What are the factors that cause dogs to gain weight?

An Australian study found that only 3% of dogs gain weight because of illness, such as hypothyroidism. In addition, 97% of overweight dogs are caused by improper feeding by their owners. All in all, the reason why dogs gain weight is because owners usually feed too much food and do not allow dogs to do appropriate exercises to consume excess energy. If this happens for a long time, obesity will form and the dog's body will also be affected to a certain extent.

If a dog is too heavy, the cartilage in his leg joints will be more susceptible to wear and tear, leading to arthritis and pain whenever he walks. Then the dog will be more reluctant to walk because of pain, so it will be less able to consume excess calories, so there is a vicious cycle, and the dog's obesity problem will not be improved.

In addition, diabetes and heart disease are increasingly common in obese dogs. Once dogs suffer from such diseases, their lives will be quite uncomfortable. Similarly, if the disease is not controlled, the body will get worse and worse, and its life span will naturally be affected.

Treatment methods for obese dogs

If you are worried about your dog's overweight, take it to the doctor for a physical examination to rule out the health reasons that cause its waistline to become thicker. If there is no problem with his body, he will start to lose weight. The most important thing when losing weight is to control your dog’s food intake and at the same time increase the calories your dog consumes every day. Although this seems easy, it is still somewhat difficult in practice.

To reduce your dog's calorie intake, the first thing to do is eliminate the usual treats. In order to lose weight, it is necessary to control the dog's mouth. As for dinner, we can choose:

1. You can slightly reduce the food you feed it, or let it eat low-calorie dog food. Low-calorie dog food works well in helping our dogs lose weight without making them hungry. Of course, don’t feed it open. No matter how low-calorie the dog food is, you will gain weight if you eat too much.

2. Next, make sure the dog gets a lot of exercise every day and consumes more calories. One thing you need to be very careful about is that walking too much on a dog can injure its joints because of its excessive weight. Until he loses some weight, a better option is to take him swimming so that his joints are not stressed. If you have a swimming pool, you can let him swim in the pool, or you can take him to a nearby beach or lake.
3. Another important thing to note is that weight loss needs to be done step by step, and don’t be too eager for quick success. In the beginning, don’t increase your dog’s exercise amount too much. The amount of exercise does not have to be very high at first, and then gradually increase the amount of exercise over time, and finally fix it. Never exceed the normal amount of exercise, otherwise it will be counterproductive and cause harm to the dog's body.