My Jack Russel is 2 pounds overweight. The Vet gave me some great tips this week to help her with dieting. She is on a low fat diet dog food, but it never fills her up. The Vet recommended that we add raw carrots, green beans, and/or apples in with her food. She loves it. We also splash her food with low fat/low sodium chicken or beef broth. This diets already seems to be making a difference.

My Jack Russel is 2 pounds overweight. The Vet gave me some great tips this week to help her with dieting. She is on a low fat diet dog food, but it never fills her up. The Vet recommended that we add raw carrots, green beans, and/or apples in with her food. She loves it. We also splash her food with low fat/low sodium chicken or beef broth. This diets already seems to be making a difference.

Melissa - You may want to look into a low carb food. The fats are what fills them up and dogs are meat eaters, so protein is good for them. We use a great one for my cats called Evo. It's pretty spendy, but it has been worth it in lack of vet bills. Since switching them to it, they've had a great, healthy weight and no vet bills other than the yearly shots. They're 12 years old and every year the vet comments that she would have no idea they were senior cats.

Why on earth would your vet put your dog on a low-fat diet? No wonder she's still hungry! While they can eat veggies, they are an animal should eat a primarily meat diet. I say definitely go low-carb. Most commercial dog foods, even the ones at the vet's office, are loaded with corn and meat by-products. It's just filler, and it's terrible for them.

Too many carbs to do them what it does to us. Makes us fat. They go through the same routine of insulin ups-and-downs and it causes their bodies to store fat instead of using it. Fat and protein is easy to digest and process. Less waste, and like us, they won't be begging for more food 2 hours later. Stuff like corn and other grain fillers are so difficult for them to digest. Put your dog on a great food (Like Evo) and it won't have to go hungry. Some of those veggies are okay, but apples? They're high in fructose and completely unnecessary. Broths can't replace a nice raw knuckle bone.

I can't stress it enough, fat and protein are great for dogs. I'm on the primal diet myself (similar, low-carb with high-fat, lots of meat and veggies) and I feel great. So much energy and I can go for hours without being hungry. I hold my animals diets to the same standards as well.

I've been cooking for my dogs for 30 years and our vet visits are for the required shots only. One dog was attacked by two men who were trying to get into my house and they stabbed her four times.. When my vet operated on her, he said she gave as good as she got. He could tell from her mouth that she bit the men. She was airedale/boxer and very trim. He said had she been overweight, she might have died on the table.

I've never had a dog that didn't have a waist. I think that the main culprit in weight gain is table scraps. Dogs should not be given table scraps.

I cook brown rice or pasta, green beans, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, chicken necks, chicken gizzards and hearts and add Tums for, additional calcium. I also usually put spinach in the pot.
The dog's stool is much smaller than on a commercial diet which means that their body is using more of the food. My dogs are healthy, they love to play, have bright eyes and shiny coats.

I'm on a grief support forum for pets and people put pictures up of their pets and I have never seen so many fat dogs and cats. The lists of ailments include kidneys, liver, heart, lungs and cancer. I think being obese shortens their life span.