Discover Top Weight Loss Dog Food for Healthier Pets

Is your dog overweight or obese? If you’re looking for the best weight-loss dog food, the answer is probably “yes.” If your pup weighs more than they should, you aren’t alone. More than half of all pet dogs in the United States are overweight or obese.

If you’re on the hunt for the best dog food for weight loss, you should consider a raw diet. Carbs may be the biggest contributor to obesity, so a naturally low-carb raw diet is the best dog food to lose weight without feeling hungry.

Let’s take a closer look at why weight loss dog food is important, why We Feed Raw is the best weight loss food for dogs, and how to help your dog lose weight and live a long, healthy life eating a species-appropriate raw diet.

Why Is Weight Loss Dog Food Important?

You may think your chunky dog looks adorable, but overweight dogs die up to 2.5 years younger, on average, than dogs of a healthy weight. That said, you can’t necessarily just cut back on your dog’s current food and expect them to lose weight without potentially experiencing side effects such as malnutrition.

Why? Some dog foods, especially kibble, are only nutritionally complete and balanced when you give a dog their full, usual daily portion. Giving your dog less food may result in them not getting all the nutrients they need.

We Feed Raw is packed with nutrients, and we ask a lot of questions about your dog before you start a plan, including what breed they are, how much they weigh, their body condition, their activity level, and more. That ensures we recommend the perfect daily dose for your pup to reach their weight loss or maintenance goals and still receive full and proper nutrition.

Problems Associated With Dog Obesity

Aside from making sure you select a food that’s nutritionally complete, weight loss dog food is important because being overweight or obese can contribute to a wide variety of life-shortening health problems, including:

• •Arthritis, sprains, strains, ligament injuries, luxating patella, and other joint problems

• •Diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic disorders

• •Heart disease

• •High blood pressure

• •Respiratory disease

• •Chronic inflammation

• •Kidney disease

• •Cancer

If you want to have as many healthy years as possible with your dog, you will find the best weight loss dog food to help your pup reach and maintain an appropriate weight.

Symptoms of Dog Obesity

Can’t tell if your dog is overweight? Here are some symptoms you may notice if your dog has become overweight or obese:

• •Tiredness

• •Excess body fat

• •Difficulty breathing

• •A bigger, rounder face

• •Lack of mobility

• •Not being able to see or easily feel your dog’s waistline or spine

• •Sagging belly

• •Lack of grooming

• •Excessive panting

• •Needing help getting on and off furniture (when they didn’t previously need assistance)

• •Lagging behind or refusing to go on walks

• •Refusing to play

• •Weight gain

Body Condition Scale (BCS)

The best way to determine whether your dog is overweight is to use a body condition scale like the one below. Your dog should have a visible waistline when viewed from above or from the side, and you should be able to easily feel your dog’s ribs under a thin fat cover. You may be able to see your dog’s last rib poking out.

Causes of Dog Obesity

So, what causes dogs to become overweight? Lots of factors contribute to obesity in dogs. Some factors are controllable, such as the diet you choose to feed your pup, while others are out of your hands, like your dog’s breed or age. One or more of the below factors may have led to your dog becoming overweight or obese.

Diet

Did you know that dogs have no nutritional requirements for carbohydrates? Yet, kibble requires high levels of carbs to form the classic crunchy balls. Studies have shown that dogs lose more body fat on a high-protein, low-carb diet than they do on a high-carb diet that contains an identical number of calories as the high-protein diet.

Based on these facts, it’s likely that carbs are one of the biggest dietary factors contributing to obesity in dogs.

Breed

Some breeds are naturally more prone to obesity than others, including Labrador Retrievers, Pugs, Beagles, Dachshunds, spaniels, and terriers.

Age

As dogs age and become less active, they become more likely to gain excessive weight.

Overfeeding

While it’s natural to want to spoil your pup with lots of treats or table scraps, overfeeding is one of the biggest causes of obesity in dogs. Treats (and other food items that aren’t part of your pup’s regular diet) should make up no more than 10% of your dog’s daily calorie intake.

Lack of Exercise

Just as humans tend to gain weight if they stop exercising, a lack of exercise can cause dogs to gain weight, as well.

