs process fat differently than humans.
You want the amount of carbs in the kibble to be less than 30%. Hard to find, but they do exist. EB Primitive Naturals is 17% carbs.

[JenC]

This is the same lab that was 90#? I would probably just leave well enough alone. Most vets don't really know what a normal lab should look like. My girl weighed 70# and looked awesome and the vet kept wanting her at 60# There was no way.

You can go for a food lower in calories, but remember if she is muscular, she may weigh more but not look it. Take a look at Fromm's whitefish.

[FourLabsAndATri-Pawd]

We feed Purina Bright Mind to our 9 year old yellow. Her ideal weight has always been 65 lbs but after her spaying at age 7 she shot up to 81 lbs in no time at all. We had cut down her food (added green beans as well) and increased her exercise and her weight loss leveled out at 74 and just stopped. Visibly still overweight I moved to a lower kcal per cup food rather than take her daily amount down any further. In the past month she has slowly lost another 5 lbs and is almost back to her ideal of 65. She is still getting two cups per day - one in the am and one in the p.m. We also stopped giving her small milk bones as treats and switched to carrots and apples.

[LabsN'Hounds]

Well I will say the vet we use is a military vet where they do house and train DOD dogs so she is very familiar with Labs and how they should look. I trust her opinion that the dog needs to lose weight but honestly I don't take much nutrition advice from vets because they usually encourage the use of inferior foods like Science Diet. When we finish the current bag of DN lamb and rice we will switch to an all grain free option and see if that makes a difference.

[mandasand]

At her age, I would have her on the supplement Synovi G4. You can get it off Amazon. If she has any aches and pains, this will help increase her mobility and make her much more active. It has worked wonders on our dogs. I also am not sure she is built to be 50 lbs. I have an even more petite lab than you do and the vet said he ideal weights should be no more than 62 lbs.

I think the most important thing is that she remains active and you take care of her coat, teeth, and control her eating and make sure she is active. Daily walks are a must.