Our feeding guide helps to avoid dog overweight

Drinking too many cokes at the cinema, not exercising enough during the hot summer days, passing by McDonalds a few times too often… Who doesn’t know the feeling that you have accumulated a few kilos too much over the past few weeks? Humans are not the only ones suffering from overweight. Recent research has shown that at least one-third of dogs are obese, which is not healthy for our lifelong companions. But what can you do about it and how do you ensure a long and healthy life for your dog? A food chart ensures you feed the right quantities of your diet. Here are a few practical tips!

It is important to give your four-legged friend high quality food. In general, the rule is “give your pet the best food you can afford”. Poor quality food can lead to digestive problems and poor absorption of the nutrients present. This can sometimes even end up more expensive, as you often have to give your pet a larger quantity of bad food in order to obtain the same satiety and nutrients.

Avoid dog overweight, feed the rigth quantities

In addition to a balanced diet, it is extremely important to give your little one the right amount of food. You can ask your vet for advice on this, but to get you started, most dog food packaging has a food chart (see inset as an example). In order to determine the correct daily quantity, you will need two pieces of information: your dog’s weight and age. An approximation of this is also good, because it is not always easy to put your Bernese on the weighing scale!

 

Next, look for your dog’s weight in the left-hand column of the food table. In the next step, look at the age of your dog and in which category your sweetheart falls. Please note that large breed dogs can be classified as “puppy” until they are 18 months old! Suppose you have a Pug that weighs 7kg and is 5 years old, then the food table says that you should feed this little fellow between 110 and 136 grams a day. Of course, keep an eye on the body weight and correct where necessary. Fatties get less to eat, skeletons get a bit more.

Did you know that different brands have different nutrition tables? This is because they often differ in terms of nutrients and metabolic values. So check the feeding table every time you buy a new brand of pet food, otherwise you run the risk of starving or fattening your dog. By the way, on our food pages you can easily find the food tables that fit your dog. Bon appétit!