Misunderstanding Appropriate Dog Body Condition

Many dog owners genuinely have no idea that their dog is overweight because they don’t understand what a healthy weight is supposed to look like. In fact, more than one-third (36%) of people with overweight or obese dogs classified their pet as “normal, ideal, or thin” when asked by their vet.

Spaying or Neutering

Spayed and neutered dogs use less energy than their intact counterparts, which makes them more prone to being overweight.

Diseases

Certain health conditions can cause obesity, including hypothyroidism, hyperadrenocorticism, and insulinoma, so if you can’t think of any other changes that may have led to your pup’s recent weight gain, it may be time for a trip to the vet to rule out a health issue.

Medications

As with humans, some medications may cause weight gain or an increased appetite, including glucocorticoids and phenobarbital.

Challenges in Canine Weight Loss

Since multiple factors can contribute to weight gain, you may also need a multi-pronged approach to helping your pup lose weight. That’s why we’ve created this step-by-step weight loss guide featuring raw dog food.

The Role of Weight Loss Dog Food in Canine Raw Diets

While there are no specific weight loss formulas in the world of raw dog food, a raw diet itself lends itself quite well to weight loss. We Feed Raw makes it easy to give your dog the precise amount of food to help them lose weight since our pre-portioned patties eliminate the need for weighing.

When you sign up for a We Feed Raw meal plan, we ask you a bunch of questions to help determine your dog’s ideal daily dose for weight loss. We then tell you exactly how to cut the patties we deliver to you for precision feeding without a food scale.

Once your dog reaches their goal weight, it’s easy to change your dog’s daily dose in our Member Center to keep your dog on a maintenance diet, so they can stay at their healthy weight without gaining any weight back.

Criteria for Selecting the Best Weight-Loss Raw Dog Food

How can you choose the best weight-loss raw dog food? You should look for these things:

• •Easy to portion. Weighing ingredients to ensure your dog gets the proper amount of raw food to lose weight is a pain. Choose a weight-loss dog food that’s easy to serve in the proper amount.

• •Contains little to no carbohydrates. Carbs contribute to weight gain, so you don’t want them in a dog food for weight loss.

• •Uses a kill step. Not all raw dog food companies are the same. Choose one that uses high-pressure processing (HPP) like We Feed Raw to inactivate potential pathogens.

• •Formulated by an animal nutritionist. We Feed Raw was formulated by a PhD animal nutritionist with over 40 years of experience crafting diets for a variety of animal species.

• •Meets or exceeds AAFCO nutrition standards. Some raw diets are intended for supplemental or intermittent feeding only. Find a raw food that’s labeled as “complete and balanced.”

• •Contains no fillers, preservatives, or artificial colors or flavors. Raw dog food should be minimally processed.

Step-by-Step Weight Loss Guide Featuring Raw Food

Now that you’ve chosen the perfect raw weight loss dog food, here’s a step-by-step guide to help your pup reach their weight goal.

Step 1: Obtain an Accurate Scale and Measure Raw Food Intake

If you choose to make your own raw diet, you need to have an accurate food scale and measure every single ingredient to ensure you aren’t overfeeding your dog. If you choose We Feed Raw, we deliver you pre-portioned patties and tell you exactly how to cut each patty to provide your dog with the perfect daily amount of food with no scales required.

Step 2: Evaluate the Type and Frequency of Feeding with Raw Food

If your dog likes to pretend they’re starving to death, you might choose to feed their raw meals two or more times per day. We Feed Raw is easy to spread onto lick mats or stuff into Kongs, Toppls, and other enrichment toys. You can then freeze these items to help mealtime last longer, keeping your pup feeling fuller between meals.

Step 3: Introduce an Exercise Routine Tailored to a Raw Food Diet

Since raw food is naturally high in protein, your dog will be able to build muscle as you gradually increase the length, frequency, and intensity of exercise you give your dog. Just as you shouldn’t try to run a marathon the day after years of being a couch potato, you shouldn’t drastically increase your dog’s exercise all at once, either.

Step 4: Gradually Transition to Raw Weight Loss Dog Food

Sometimes, digestive upset can occur when transitioning a dog to a raw diet, so we recommend making the transition over about 10 days. If you choose We Feed Raw, we tell you exactly how to make that transition smoothly and what to do if your pup experiences digestive upset during the transition.

