I need to get some weight of my 7 year old spayed girl. She has had a leg injury so exercise has been very limited.And now if she has too much she gets stiff. I am just going to start her on a swimming course to see if that helps.
I have tried lite diets, cut right back on treats etc, feel that we are in a never ending circle, excerise = bad leg = weight gain= bad leg??
What sort of diets do you find works best?

Half whatever you normally feed and fill up with vegetables, eg carrots.

my girl was spayed at 4 , the vet said i had to get the weight off her as she had a lot of tummy fat, she also had hip displasyia, the swimming helped in both areas and she is now 5 kilos lighter and fitter than ever

heart from my friends: dogs should do the blood test, to see if it is a hypothyroid problem first when the owners find their dogs' weight issue

Burns high oats can be quite good for getting weight off

Otherwise it's cutting down and if you feel there isn't enough food add some veg

the swimming should help too

good luck it's a never ending battle for both dogs and us humans too :)

Ditto Westcoast.

I have never found that the lite diets were any good, and with my breed noticed a deterioration in coat condition and muscle tone, which I didn't get when continuing with less of a high quality diet.

Not sure i need to blood test her, she is 7 years old had 2 large litters and never did much good in the showring because of being a bigger framed girl. So i think we always have had the risk of weight gain after spaying and the leg injury hasn't helped.
Since she has been on a lite diet her coat is not so good, will try what the rest eat in a smaller amount and add lots of veg to it. Thanks

Not sure i need to blood test her, she is 7 years old had 2 large litters and never did much good in the showring because of being a bigger framed girl. So i think we always have had the risk of weight gain after spaying and the leg injury hasn't helped.

One of mine is 9 and was spayed (and had a lump removed) 2 months ago. She gained a LOT of weight. (2.6 kgs last time she was weighed and it looks like more now.) She looks like a hippo yet should be slimline -but is top size for a bitch. Not a good look for a Malinois to look like a hippo, especially not when on 2 CCs...... Her coat looked normal, everything else seemed normal, BUT where she was shaved on her stomach for the op the fur did NOT grow back. AT ALL. Had she not been shaved I would never have noticed any change in coat. Took her to the vet to ask for a thyroid test and yes she IS hypothyroid. Yet this girl has always found it easy to put on weight, has had 3 litters, was the picture of health etc (CC and BOB at SKC in May this year), but the only thing that alerted us now was that the weight wasn't shifting like it usually did. So I think it is always worth to have a blood test done. The vet didn't even think she'd have a problem but she did.

> Her coat looked normal, everything else seemed normal, BUT where she was shaved on her stomach for the op the fur did NOT grow back. AT ALL. Had she not been shaved I would never have noticed any change in coat.  yes she IS hypothyroid. Yet this girl has always found it easy to put on weight,

Had the same thing with a Rott, after she had her spleen removed at age 10. as you say always worth the cost of a blood test