Obesity is a medical condition in which the body fat has accumulated to the maximum and it affects our health. Obesity is correlated with a variety of other diseases like heart diseases, 2 types of diabetes, body injuries and also some types of cancer. Obesity is the result of bad nutrition, combination of excessive food, lack of activity and susceptibility.Obesity is a very serious and common problem for dogs also. More than 35 million dogs in US are obese. It is very important to protect our dogs from being obese and keep them in an ideal weight. Here we have 10 tips for preventing Obesity and keeping your dog healthy.
#1 – Get moving
We all know that in order to lose weight most of people start walking, however walking does not help only on losing weight. Exercise will help both our dog’s physical and mental health. Keeping your dog on exercise will keep his body and mind healthy. Usually dogs that do not exercise have behavioral problems and they become unhappy.
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#2- Scheduled feeding
Unfortunately most of people feed their dog in a wrong way. Some leave a full bowl of dog food for their dog when others fill their dog’s bowl each time it is empty. You should stop doing this! Your dog will never stop eating! The more access he has on food the worse can be for his weight and consequently his health. Scheduled feeding will help your dog keep a balance on his body weight.
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#3- Portion Control
Scheduled feeding will help us control our dog’s food consumption. Each dog is unique and each dog needs a different amount of food. It is very important for us to find out how much our dog needs to eat every day. If your dog has a problem with his weight then you should decrease the amount of food until he reaches the desired weight.
#4- Understand Ideal weight
Most of people think that their dog has the appropriate weight for their size. Unfortunately many veterinarians are used to see too many obese dogs that they can’t even recognize a fat dog. Your dog’s weight should be defined in order to be more visible.
#5- Beware of diet Foods
We can find a lot of dog food on the market but you have to be very careful with the labels on these foods. Some of them lessen the amount of nutritious meat ingredients and add more in nasty fillers. They are low in calories and nutrition, which means that are not healthy for your dog. You should always read all the labels on the dog foods because it is important for your dog’s health.
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#6- Regular Weight- Ins
Like people same dog’s weekly weight checks are perfect in order to control their fitness. Dogs are different so they each need own schedule. You need to check your dog’s weight every week in order to see if your diet works out and if he is losing weight at the right speed. Like we same dogs need to lose weight at the right speed because if they lose weight too soon that might cause health problems.
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#7- Get everyone on Board
Why do we mean by that? If you want your dog to lose weight you should make clear your decision for the rest of your family. Your dog might be on a diet and an exercise program but there is not any progress. Maybe someone from your family keeps feeding him when you are not there. This entire situation can create tension and confusion for the dog, so be careful.
#8- Food is love
Food means love. When we want to celebrate with friends and family usually we have meals or when we are sad most of us eat in order to fulfill our emptiness. Your dog does not think that because you do not feed him much you love him less. Many people feel guilty about not feeding their dog and keeping him on a diet so they give up. But remember because you are emotional and you feed yourself this does not mean that you should do the same thing with your dog. You can show him love with play and exercise.
#9- Take treats into Account
Training is done with treats, and you might feed a lot of treats your dog each time you train him. You should be careful with that because most of people give a lot of treats to their dog and do not lessen their dog’s meals so their dogs become overweight. You should lessen the amount of treats given from meal and you will keep your dog in a good fit.
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#10- Substitute with Veggies
Normally when we decrease the amount of our dog’s food they became hungrier. In order to control this hungry we can add fresh vegetables to their meals, such as spinach and beans. They are low in calories but high in vitamins and can help our dog continue his diet.
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