A balanced dog food is at least a quarter protein and 1600 kilocalories of energy per pound, but if dog is not active, overweight dogs will need less food. For canned dog food, calorie intake is measured at 500 calories per pound, although if dog food is all meat, it’s 600 calories a pound. For dry food, 1500 calories per pound, and semi-soft or moist food is 1350 per pound. So if a dog weighs less than 11 pounds, feed them about 4 ounces of dry food a day. Up to 22 pounds, feed 5 ounces, 22-50 pounds gets 11 ounces, 55-75 pounds gets 17 ounces, and 75 pounds or more get 35-30 ounces of dry food.

All these calculations don’t necessarily work, though, as each dog metabolizes food differently and has different activity levels. Remember, a dog doesn’t have to eat every day, and can go up to five days without eating. Also, spaying or neutering dog does not cause obesity.

If your dog only nibbles at food, don’t be fooled. Nibblers tend to eat more in long run than gobblers, and thus gain weight quicker. And if obese dog is picky, dog will eventually become accustomed to healthy food, it may just take a while.

Once your dog is on a diet, keep track of dog’s weight. If obese dog has lost even a little weight over two weeks, you’re on right track.

Walks should be given regularly (a couple times a day), but don’t overdo it at first if dog is really fat. Moderation in everything is key to seriously overweight dogs. The goal should be double amount of walks your dog is getting now. Once your dog is trim, though, it’s good to walk your dog a lot – most dogs don’t get enough exercise.

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Teaching your dog to bark on command: Then go away for a few minutes and come back. Ignore his barking and ignore everything else he does. Just stand there, doing nothing, not rewarding him at all, not even looking at him. It may take a long time, but eventually your dog will calm down, stop barking, and start doing his own thing. Once your dog calms down and stops barking, start working with him again. This time, only give him a treat when you say “Speak” and point at him, and then he barks. 1. Verbal command and point. 2. Bark. 3. Reward. Don’t give him a treat for just barking on his own. This part will take a while, but he will eventually understand command. You’re rewarding him for behavior he already is predisposed to do, you’re just associating a command with it. Teaching your dog to be quiet: Go away for a few minutes, and then come back. He’ll probably be barking a lot when you come back, but again, stay totally still and don’t reward him at all (no praising, no eye contact, nothing). Once he stops barking, count to five slowly to yourself. You may have to wait a long time before he’ll stop barking enough so a full count of five, but it will happen eventually. Once you can count to five without any barking, then reward him with praise and a treat. Notice that at this point, behavior comes before cue. Shape behavior first, and then add your cue.

Teaching your dog to be quiet on demand: Keep that up for a while until behavior sinks in, and then add command. When he’s not barking, hold up your hand as if you’re signaling someone to stop, and say command “Quiet”. If he’s quiet, then give him a treat and praise. So order is 1. Verbal command and hand signal. 2. Dog is quiet. 3. Reward. Soon your dog will know how to be quiet on demand.

After a while, treats won’t be necessary, and even verbal praise won’t be necessary every time. The praise at irregular intervals is intermittent reinforcement part of picture, and is very powerful. Intermittent reinforcement works better than if you reward behavior every single time.

Soon you’ll have a dog that will go totally quiet when you tell him to!

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