The United States pet obesity rate is rising and we owe it to our furry family members to educate ourselves on proper feeding techniques to keep them healthy. According to the latest veterinary surveys, over half of our nation’s dogs are overweight. Obesity puts pets at risk for developing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, kidney and heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer.
Read on to find out how to begin properly managing your dog’s weight:
You’ll notice on your bag of dog food the diet is measured in kilocalories per cup, otherwise known as kcals. Putting your dog on a diet requires strict monitoring of all caloric intake. To determine how much your dog should eat, refer to the chart below.
Feed the dog for what you want it to weigh, not what it weighs now. Use an actual measuring cup to be sure you are giving the proper amount. Keep in mind you should include calories from any treats given during the course of the day.
Find the number of calories that are in what your dog is eating. Apparently, this is top secret information. The best source we’ve found for calories in dog food is a website called Chewy.com. You can look up many foods on the site and if you first select the Nutritional Info tab, and then scroll to the very bottom of the page, it will give you the number of calories per cup of food.
Visit our blog frequently to keep up with discussions of fun exercise activities to keep you and your dog healthy and active together!
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