Weight loss and weight maintenance programmes

Extra weight isn't sorted just by “less food” or “more running”. A proper programme starts at the vet: weighing, a body condition score, muscle mass, the diet history and looking for medical or lifestyle causes. The scales alone can't tell you how much is fat and how much is muscle, and they won't give you the right target.

Write down everything the dog eats: main meals, treats, table scraps, chews, supplements and whatever each person in the family slips it. Weigh the portions rather than eyeballing them. Treats used in training can come out of the daily ration or be counted in the total.

Keep track of the weight loss, and let the vet set the pace. Cutting food suddenly or making up a diet can leave the dog eating an unbalanced diet. Exercise starts from what the dog can do now: an overweight dog that spends most of its time on the sofa doesn't start with hard running. Bit by bit you add controlled walks and scent games, then low-impact exercise.

Maintenance is its own stage. Once the dog hits its target, you adjust the portion and activity to keep the weight steady. The family needs a system it can stick to for years. A few weeks of restriction followed by a slide back to old habits just brings the weight back.

A programme makes sense for dogs whose excess weight has been confirmed, dogs that have put on weight after neutering or after becoming less active, and families who want to keep their dog in healthy body condition.

Slashing food suddenly and by guesswork, or pushing the dog into hard exercise, isn't a safe plan. You could also miss a medical cause of the weight gain.

Start with a vet assessment and setting the target. Weigh the portions and count the treats.

Build up activity gradually. Weigh the dog regularly and adjust the plan to the results.

The dog will show you how it's going. Intense hunger and hunting for food everywhere, tiring on walks, joint pain, or changes in stools or appetite are all things to tell the vet.

So you're not making it up as you go, note the dog's current weight and food. List every snack and supplement. Say how active it is and what conditions and medication it has.

A good programme has realistic targets and tracks body condition, not just the number on the scales. Everyone in the house is on board, otherwise someone keeps feeding the dog on the sly. When the dog is weighed or examined, it's handled calmly, with breaks, in a clean space.

In training you can use part of the daily ration as rewards, and sessions get the dog moving more. How many calories it needs isn't the trainer's call, though; that takes a nutritional assessment.

The medical and nutritional plan is set by someone qualified. There's no rate of weight loss that suits every dog. The risks to talk through are cutting back too hard, muscle loss, injuries during exercise and extra portions nobody writes down.

One plan doesn't fit every dog. An older dog with arthritis and a young dog that put on weight after neutering start from different places and need different paces.