fat lab

Question
Hello, Me again with the three dogs lab/JRT and BT. My lab is 82 pounds and 22 1/2 inches at the shoulder she is overweight she was 71 pounds early last year and the perfect weight.....she is three years old this december 23ard and spayed. I do walk my dogs daily  and have started taking her alone for a longer walk each morning and the others on a short walk so they dont freze there feet. I have all three on a lite formula non by product adult food its got 7-11 % fat in it, I was wondering about this food: http://www.dogchow.com/Products/Detail.aspx?intProductID=15    

I would like to try feeding it to the labrador retreiver *Only maybe mixed with soft food of simaler fat amounts to get her to eat it....this food has less fat and is easily avalible. I was wondering is this food bad or too cheap? will it harm her in any way? and around how ong do yout hink it'd take to get 5/6 pounds off her so we can see her waist again? Thank you for your time.

Answer
Hi Tara;
It is not a non by-product food.
Down the page in ingrdients it lists,turkey by-product, chicken by-product, and animal fat.
A bit too much grains.
It doesn't list how much fillers it has in it or what the fillers are.
For brands that you buy in the grocery stores, Purina is the best, and I fed Purina for many years, but now there are much better foods on the market.
Iams, Science Diet, Walthams, Eukenauba, and Nutro.
They have NO fillers and so you feed a little less per meal to get the same nutrients.
This creates less bulk, so there is less waste. Less poop to scoop.
Fillers are harmless but non nutrive things manufacturers can put in dog and cat foods to fill up the bag so it looks like you get more for your money.
The better breands cost a little more per pound, but you feed less at each meal, so it comes out about the same.
The best way to guage her figure is to run your hands down her sides. You should be able to feel her ribs with your hands, but not ne able to see them.
Go to      www.dogage.com        and take the fitness and age test there.
That is a really good site to get a lot of good information about weight etc.
Real good site.
I feed a lamb and rice formula, Notro Natural Choice. I get it at Petco. Iams is exceptionally good, and so are Walthams and the other two I mentioned.
Two of my dogs are in the senior age bracket, and you have to cut down on protein for older dogs, or you can create liver problems.
To increase the exercis and start taking off a little of the pudge, toss a ball for her to chase.
Would do the others good to chase it too.
You can get little booties to put on their feet to protect from ise in the winter and hot sidewalks in the summer.
Petsmart had some cute knitted ones the other day. The rescue dogs at Ground Zero wore leather ones and rubber ones to protect their pads from the sharp debris.
Lots of sites online have them.
Just put dog supplies or pet supplies in your search engine.
Try giving them some steamed vegetables sometimes.
I steam our vegetables and have to watch cholesterol for my husband and me, so I use Adam's butter flavoring.
That is the only artificial butter flavoring I have found that tastes like real butter.
I mix 1 teaspoonful Adam's butter flavoring with about 1 Tablspoonful of water and pour it over the veggies and toss them around and let them set for a few minutes. Last time I put a teaspoonful in the water in the steamer. They were really good.
My dogs klike potatoes, carrots and corn, peas, greenbeans, and Rowdy likes broccoli, but it creates problems for him to sleep with.LOL
Try putting a steames carrot or some potatoes in their food. Be sure to include it with their daily food amount.
Dogs are Omnivores too, NOT just carnivores like most people think.
I buy tuna packes in water, rather than oil, and when I open a can of tuna. I toss the dogs' food with the water drained out of it.
Just a little taste change that also adds a few more nutrients.
I an not sure how fast she will lose it, but I don't think I would try to take off more than a pound per week.
Charlotte