beagle overweight

Question
have a 12 year old beagle that had knee surgery and doesn't want to go for walk's anymore and is way overweight. What kind of diet can I try to loose that extra weight so maybe he will want to go for walk's again. I give him rimadyl for his pain and a joint supplement can you please help?

Answer
Hi there, yes it sounds like you really need to help ease his knee strain by getting some of the weight off him. I would put him on a high quality food especially for dogs that need to lose weight. Look at the Natural Balance foods by Dick Van Patten. They areexcellent foods all the way around and their weight product is exceptional and high in protein which is really good. Here is a link to the food that would be good for him.  
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/product.aspx?ProductId=143&product=Fat+Dogs+Low

Make sure to slowly introduce the new formula by adding small amounts every day to his regular food and every day slowly putting in less of the regular one and more of the new one. You need to stretch this out over at least a week to avoid an upset stomach and diarrhea. Also if you are not feeding him twice a day you should be so that he always has something in his stomach.

Good luck on your mission, it will certainly extend his life!