hi,lovely people(sorry,but in my experience,you are all lovely,and ive had loads of help in the past,so you deserve the title)i have 3 collies,one is skinny despite getting twice the food the other two are,but healthy,im not worried about her-)the other two have squishy ribs,and one has fatty lumps,shes 8 .i want to cut their food down,i have been giving them roughly 6 oz morning and 8 oz evening,raw food,usually various minces,liver,eggs,tinned fish,skinny gwen gets more.ive just gone online and discovered my fatty pair ,17kg,should be having 11oz of food daily(i have been exceeding this amount by at least 3 oz daily,possibly more,they have lamb ribs and chicken thighs as well. all seem in good health ,get as much exercise as i can give them-im 68 and waiting for a hip replacement,so ouch.ive decided to slim them down,both are about 17kg,so not excessive,but both have plenty of squidge-bit like me !could i ask you clever lot to give me any tips and pointers? please?xxxxx

aim to feed 2% of desired weight and use low fat meats. if they seem hungry add green leafy veg. if 2% is too bigger drop go down more slowly. it may take a while but they will get there. Unfortunately as I expect you know this is unlikely to make any difference to fatty lumps , which arnt uncommon in older dogs. cause if they are lipomas is usually unknown

As someone said aim to feed 2% of the desired body weight. However my porky sheltie weighed over 8KG and should be nearer 6KG. 2% of 6Kg is 120 g a day. She GAINED weight on that. I managed to get her down to 8Kg by giving no more than 100g a day in 2 meals.
This is good quality raw complete. if I feed kibble I virtually count the pieces. She is 2yo and not spayed yet. So what I am saying is that they can do fine on less.
However my 16Kg dog gets 400gm daily as he is highly energetic.

thankyou ladies,ive got to start this morning,good idea to add veg,wish me luck,xxx

your doggy family seem like mine,Louise,my skinny gwen seems to live on her nerves,and is very active,even for a collie-i dont want her fat,but a few less bones showing would be nice!the other two get fat just looking at my toast!xxx

One of my dogs was too thin, the more I fed him the more came out the back end. He is fed raw. The vet said it could be his pancreas not producing as many enzymes as it should and suggested I add some raw pancreas to his diet. This worked wonders and he is now what I feel is a normal weight for an active dog. I get the pancreas from the Dog's Butcher. If getting it from a normal butcher either do not give pig pancreas or make sure it is British as some countries feed pigs with drugs dangerous to dogs. Can't help with the overweight problem.

thanks,thatdoesnt sound nice! glad you found an answer! i think gwens problem is just how she is,shes normal as regards poo,but i will bear what you said in mind,thankyou very much! am currently hardening heart and cutting food down,and feeling constantly mean! xx