Feeding of adult labs

Question
We have 2 yellow labs, a female, 8, 71lb.,  and a male, 2, 64 lb.  The female was starting to get quite round. We cut back her portions from about  1.5 cups of Innova  twice a day to 1 cup twice a day. Her wt. dropped from 77lbs early last December to the 71lbs current wt. We have noticed a marked improvent in her energy level and activity level. Is it better to reduce the fat and give her more food or reduce the portion size? The reduced portion size seems to be working but we are concerned about proper amounts of vitamins, minerals , etc. Thanks for your response.

Answer
Hi Rick,
First, Innova is a fairly calorie-dense food.  I used to feed it to my dogs, but they all started getting loose stools on it.  I had no dogs who were getting over three cups/day on Innova.  Not saying it is a bad food, but one does have to be careful about how much of it is fed.

To help cut back weight on your dog, you can feed a can of low- or no-salt green beans, or fresh if you can find them.  Most dogs like green beans and they add bulk without adding much fat/sugar.  Or, you can add air-popped pop corn.  Slowly substituting either of the above for your dog's kibble can keep her satisfied (well, as satisfied as a Lab gets! ;-) ) but not add calories.  

You say her energy level is up.  That is a great start, also.  If she likes to retrieve, you can play a nice round of "fetch" a couple times a day.  At this point, I wouldn't make it too strenuous because she is still overweight.

With all the above, some other things you can do to help her loose the excess:  substitute slices or pieces of carrot for regular dog treats/cookies.  Apple or banana slices are another "treat", but are a bit more sugary.  Again, air-popped popcorn, no butter or salt, please, can be a great treat, and, if you throw it for her, she will also get some exercise trying to catch it!  Popcorn isn't easy to throw, nor easy to catch.  Green beans can be used as a treat, also, but not as easily simply because of their make-up.  

You say you are concerned about reducing her portions because of vitamin, mineral, etc. intake.  In the short amount of time it should take her to loose the excess, loosing a bit of these essentials shouldn't make much difference.  It's the long haul without these that matter, unless there is some medical problem with her that you don't know about.  Most dog foods are pretty well balanced with the amounts of essential nutrients.  Many have a bit more than the actual daily requirements, so loosing some because of cutting back on intake isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I hope this helps, and good luck with your girl's weight loss program.  Taking weight off a dog isn't all that difficult.