small dog gaining on low-cal kibble?!

Question
Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me! I am living in Costa Rica and do not have access to much variety in commercial foods or super-savvy vets. I have adopted several little street dogs who are all happy and healthy on commercial kibble diets...EXCEPT...my little 'Peanut'. She appears to be a Chihuahua mix and I estimate her age to be between 6 to 8 years. Her first years of life she survived wandering the beaches, jungles and palm plantations - living on beach crabs and coconuts and the generosity of neighbors in route who'd give her rice and beans and scraps. I'm sure she went plenty of days without food and logged miles daily in her travels...and she actually seemed pretty healthy and fit. Since we adopted her, I have had her on various brands of kibble...and she gets a few tid-bits and table scraps here and there. We have many clients and friends who love her and sneak her foods (she's always looking at them like she missed her last meal and those eyes of her make everyone want to cave in and slip her a treat?!) She's slowly put on a couple of pounds- which is HUGE on her. Really, she's obese and uncomfortable.  We've talked to the clients and got snacking under control. We've increased her activity by adding a rigorous play time twice daily with a min-pin puppy she adores and she takes walks... All this has actually put a bit of added muscle on her. I found a store at the border of Panama(amazingly)that had a sack of Purina reduced calorie kibble. I was hoping that would do the trick to help her begin to reduce. A month into this now, and she's going the wrong direction?! I started feeding her 3/4 cup per evening meal plus 2 tablespoons of non-fat yogurt and 10 kibble pieces in the morning for her after exercise snack. She started at 12 lbs with a goal of reducing to 10 lbs and this morning she weighed in at 13 lbs?!!! I'm at a loss as to what to do. I guess I can reduce the amount of kibble in the evening....but I'm not sure if she'll get all the nutrition she needs with less. I'm following the package portion directions.

Answer
Well many blessings to you for taking in these dogs! I can help you most with a home made diet - Purina is dreadful food; most of the calorie - reduced foods rely on huge amounts of carbohydrate to lower energy - and it often backfires. I think a home made diet is what this dog needs - if you contact me at catlane@thepossiblecanine.com I can help you put together a balanced diet to help her reduce and meet all her nutrient requirements.
All the best,Catherine