How do I feed my dog to avoid overweight?Updated 8 months ago
About dog’s weight management
Dog’s body shapes should be monitored and overweight prevented, as overweight and obesity in a dog exposes it to significant health concerns such as excessive strain on the joints. At Alvar, we support success in weight management by providing accurate dog-specific dose recommendations and a recipe designed for the needs of a chubby dog (Alvar's kibbles Kepeä (Delight) and Solakka (Slender)).
It is always a good idea to discuss the health of a clearly overweight dog with your veterinarian. Especially if your dog has symptoms related to being overweight, such as difficulty in moving or reduced exercise tolerance, it is important to plan treatment in conjunction with your veterinarian.
Dog energy intake
Overweight is one of the most common and serious health problems in dogs today. Up to half of the world’s dogs are overweight or obese. There are various factors that affect a dog’s individual energy needs and there may be certain risk factors behind being overweight, but when simplified, gaining too much weight is always the result of too high calorie intake relative to their consumption. Energy intake from a complete diet can be limited by switching to a lower calorie diet, or by reducing the portion size. In addition to this, of course, the intake of delicacies and leftovers should be limited and the energy they bring into account in the dog's daily feeding. For example, two sausages given to a dog begging next to a table already meet a third of a 5 kg-pound dog’s energy needs!
The dosing tables for all Alvar recipes show recommended doses for different activity levels. The daily dose recommendation calculated by the recommendation machine takes into account the needs of the dog based on the information entered on the recommender. Because there are always individual differences in energy needs, it is important to monitor your dog’s body condition and weight and adjust your feeding according to the situation.
Feeling of satiety and intake of essential nutrients
Reducing the dose size can, of course, reduce the dog's feeling of satiety, increasing begging at worst. However, ‘persistent hunger’ can be helped e.g., with more abundantly food containing more dietary fibre. The fibres dilute the caloric content of the food, so the portion size of the food may be slightly larger. Thus, fibrous food fills the stomach without bringing in extra energy. Certain fibres, such as psyllium, can also slow gastric emptying, prolonging the feeling of satiety after meals. Alvar's kibbles Kepeä (Delight) and Solakka (Slender) have a higher dietary fibre content as well as added psyllium to support satiety.