How to help with the weight loss

My little man (!!!) is now a whopping 29.1kg He is 4 years old and has always been huge (around 26-27kg) and he is solid muscle for the most part.
The vets have never been overly concerned due to his build..he'll never be a slim dog. bless him. but he has gained this weight due to a cruciate ligament problem in his back leg. He wasn't allowed to be walked for nearly 2 months as we were trying to put off him having a horrible operation. It seems to have worked and I am slowly increasing his exercise. He gets 20 mins walk in the morning and 30 mins in the evening. On weekends he often has an hour and half (depending on the hot weather) during the day too.
He doesn't eat much...just a small tin of pedigree chum with a small bowl of bakers complete, once a day. He doesn't always eat that and will try to have a bit of what we are having. I only let him if it is meat and veggies.
I've had him 3 years and have tried other foods but this is what he seems to prefer, but maybe I need to rethink what he will eat against what he should have!!
The vet didn't tell me to put him on a diet, just said watch what he eats, so I suppose she thinks it will come off as he starts exercising more. I am taking him on holiday next week to the seaside so hopefully that will kick start the weight loss.
Should i just leave things to see if the exercise works or should I start changing his food?
Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks

It is very difficult to loose weight when they afre not getting much exercise, it has taken me 6 months to get the weight off one of mine. I moved house and she developed seperation anxiety so I started leaving a Kong out for each dog. What I didn't know was she ate them all so piled the weight on.

I am unusual in feeding my dogs, I feed them 3 times a day which is better for her since being on a diet. I also soak her dry food because it swell up to 4 times the size so she thinks she is getting more food than she is. I feed Burgess Sensitive because one dog is prone to colitis and needs a sensitive food.

I cut her breakfast and tea down to one third of what she was getting and her supper to two thirds, she now has a lovely figure.

Bakers is a terrible food for dogs, it is full of additives and cereals and many dogs are hyper when on it. When their food has been changed they are a lot calmer.

What may help your dog if you can afford it is hydrotherapy, that works wonders on their muscles without putting too much stress on them.

Please get him off of the Bakers. It's terrible stuff!

As Cyril baby says, it may help to split his food into two or even three meals (I feed 2 meals a day for life anyway). I wouldn't soak the food though - that wouldn't be good for his teeth.

Just cut the amount Dow slightly & watch him. if he loses weight, great; then you can get him to his ideal weight & adjust the food again as necessary.

Thank you both. He does seem to like a bit of dried food though so what would be best? My dogs have always been on Bakers and I had no idea it was bad for them!!! It's going in the bin tonight now I will try twice a day to see if that helps too. Thank you! :-)

Don't do a sudden change of food, you need to change it gradually over 7 to 14 days or it can upset his stomach.

Look at the ingredients and go for a food that doesn't have any cereal in the first 3 ingredients, also the food that doesn't have many ingredients in. The food I feed only has 4 ingredients and one of them is to bind it together.

I also give my dogs either a raw chicken wing or lamb or pork rib every day, I find this keeps their teeth lovely and white. when Jethro first came to be he had a lot of tartar on his teeth, that has now gone and that is all I do.

Raw chicken wings are fine, it is the cooked chicken that splinters and can harm the dog.

I was looking at raw meat and tried some beef the other day...but he was unbearable afterwards...the smells he was making could knock you out!!! I might try a bit of chicken though, and look for a better dried food. I did know about the gradual introducing of new food but for the little he eats of Bakers I think it will be ok to just stop giving him it. I will slowly add the new one over the next week.
Thanks again for the advice! I'm sure the seaside frolicking will help too!!!

I had onyx on raw and always was small and very low stool as a by product. Switching him over to raw will stink at first but will go away. Raw is a bit more pricy but tends to keep a dog lighter.

I didn't have the fridge/freezer space for the raw any longer cause my kids are eating more meats/veg/fruits so I was forced to change to dry. First 1.5mos onyx gained nearly 3lbs of solid mass. I love raw!!! But onyx looks great on dry. Also with my Boston terrier she gained noticeable weight off the raw. Raw may be what you need, mine went up off raw. Raw should have the same affect on your dog, to lighten him up while on it

Hope I helped

A reduction in the food will certainly help as will the extra meal. Also consider cutting down on treats or switching to a low calorie alternative like vegetables.

hi,

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Thanks