Step 5: Consistently Monitor Progress with Raw Diet Adjustments

Your dog should lose about 2-4% of their body weight per week. Regularly weighing your dog can help ensure you’re feeding your pup the perfect amount of food to help them lose weight at a safe rate. If you need more or less food each delivery, you can easily change your dog’s daily dose in our Member Center to keep your dog losing weight at a healthy pace.

Step 6: Adjust the Raw Diet Plan as Needed

Along the way, you may discover that you need to increase or decrease how much you feed your dog each day. We Feed Raw’s patties make it easy to keep track of exactly how much you’re feeding your dog every day and just as easy to adjust that amount.

Step 7: Professional Reassessment After Raw Food Diet Implementation

After your dog has lost some weight, you may want to have them re-evaluated by your vet to make sure they’re losing weight at a safe rate. Some vets have been taught by their kibble-funded schools that raw dog food is bad. If you need some help talking to your vet about your dog’s raw diet, check out this article.

Step 8: Maintain and Monitor Post-Weight Loss with Raw Food

Once your pup has reached their goal weight, you’ll want to slightly increase the amount of food you give your dog and keep a close eye on them to make sure they don’t lose or gain weight. Not sure how much to feed your dog after they reach their goal weight? If you’re on a We Feed Raw meal plan, you can always email us at hello@wefeedraw.com, and our experts will help you determine the best current feeding amount for your pup.

We Feed Raw Is the Best Weight Loss Dog Food

In a survey, 90% of We Feed Raw’s customers said their dogs maintained a healthy weight on our food. Our carb-free, high-protein, nutritionally complete and balanced food is easy to portion and serve, making it ideal for the precise feeding necessary to help your pup lose weight.

Get started on a meal plan by taking our quiz to find out how much you should feed your dog each day and how much it would cost.

Additional Resources

To learn more about raw dog food and weight loss, check out these studies and sources:

• •High-Protein Low-Carbohydrate Diets Enhance Weight Loss in Dogs

• •Weight Loss in Obese Dogs: Evaluation of a High-Protein, Low-Carbohydrate Diet

• •Association between life span and body condition in neutered client-owned dogs

• •Why Your Dog's Weight Matters: How to Help Them Live a Longer, Healthier Life

• •Slimming Down Your Pup: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Best Weight Management Dog Food

• •Dog Weight-Loss

• •Obesity

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the best weight-loss dog food?

The best weight-loss dog food is one that is rich in protein and low in carbohydrates. Raw dog food is the best weight loss diet for dogs, and We Feed Raw is the best raw dog food because we make the raw diet as easy to feed as possible.

How much should I feed my dog to help them lose weight?

If you feed a raw diet, you should give your dog about 2-3% of their IDEAL body weight per day. We Feed Raw makes it easy and tells you exactly how much of our food to feed.

What is the best dog food for weight loss?

The best dog food for weight loss is a low-carb, high-protein raw diet. We Feed Raw is nutritionally complete and balanced, and our pre-portioned patties are easy to divide into the perfect portions every day without the need for a food scale.

Can I make my own dog food for weight loss?

While you can make your own raw weight-loss dog food, it’s very hard to make sure your dog gets the proper nutrients. We Feed Raw is already nutritionally complete and balanced, and our frozen raw patties are easy to cut into the perfect daily amount.

What is the best dog food to lose weight?

The best dog food to lose weight is a nutritionally balanced, high-protein, low-carb raw diet. We Feed Raw is safe, easy to feed, and delicious, making it an excellent dog food to lose weight. We tell you exactly how much to feed your dog each day to reach their weight loss goals.

What are the most common causes of obesity in dogs?

The most common causes of obesity in dogs include:

• •Carb-rich diet

• •Some health conditions

• •Age, sex, and breed

• •Lack of exercise

• •Too many treats

• •Overfeeding

What is the best weight-loss food for dogs?

The best weight loss food for dogs is a protein-rich, carb-free raw diet. We Feed Raw is free of fillers, delicious, nutritious, and easy to feed without the need for weighing or measuring ingredients.

How long will my dog need to be on a diet?

Most dogs reach their ideal weight within about 6 to 8 months. After your pup reaches their goal weight, you may need to increase their daily dose of food to stop their weight loss. Just don’t increase their daily food intake too much or they might gain the weight right back.