Blue Buffalo Wilderness Healthy weight/protein questions...

[TeakasMom]

Hey everyone, Teaka needs to lose about 3lbs. Yes, she is that overweight. She was on TOTW lamb but the vet said it was too rich for her. I don't know exactly what that means. Because of the vet and the recalls I've switched her to Blue Buffalo Wilderness Healty Weight. BLUE Buffalo Wilderness - Natural Evolutionary Healthy Weight Diet for Dogs ? Grain Free.

Can anyone give me their take on this food? Seems all of the reviews I'm read were regarding larger dogs. I'm also going to up her exercise. I figured with the healthy weight food and more exercise the weight should come off. Right??

Also, I'm a bit confused about protein levels. Seems from what I've read online that there is a conflict between owners who believe in high protein or low protein. My vet said higher protein. Most of the articles I've read online say higher protein. But then again, can Yorkies handle the higher protein?? Can someone explain this to me??

TIA!

[Britster]

Every one will have a different opinion regarding protein.

Some say for weight loss, you need high protein and low fat, and others say you need low protein and low fat. I think personally that most pet dogs won't utilize over 32%ish protein so I tend to like to stay under it, but not really go below 23%-25% either.

Honestly, I don't think even think you necessarily NEED a weight-loss food, just feed less of a regular food and up exercise. However, she is 3lbs over-weight... what is her ideal weight? 3lbs on a 16lb dog is different than needing to lose 3lbs on a 8lb dog for example.

For reference, my 16lb dog gets approx 2/3 cup of dry kibble each day (of a 430 kcal/cup food) and is "highly active" (1+ hour of exercise per day) and about a spoonful of wet food, as well as a few treats.

BB Weight Loss specifically - Jackson ate it for a few nights at my dads house - they had their dog on it who needed to lose and phew! the gas! He rarely gets gas (even when doing cold turkey switches)... it's only happened on two foods (BB being one of them). So that's just our experience and I stopped it immediately. Of course, like I said, it was a cold turkey switch and we only gave it 3 days or so.

But if you are looking for low fat or reduced fat, etc - Wellness CORE has an option, California Natural, Innova, Canine Caviar has a Special Needs formula, Now! and Go! (by Petcurean) has some.

[TeakasMom]

Thanks for the reply! I was already feeding her just 1/4 cup a day to lose weight. Wasn't working. I thought there was too much fat in the food. It was at 15%. Now on the BB it's 10% and I'm upping her exercise and doing clicker training in the process. The BB has L-carnitine which apparently helps make some of the fat into energy. I hope I understood that correctly.

I have tried Wellness core when I was learning about grain free. She hated it. She's only had one meal of the BB. Haven't noticed any gas though. I'll definitely be on the lookout. I would really like her on Acana light and fit. But I can't find it anywhere!