# Best food for OVERWEIGHT dog that cant do any exercise



## kimouette (May 2, 2012)

Hi everyone!

This is my first post here and I have to say I was really hoping to find THE answer simply by searching in this forum, but i couldn't!

Here's the complicated situation. I live in Canada (where we dont have access to all the "5 stars dog food" you guys have in the States!). 
I have an overweight Bernese Mountain dog that also has a disease called Wobblers syndrome. The first thing I want to do is allow him to lose some weight (he weights 113lb while he should be around 90lb). 

Normally the first logical thing to do is to increase the dog's activity level so he can burn calories, but that is just impossible with his disease. The more he moves, the more he is prone to a disc inflammation and the more he'll need a Dexamethasone/Gabapentin dose increase (which by the way makes him put on extra weight). That is such a terrible vicious circle!! 

He takes his meds and cant do too much exercise, but still he just HAS to lose some weight! otherwise his legs wont be able to support his huge body anymore!

The food he currently eats is Oven Baked Tradition for Senior dogs :
Senior dog food - Oven Baked

Now I'm looking at :

Evo Weight Management :Healthy Pet Product Search ? Organic Dog Food, Dog Treats and More ? Natura Pet Products
and
Wellness Core Reduced fat : Wellness® CORE® Grain-Free Reduced Fat Recipe

But I cant make up my mind!

Here's the dilemma :

His current food seems incredibly low in protein, and very high in carbs (366 kcal/cup which doesnt allow me to give him huge amounts of food and he is always hungry!)

Evo seems very high in protein AND FAT, but low in carbs (458.0 kcal/cup which means I'd have to feed him even less of that food.. I'm afraid he's gonna feel even more hungry because of this)

Wellness seems to be the "middle option" (360 kcal per cup ME (metabolizable energy), now I'm lost with that ME value, I dont even know how to compare it with the 2 others! So I dont know if maybe I could feed him more with that food or not)

Beside the amount of food I'll be allowed to give my dog (based on the kcal/cup value), I'm also really concerned about the protein/fat/fiber/carb in his diet. But i dont know what the best option is? High protein/low fiber/low fat/low carb??.... Unless too much protein for a dog that cant lose energy is bad?

Any help, reference, advise, testimonial, anything useful to help me take the right decision would be greatly appreciated!
Kim (and Maestro)


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