Exercise, exercise, exercise. Eliminate free choice diets. Feed a definite amount of food. No people food. Feed more times a day but smaller volumes of food.
Dogs can burn calories in the act of digestion.
Your veterinarian can help you decide what type of diet to feed your obese pet. Traditional weight-loss diet plans restrict fat intake, increase complex carbohydrates and fiber, and maintain the optimal amount of protein. The high-protein diets popular with people have reached the pet industry too. Much research is being done on a nutrient found in skeletal muscle and heart muscle that allows long-chain fatty acids to be burned up more efficiently. Research shows that pets eating diets higher in L-carnitine lose more fat and maintain more muscle weight than do pets on typical diets.