My Betty Beagle has a weight problem. She is on AG Lamb and all her food is weighed carefully, she is actually fed the same amount as my little Patt and unfairly she does not have an ounce of fat on her, but Betty keeps gaining. Betty is not a delicate lass, in fact she is a buxom wench so will be at the top end of the recommended Beagle weight. I cannot cut her food down any more as when she gets hungry she will scavenge every bin, the bird food and even hang into the pond to get the fish food.
My vet has suggested this food http://www.viovet.co.uk/Hills_Prescription_Metabolic_Advanced_Weight_Dog_Food/c15674/, however one look at the ingredients has made me shudder and I don't really want to feed this into my dog.
I have tried adding veg etc to bulk her food out but that does not go down well with her and it gets the cold shoulder.
I have heard that Burns food often leads to weight loss http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-reviews/0035/burns-weight-control and wondered if anyone has had success with this, or if there is any food you can recommend that really works. I don't mind spending for her as long as it actually works and she is not starved and hungry all the time.
I have never had weight problems with any of my dogs before so would be grateful for any advice. BTW she was spayed last year at the rescue centre before I rehomed her and she has had several litters in her past.

Bless her, her metabolism has probably slowed right down. Dogs just like people may just need to be that little bit more weighty, I certainly would not cut her food to a minimum.

Not the same and for the same reasons, but I look after my friends Beagle when she goes on hols, for a different reason she was weighty, due to her always having lead walks as she was not great on recall, she just wasn't getting the right exercise, when I had her I put her on Iams 2 x half cups morning and evening, I also gave her a chicken wing in the afternoon (couldn't be mean) but the most important thing was I made her run with me and my girl on walks, when my mum's pack was here (most days ;-) ) she would be off lead running with the pack, she always stayed with the pack.

The cut down on food and the extra exercise turned her into a different shaped dog when my friend came back, she now comes twice a week when she can, so her dog can run with the pack, it is that exercise that is at the crux of keeping the weight down, some dogs even when they have a good walk, do that, just walk, they need to run off lead, or even on. (As long as healthy enough and not too old)

I would just slowly build up getting her to run more, it will keep her mind off food too. ;-)

Just to add, will she chomp on knuckle bones?  Another good distraction. ;-)

One of my Cockers has had a weight problem, and is unable to exercise properly because of problems with his feet.  I found that just reducing the quantities of his normal food left him feeling hungry and searching for supplements (under the bird table etc). He has lost 2.5 kg, which I attribute to: 1) underactive thyroid diagnosed and treated; 2) changed to Burns weight control food, which he finds sufficiently filling to keep him from feeling hungry; 3) treats are only vegetable sticks (he loves them, but maybe your Betty won't) and the bird table is out-of-bounds; 4) he has started swimming in a dog-swimming pool which has recreational swims.
The weight loss has continued despite his having been chemically neutered (with Suprelorin) six months ago.

He was previously fed raw for breakfast and AG Lamb for dinner, and I could not reduce the amounts sufficiently both to keep him satisfied and to get the weight off him. 

My vet also made noises about Hill's food, but like you I didn't like the look of the contents.

Good luck, I hope you find the right solution for Betty.

Many thanks Carrington, I too am concerned about cutting her food down too much. I think the dreadful place she was before ( PF?) must have thrown a handful of food at any number of dogs because when she first came to me she would grab a mouthful of food from her bowl and run into a corner to eat it, then go back and grab another few kibbles and back to the corner again, I don't think she had ever been in a situation where she didn't need to fight for food.
We live in the sticks and are lucky enough to have quite a few acres plus woods where the dogs run free. She runs like the wind with the 2 Patts, ears flapping, legs like pistons and manages to keep up with them running non stop. I'm afraid we do very little lead walking. So she runs like this 3 times a day.
Vet has said she needs to lose around 2 kg to be a correct weight.

Merrypaws thank you for telling me about Burns weight control food, this is the one I had my eye on, but it's good to hear from someone who has actually used this food. I wish I could get her swimming, we have a lake in one of our fields with a 'duck island' in the middle and she does sometime go into this, but usually by accident when she tries to reach the ducklings. She gets out very quickly and usually gives me a look as if to blame me !

I might get a small bag of the Burns to see if she gets on with it, I usually find it easier to have all the dogs on the same food, however if I must, then I must have her on something to get the weight off.

I have a breed where every bit of food sticks (except for maybe the odd youngster under two).  I never use the diet foods as I have found it reduces their general condition (muscle and coat).

the only way I have ever managed to get weight off in any reasonable fashion is to halve the amount of food (based on maintenance levels) and to help avoid the scrounging replace the volume with low calorie veg.

Frozen green beans, squashes (carrots have a fair amount of sugar but aren't bad).  Avoid two much of the cabbage family as it will make the urine smell strongly.

Once she is the right weight increase the food to about 20% less than you were feeding before you started (as obviously it was too much), and reassess her weight after a month and tweak up or down.

By keeping a close eye on her weight in future you will avoid having to put her on such a strict diet again, and will just be able to tweak her rations from time to time.

I used Burns lamb and rice adult maintenance with my two spayed girls and they looked good on it and didn't become overweight at all. The vet was happy for them to continue on it in old age rather then swapping to elderly dog type foods. I tend to feed by appearance with my dogs and adjusted the quantities if needed, luckily they ate raw veg so had carrots and broccoli added to make them feel they had lots to eat.

Has the vet checked her thyroid levels? When I had a newly spayed bitch that just kept gaining despite tiny amounts of food, it turned out she was hypothyroid and once on medication, the extra weight came off easily despite larger portions. She had NO other symptoms than weight gain.

Many thanks for all the replies.
I am going to try her on the Burns weight loss for a month to see how she goes with it, whether she likes it and her poos are good etc. If I am not happy with it then I will have her thyroid checked as this thought has been in the back of my mind. I am hoping the Burns works as this would be the simple answer and hopefully once the weight has been lost then I could perhaps feed one meal Burns and one meal AG - it will be trial and error.
I don't think I can cut her food down any more as she is on the same as my terrier and she is a lot bigger than my Patt, also she will not touch veg. I know if she was starving she would eat anything, but I know she will turn to all the other rubbish things before the veg ( rabbit and horse poo, bird and Koi food etc) and I don't want to force something she really doesn't like into her, so Burns seems the best option for the moment .
Fingers crossed.

ps I have an unstable thyroid so know how much weight you can gain very quickly no matter how little you eat, so I will definitely have her checked my next vet visit unless I feel I need to go sooner.

>I can cut her food down any more as she is on the same as my terrier and she is a lot bigger than my Patt,

I'd hazard at a guess that the Patt runs much hotter than the Beagle, and there should not be that much size difference.

Just to show you my youngest Elkhound bitch who is two this month eats twice as much as my others.

Her cousin used to be the same until she was around 2 1/2, since she has her litter she is on just a  smidge more than the maintenance amounts of the others.

My friends Border collies used to need twice what my elkhounds do and weighed less or about the same.

A golden retriever spayed bitch I used to walk got the same amount as my Elkhounds and was never what you'd call skinny, it kept her just nice.