Had a shock today when I went to the vets, my male chihuahua tops the scales at 7.5lbs!  I thought he was getting fat, so I cut down on his treats.  But discovered that my 4 teenagers have been feeding him titbits on the sly.  The vet says he has to lose 1lb in around 4 weeks because he looks a bit like a boxer puppy - lol :-)  I've told my kids to stop feeding him behind my back and they have promised to help him lose the weight.  I will stick to just dry dog food which is what he likes, but he has been on bakers puppy/junior since a baby.  Could it be that this food is too high in protein or is this ok to carry on with so long as we cut out the treats and titbits?  As I explained to the vet, Indie walks with our German Shepherds 3 miles every evening so despite his weight, he is a very fit dog!  It is surprising how quickly the weight creeps on as I know all too well myself!!! Lol!

Dawn, Swansea, Wales.

Well to be honest Bakers would not be my first choice of food for any dog particularly one that is putting on weight as if you look on the ingredients it contains added sugar and salt.

So it might be prudent to feed a good quality diet that does not contain these.

I would recommend Burns dry food or possibly James Wellbeloved and cut down his amounts.

As your children are old enough to understand the possible health risks of what they are doing perhaps you could emphasise the fact that becoming overweight puts extra pressure on his heart and joints and so reduce his life span and possibly his quality of life altogether.

This is why it is so vital to really observe your dogs every day and not necessarily be guided by what it says on the packet.

What sort of treats and tipbits are we talking about?  If they are high calorie items they should be the first to go and see how you get on.  With a small dog like this it would not take much to unbalance the diet as well as overfeed fattening calories.

You could try James Wellbeloved SNR for a while. the Snr food is less protien so it might help lose weight. Depending on the age of the dog to how long its on snr. Once the dog reaches normal weight ask your vet.