[alicia9265]

Merry Christmas! I have a 4.5 year old spayed German Shorthaired Pointer named Sadie. She is a super sweet, hunting and retrieving machine. However, due to “dad”’s busy job, she can’t be brought out as much as she once was as a puppy. She also has to stay closer to the house now (not run as freely) as she was eating some stray cat food in a neighbor’s yard AND grabbed a pheasant as the neighbor was watching them feed. We were always feeding her Purina Dog Chow – for 4 whole years. She started having urinary incontinence. She gained weight at about 3 to 4 years old. (I don’t know her current weight but she’s a big statured female and it has to be around 70 pounds.) About 4 months ago, I stumbled across dogfoodadvisor.com and was appalled about the dog food I was feeding the dogs and switched immediately to Taste of the Wild. Her urinary incontinence has decreased by probably 90%. She’s not totally healed of it but it’s remarkable the difference it’s made. However, she’s still a bit chunky. Now I know that we need to start playing with her outside more, playing fetch, going for walks (despite it feeling like -40 here in MN this morning)… Also food portion control. But I would like to get some suggestions of food with less fat and maybe more protein? And grain free! We love Taste of the Wild but now that she seems healthier, I want to look at the protein/fat/etc percentages to figure out if another 4 or 5 star rated dog food (listed on this website) would be a better choice. Anyone have any success with a certain brand to help with weight loss of a larger breed dog (while also limiting food and exercising her more)? Thank you!

[A.Sandy]

Fat= energy But it also means palatability so it makes pets override their limits of food. So try something between 21-25% protein so the fat% is less. Feed according to pet’s energy/activity level, always portion control, and feed according to what she should weigh not based on what she weighs now. cut down on treats and no table scraps for now until she is at the ideal weight. even if the weather is bad try to play with her indoors somehow just to keep her moving a bit. Also try adding some canned pumpkin to fill her up . Soon you might want to switch her to a senior feed if you’d like. good luck

Ana
pet nutrition expert/advisor
@pupcatfacts
pupcatnutrition.com

[theBCnut]

I totally disagree on that suggestion for protein level. Low protein means high carbs and high carbs do not drive weight loss, but they sure can drive weight gain. Look on the review side at the thread for suggested low fat foods. The foods on that list are all 4 and 5 star foods, so have a generous amount of protein, but lower levels of fat. A lot of people have reported good luck with Wellness Core Reduced Fat. I don’t give different foods for weight loss, myself. I just feed less of their regular foods, but for some it just works better to use a lower fat food.

[A.Sandy]

It really depends on the brand and type of food I know quite a few that are about 28% and have about 11-15% fat it depends and yet again some high protein foods have low fat% SO it just depends

Ana
@pupcatfacts
pupcatnutrition.com

[RescueDaneMom]

I agree with Patty. I wouldn’t look for a “reduced calorie”, “lite,” or “senior” dog food. They are generally very high in carbs which does not help them lose weight; plus seniors need more protein, not less. My family had an overweight senior rottie on Fromm Reduced Activity Senior Gold. I thought I was doing a good thing. After finding this site and educating myself more, I found out that food was almost 50% carbs! He was always hungry and it wasn’t helping him lose weight. We switched him to high protein, grain free foods and he finally started slimming down. We fed him Horizon Legacy Adult and Acana regionals. My family also has a pit bull (70#) that is a little chunky. He is currently eating Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural and is losing weight. When I had my Great Dane on kibble (he eats raw now), he did really well on Go! Fit and Free Adult by Petcurean.

Best of luck!

[A.Sandy]

I do not believe in breed specific or reduced calorie feeds, don’t get me wrong. if you fed a non grain free that is another story because of carbs. grain free is the way to go. But not all dogs are the same my dane is doing perfect on a non grain free diet and he is always a conversation starter. So It all depends.

Ana

[InkedMarie]

We adopted an obese dog; we used Wellness Core reduced fat to help her lose weight. I’ve also heard good things about Annamaet lean but haven’t used it.

[Author]

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