Choosing the Right Dry Dog Food to Aid in Weight Loss

10 Best UK Dog Foods for Safe, Effective Weight Loss and Maintenance

Overview of Burns Weight Control Dog Food

Burns Pet Nutrition is renowned for its dedication to creating wholesome, natural pet foods that cater to dogs specific nutritional needs. Their Hypoallergenic Complete Dry Dog Food formula is specially designed for adult and senior dogs requiring weight control support.

True to the Burns philosophy of keeping things simple and ethical, this food contains a limited number of high-quality protein and carbohydrate sources. There are no artificial additives, just thoughtful ingredients crafted into nutrient-dense kibble perfectly suited for weight loss and maintenance.

At the heart of this formula is high-quality white fish and brown rice, providing dogs with highly digestible protein for lean muscle maintenance. Brown rice offers slow-release carbohydrates to help control blood sugar spikes. Combined, these ingredients promote satiety while delivering complete and balanced daily nutrition.

This dedication to premium ingredients aligned with your dogs dietary requirements reflects why pet owners have trusted the Burns brand for over 100 years. Their hypoallergenic recipe makes no compromises, using thoughtful formulations tailored to your dogs needs for healthy weight loss.

Key Benefits for Weight Management

The Burns Hypoallergenic Weight Control formula is thoughtfully designed to help dogs lose weight safely and effectively.

A primary benefit is the high fibre content from rice bran, aiding digestive health and promoting satiety. By keeping your dog feeling full and satisfied, it reduces tendencies to overeat and beg for food. The added fibre also encourages a healthy gut microbiome.

In addition, the measured calorie count creates the necessary calorie deficit for weight loss while ensuring complete nutrition. With the average adult dog requiring around 400 calories per day, Burns provides 358 calories per bowl along with balanced levels of protein, healthy fats, and micronutrients. This considered approach prevents starvation modes during dieting.

The recipe also derives energy from brown rice and fish, providing slow-burning carbohydrates instead of rapid sugars. This gives your dog consistent energy rather than spikes and slumps, while the high protein keeps them strong and energised while losing weight. The nutritional balance helps prevent sluggishness sometimes associated with weight loss.

Ultimately, the tailored formula provides effective weight loss through appetite control, calorie reduction, and balanced energy sources. Burns makes it simpler for you to help your dog reach a healthier weight.

Hypoallergenic and Ethical Considerations

A standout benefit of Burns Weight Control recipe is how it caters to dogs with food sensitivities. Containing a single source of protein and carbohydrate, it limits ingredients that commonly cause adverse reactions.

The fish and rice formula provides a hypoallergenic, easily digestible meal. With no wheat, beef, dairy or soy, it avoids typical triggers. Many owners find it suits dogs with grain allergies better than grain-free diets, as the single carb source is well-tolerated. There are also no artificial additives, colours or preservatives that can cause issues.

Sensitivities can make weight management challenging if owners must rotate foods regularly. The simplicity of this formula allows consistent nutrition for sustained weight loss.

Ethically, Burns Pet Nutrition aligns with modern expectations around sustainability and community values. They source ingredients from trusted suppliers and sustainable fisheries to reduce environmental impact. Packaging utilises recyclable materials, demonstrated through their partnership with TerraCycle.

The brand also gives back via fundraising events for animal welfare charities and the Burns Pet Nutrition Foundation. This supports canine health studies improving quality of life. Conscientious owners appreciate Burns commitment to pets and the planet.

Ultimately, the hypoallergenic properties allow dogs with sensitivities to safely manage weight without complications. And the ethical practices around ingredients and sustainability provide further peace of mind.

Best Dog Food for Weight Loss (UK Brands)

Key Things to Look for

Picking the perfect food to help your dog lose a few pounds isnt an easy task, but these key features you should be keeping an eye out for will certainly lighten the load a little.

Age. This is actually a vital part of weight loss for chunky pups. This is because puppy food has much higher calories and fat content than adult food, which can cause weight gain and pancreas issues when fed to adult or senior dogs for prolonged periods of time.

Calories. You should check how many calories each dog food has before you serve it, that way you can make any necessary adjustments to the quantities being served. Youll find this number on the packaging, but you can also rest assured that our chosen foods are low calorie.

Ingredients. Weight loss foods should be low in fat, of course, but you also want to watch out for filler ingredients. These provide little to no nutritional value while making your dog feel fuller after each meal.

These ingredients include potatoes, cereals, wheat, and grains. While they are often fine in small quantities, you want to watch out for weight loss foods that use these in excess, sometimes even dwarfing the protein content in comparison.

Protein Content. One of the main issues you will find with weight loss dog food is that they contain very little protein when compared to standard ones. This means your dog isnt getting as many good nutrients, and it can be difficult to separate the good protein foods from the bad ones.

Vegetable Content. While you dont want too many vegetables in your dogs food so that they still get a good amount of protein, some vegetables are important. They are nutritious and packed with important minerals, but they also bulk up the dog food in a positive way to help them lose weight as well as maintain it.

The Best Dog Food For Weight Loss

You mightve noticed that your dogs gained a bit of weight recently, and youre starting to get concerned.

Is it time to put your dog on a diet, and if so, whats the best dog food for weight loss?

