I took my rather hefty "miniature" dachshund to the vet this morning due to concern over his steady weight gain. He is a 2-year-old 'tweenie" who weighs in at 20 lbs. I believe he weighed around 14 lbs. this time last year. After gaining those initial extra pounds, he was put on a 'diet' in late November, and as a result has been gaining about half-a-pound each month . So ...it has become very clear to me that it's high time to get some blood work done to determine/rule-out any medical cause for this weight gain. The blood was drawn, and the test results should be available by Tuesday. In the meantime the vet (not my regular vet, BTW ...) made the expected suggestion that we switch to a weight management food. She said that the the Purina Pro-Plan that I'm feeding him now is designed for a 'more active' dog, and that may be part of the reason he is steadily gaining weight. She recommended Science Diet Lite. Immediately I cringed at this suggestion of Science Diet ... however, I remained silent -- knowing that I would be checking labels AND checking with the experts (a.k.a. the breeder forums) to make an educated choice of the best weight management dog food.

So ... that is why I'm posting. Can anyone recommend a good 'lite' dog food for a tweenie dachshund who is somewhat sedentary (although we're workin' on getting him more active!). I did stop by Petsmart (briefly) and checked a couple of labels, and found that Science Diet Lite does indeed list corn as their first ingredient ... ... while the Pro-Plan weight management lists chicken as their first ingredient. (I did my very best growling dog imitation at this point ... ) I wasn't able to stick around to continue looking at the different brands since they were having an stray-animal-adoption event and all the big dogs were scaring my little overstuffed chicken (aka dachshund). I intend to go online and check out ingredient listings/calorie content of all the various brands and ....
... I would VERY MUCH appreciate any suggestions from my panel of experts ....

Thanks in advance!

Debbie
... and Oscar
(the rotund one)

I'm definitely not an expert but I feed my dogs Wellness Core. I do know Wellness makes a healthy weight formula here's the link if you want to check it out.
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/dog_well ... management

... funny that you mentioned Wellness....

I had narrowed it down to Innova and Wellness (actually, I was looking at the Wellness Core).

So now I go to the 'specialty' pet store (I guess our needs have outgrown Petsmart .... sigh) ... and I'm going window shopping.... (this is where a great sale/coupon will have some influence ...!)

Thanks!!

Debbie

P.S. ... more suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!

I emailed wellness and they sent me a whole stack of $3.00 off coupons. If you're really interested in them I would send them an email and I'm sure they'd be happy to send you a sample! They sent me puppy packs and treats!!!

My daughter and I are getting ready to venture out and brave the roads (we've got 6 inches of snow last night!) to visit the pet store to shop for diet doggy dinners ...

I'll let you know if we end up deciding upon the Wellness ...

Debbie

Really the best that I have use for my golden and labs...is RD or WD. But you can only get them from your vet...and PetSmart if it has a vet Clinic and they have to call your vet and they give you a RX card to use when you check out, saying you can get it....

We have 4 of our older doxies on Wellness Weight Management and we a thrilled with it. Their weight stays down and we can give them a very reasonable amount so we don't feel like we are starving them. I highly recommend it.

thanx molly for putting in your input! glad someone else here uses wellness!

Don't forget the light weight snacks. Carrots, green beens, plain white popcorn, etc. You can freeze the carrots too and give them to your dog frozen. It makes a great snack that most of my dogs enjoy.

I quit feeding the Science Diet wieght management my vet suggested for my late Maltese when I looked at the ingredient list. I mean, c'mon PEANUT HULLS? I don't know if they've changed that since then or not but I don't know, I have a problem feeding my dog overpriced fillers.

I would definately choose a high quality kibble with good solid ingredients and adjust his intake to an appropriate amount, give him healthy snacks so you don't feel he's feeling like he's starving and increase the exersize, etc. Even if he is not a big one for walks or frisbee or whatever even just have fun making his meal time a game for a little mental and physical exercise. Try hiding his food in different areas of a room and make him find it. Start with just a few kibbles and hide it behind something easy to find it behind and let him see you hide it. When he finds it (or when you help him in the right direction) get really excited and praise him and tell him what a good boy he is! Pretty soon you will have him tracking all over the house to scent out his food and it will be fun for both of you.

Jenni

I started feeding Innova weight mgmt or low-fat (whatever it's called) to my overweight boy Sid a couple months ago, and it has done wonders!!! Of course I have no idea if it tastes good compared to other dog foods, but he is slim and trim now and looks great. I will probably switch Ginger to it after she whelps and weans her babies in a few months since she was at 14 lbs before breeding. She is another one of those dogs who puts on weight very easily, but I have others who never gain weight no matter how much they eat!

Anyway, You might give it a try if you haven't found the right food yet!

Just saw this post! This is some good reading that I had in my long list of stuff....LOL!!! I just found it. Thought I'd share!!
http://www.dogaware.com/diet/index.html