Vet warns 70% of pet owners make their dogs 'fat' due to three common mistakes

Thousands of people across the country have pet dogs.

After all they’re great friends, and make for lovely walking companions, but they may be eating a little too much. According to vet Amir Anwary, known as @amirthevet on TikTok, 70% of people probably have “overweight” dogs.

He said a lot of people don’t realise it, or even know why it happens, but they can pile on the pounds quite easily. Luckily, there are some things you can do to fix it though.

Amir says there are usually three main reasons why dogs are bigger than they should be, and the first is because most people “overfeed” them. He noted dog food should never be measured in “scoops”, as portion guidance is usually measured in milligrams.

To get the measurement right, he said you need to measure how heavy your dog is, and see how much food they actually need to stay healthy. It’s not a one size fits all situation.

He added: “The second reason is you’re over-feeding treats. Treats should not exceed 10% of your dog’s daily nutritional requirement, and most people are feeding significantly more treats.

“So cut down on the treats and the table scraps – that’s by far the easiest way to get your dog to lose weight. Third is very simple. You are just simply not exercising your dog enough.

“When I speak to owners and say ‘well, your dog is overweight, how much are you exercising him?’ ‘Well look, it’s tough, I manage to get them out once a day for 15 minutes, or once every second day’.

“Well, guys, that is not enough. Once every two days is not enough. Unless your dog is geriatric, or has a heart problem, you should be exercising them twice a day between half an hour and an hour.”

He said some breeds do require more exercise than others, but it’s super important. Amir implied it’s always better to exercise them more rather than less.

The video has since been viewed over 2,000 times since it was shared. People also had all sorts of thoughts to share with the vet.

One person said: “I fixed my dog’s weight issue by no longer feeding her 25% of most things I ate on top of her actual feeding plan.”

Another added: “Listen my dog is a bully when it comes to treats.” A third also replied: “We cut down to one treat a day. No scraps. The Aussie has lost weight, and the JRT is is 14, so we are not so strict with her.”

Meanwhile, a fourth also commented: “My dog loves table scraps. He’s essentially a living vacuum to clean up whatever mess my kids make when they eat. He isn’t overweight though.”