[livingdustmops]

We had a dude that came into rescue like this and we didn't know if he would live long enough to bring the weight off as it was killing his heart. We put him on a pumpkin diet (non spice can of pumpkin in your grocery store). Pumpkin is very high in fiber and fills them up and dogs usually really like the flavor and to this we added cut up fresh green bean (slightly steamed) with just a little bit of dry food (Nutro Senior as it had low fat). We fed him in the morning and in the evening and we took him on 2 walks a day. At first it was pretty slow as he really had trouble and you could see it was really working his heart. The only treats he got was a few baby carrots a day. We slowly watched his spirit come alive as he got special time with us and once his weight started coming down then he got some of the old puppy feelings back. We were absolutely strict about what he ate and it took about 5 months but what a changed dog.