It is estimated that almost 45% of all pets in the United States are overweight and at risk for certain diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, high blood pressure as well as cancer. Leaner, fitter animals have longer life spans than overweight dogs.

• Get into the habit of a daily excercise routine.  Some dogs won’t excercise by themselves and so it is your responsibility to start a routine and stick with it.  Shoot for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 at night.  Take your dog for a run or throw it a ball to retrieve.  Both of you can get fit!
• Not so many calories equal leaner animal.  Some pets that are overweight have slow metabolisms because they don’t move a lot.  Try to cut down on the amount of food you feed them and/or find a brand that has less calories per serving.  Try to avoid treats and think up another way to reward your dog, maybe just with the dry pet food.
• Feeding Schedule.  Feed your dog twice a day with a measuring device.  You can monitor and adjust if needed the food consumed.
• Try not to love your pet with food!  Give you dog time and affection rather than food as a treat or reward.  Keep them busy and occupied between feedings to divert their attention.  Pets, quite like humans, prefer affection to food.
• Don’t feed pets at your dinner table.  Don’t let your dog sit by you when you eat.  The soulful, pleading look on their faces is awfully hard to resist sometimes.  Put your dog in another room while eating maybe with a few favorite toys to prevent boredom.

And remember that you are doing all this because you LOVE your dog and want him or her to be around a long, long time!