After getting some training at work on the Royal Canin range, I am very interested in swapping my Golden Retrievers to their Breed Formula. It targets key weaknesses that the breed is more prone to and if it helps preventing these problems from happening or happening too soon, then I'd be a fool not to give it a go. Yes it is a bit dearer than my current food, but after seeing one of my friend's GR suffering so badly from arthritis and another with terrible heart problems, I think that if I actually can help these things from happening to my dogs, then I should go for it. The glucosamine-chondroitin formula in their Golden Retriever food is actually double the one found in their normal Maxi range. The levels of Antioxidants too are more elevated to help prevent cancer etc.

I've just had my girl back from the vet from a spay. I am now concerned about keeping her fit and lean. She has no weight issues at the moment and is muscly and at her ideal weight. I want to keep her like that. Did you guys find ti hard to prevent your neutered dogs from putting weight on? Did you actually cut the food a lot compared to what you gave before? Always had entire dogs before, so I don't have a clue. Thanks for your help.

I had my BC speyed last year following on from her first season.  I monitored her weight closely but didnt find she put on weight at all as a result of her spey, she is a very active girlie as we started training for agility last year so for me this wasnt a problem.

I've never found it hard keeping my neutered dogs at a healthy weight. I don't even think about it, I feed as usual and feed a bit less or more depending on how they're looking. One of my dogs was neutered about a year ago and I've had to increase his food slightly and he's still very slim.

Generally it seems they can put weight on fairly quickly if I'm overfeeding but I'm not sure how fast an entire dog would put on weight.

Regarding the Royal Canin breed specific diet I would say there are a lot better quality foods on the market. I'd be interested to hear what the training consisted of. This may be of interest to you (http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=1523&cat=6). It certainly doesn't rate very highly.

As for keeping weight off a neutered dog, like others have said, you really just need to keep an eye on it. I've not changed the way I feed, whether entire or not, or the quantities, and my dogs are always the correct weight (shame I can't say the same about myself!).

A lot of vets recommend cutting food by 20% as soon as a bitch is spayed.  I did it with a bitch that was done last year, almost immediately after her op.  I am very pleased with her size and weight, although the percentage may differ from dog to dog.

Both my male dogs are  neutered and neither have a problem with putting excess weight on - in fact one is bordering on being too lean. They both get a good amount of exercise every day which helps to keep them fit and a healthy weight and they are both fed a raw diet. My vet often comments on how good my GR looks. I don't think all dogs necessarily put on weight following neutering.

I have one bitch that's been speyed, and she is prone to weight gain, but so was her mum, so that could be a genetics thing as much as anything. I just watch what I feed her and keep an eye on weight and any treats she has. Also a good exercise regime. If you bear these in mind then there's really no reason why she should gain excess weight. In terms of amount of food, she's probably on 10% less than my other girls - they're similar in build and weight. 
Antioxidants too are more elevated to help prevent cancer etc
Something I'm wary about, going for naturals only ... some are linked to causing cancer. But then I wouldn't feed RC at any cost :-(

thank you guys. I'll keep her on her normal adult food and keep an eye on her weight for next couple of months.