By Hope Saidel
Is your dog one of the majority who's getting "loved" to death? Overweight dogs face the same health problems as overweight humans; increased risk of heart problems, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, the list goes on and on.
One of the problems is the dog food companies themselves. The charts they offer on bags of dry food more closely reflect the amounts that top-athlete dogs should consume, not our everyday, couch-potato pets. We're not exempt from blame, but it is hard to resist those soulful puppy eyes.
There are some tips and tricks for "treating" your dog without packing on the pounds. First; use a food appropriate for your dog's activity level. Most of our dogs don't need the high-performance (read high-fat, high-protein) foods. "Light," or senior dry dog foods provide all the nutrition our dogs need, without quite as many calories.