The good news is that switching to a diet dog food is most likely only necessary if your dogs obese. We spoke to three vets, who explained how you can tell if your dog is obese and why its important to curb those unhealthy habits that cause your pup to gain weight.

Benefits of a weight-loss dog food

The biggest benefit of a dog food specifically geared toward weight loss is that itll be lower in calories, which will likely help obese dogs shed pounds.

However, low-fat foods, [which are also low in caloric density], may not necessarily help your dog lose weight, Dr. Corinne Wigfall, a vet with SpiritDog Training, told The Dodo.

You need to look at overall calorie requirements for your dog per day (ask a veterinarian!) and then work out how many grams or ounces that equates to in food in total, Dr. Wigfall continued. Even though your dogs overweight, his breed may still need more calories than a diet dog food can offer him.

In fact, you may not necessarily need to purchase specialty weight-loss food at all. Before switching to low-fat dog food, I recommend using an adult dog formula but ensuring to measure the appropriate amount of food at each meal and limiting treats to less than 10 percent of the daily caloric need, veterinarian Dr. Michelle Burch from Paramount Pet Health told The Dodo.

But again, consult your veterinarian to get a more tailored opinion.

How to find the best diet dog food

The best dog food for weight loss is one thats low in calories. Changing to a lower-calorie food may help, Dr. Zach Marteney, a veterinarian and medical director at Meadowlands Veterinary Hospital in New Jersey, told The Dodo.

Low-calorie choices may be available over the counter, but there are other dog food formulas made specifically for weight loss thatll require a prescription from your veterinarian.

There are even prescription foods for weight loss that are helpful, Dr. Marteney said. I've used one for my dog in the past with great results.

Its important to pay attention to which foods come widely recommended by vets because thatll help keep your pup healthy on his weight loss journey.

There are many great brands of pet food available, but in general I prefer larger brands as they tend to have higher-quality ingredients with more consistent formulation, and their quality control is much better than smaller brands, Dr. Marteney said.

Dr. Marteney loves brands like:

• Purina Pro Plan (which is what Dr. Marteney feeds his own dog)
• Hills Science Diet
• Royal Canin
• Blue Buffalo

I recommend discussing with your veterinarian the best dog food choice for your pet when choosing a low-fat diet to ensure all nutritional needs are met, Dr. Burch said.

Best dog food for weight loss

We rounded up some great weight-loss dog foods that are low in calories and from brands recommended by vets because of their high-quality ingredients and control standards. Just make sure you always talk to your vet before switching up your pups diet.

How to choose the right dog food

Choosing the right dog food can be a bit of trial and error because it means weeding out any possible sensitivities your pup might have.

You may find that if you give him a chicken-based diet, he gets itchy or develops ear infections, or if you feed him beef, he develops diarrhea, Dr. Marteney said. You may have to try three or four diets before you find one that he can eat long term.

As far as grain-free diets, you should steer clear of them unless your dog is truly sensitive or allergic to grains.

I recommend against grain-free diets for nearly all dogs whole grains bring a lot to the table in terms of nutrition, and a specific type of heart disease called dilated cardiomyopathy has been associated with grain-free diets, Dr. Marteney said.

And once you find a dog food that works, stick to it.

It's best to use the cruise-control method of feeding, Dr. Marteney said. Find a food that works and just keep using it.

How much food do I feed my dog?

When trying to figure out how much food to feed your dog, its going to depend on two things: your individual pup and the specific food youre feeding him.

On the back of the bag or can there will be a chart that tells you how much to feed based on body weight, Dr. Marteney said. This is a good place to start, but I think about it the same way I think about a 2,000 calorie recommendation on human food packaging: If I'm eating that much and I'm gaining too much weight, I need to cut back a little, and if I'm getting too thin, I probably need to increase my calorie intake.

Consulting your vet on the amount of food you should be giving your dog, no matter if its diet dog food or regular food, will ensure youre helping your dogs weight loss rather than hindering it.

Other ways to help your overweight dog

If your dogs either obese or slightly overweight, there are many different things you can do to get him back down to a healthy (and more comfortable) size besides feeding a weight-loss dog food.

Here are a few ways to help your pup drop his extra pounds:

• Increase his daily exercise. Ideally [with] daily walks, Dr. Wigfall said. Hydrotherapy may also be helpful for very obese dogs with joint issues or older dogs.
• Increase play and use of toys inside.
• Nix treats. Use their daily kibble portion as a treat for good behavior, Dr. Wigfall said. Your dog cannot tell the difference and will still get the same chemical release from the reward of a biscuit of their regular food as they do from a store-bought treat.
• Dont feed him human food. Human food contains significantly more calories than pet food, so even a small portion of food can equal many calories, Dr. Wigfall said.
• Feed your dog based on his target weight, and reduce that target weight slowly so as not to underfeed him. This means you should set an achievable target weight first (5 or 10 pounds less than his actual weight), and then adjust the target as he continues to drop pounds.
• Ask your vet about joining a weight-loss program if they offer one. These involve monthly weight checks, diet plans and exercise goals, Dr. Wigfall said. They are usually free to attend, and often there is a lot of competition to find the biggest loser.

Keeping your dog at a healthy weight will ensure he lives a long and happy life with you, and with plenty of playtime, exercise and healthy food, those extra pounds will disappear in no time.