I went to visit a pup I bred today that went to a family friend. She is 8 months old. Well she is a WHALE No idea how much she weighs, but its too much! She is on a lamb and rice adult formula 26%/16% , one cup in the am, one cup in the pm. The pup is lazy and is in a home with two retired individuals. What can I suggest to these people as far as food is concerned. She is already on only 2 cups a day. They claim she does not get table scraps and only two small biscuits a day.

Is it ok to put a 8 mo lab on a low calorie/ weight management formula? I know she needs exercise, but I want to give advise regarding the food formula they have the puppy on.

Wow! That's hard to believe. My 7 month old male eats 2 cups twice daily. And not fat.

Something seems off. Has she had a complete physical with thyroid panel?

Did you ask what they are giving for treats and is she being fed from the table? Most dog treats are VERY fattening and feeding from the table is a NO NO

They may tell you "not very much" BUT--------

In my years as a groomer, this has always been the probem.

Yes it's ok to put the pup on a lower protien/fat food.

I see in your post that they say they don't feed her from the table and that they only give her two treats a day. I would suggest they only use carrots for treats and that they use a *measuring cup* to measure out her food. They should use a 1cup measuring cup that can be leveled off on the top. I had one person tell me the same, that her huge Labrador only got two cups of food a day. Well I babysat for the dog for a weekend and had the owner drop the cup off with the food. Well it wasn't a cup at all! When I measured it out for her it was almost TWO cups. OTOH if indeed they are using the right measuring cup than they should check her thyroid and make sure she has a full workup with a vet. There is no way 2 cups of food should make a puppy that fat.

Thanks Gail, your response is helpful. No, no table foods I am assured and just medium size milk bone type biscuit twice a day.

To the other posters a thyroid panel is an idea as I wondered that myself. Was not sure if 8 months was too soon for that type of test. And yes, she is only on 2 cups a day, these people have no reason to lie to me.

Did you ask those people to show you "the cup" that they are using? Sound funny but you would be amazed of what people uses.

What brand of food are they feeding? I recently had a 2 year old come back to me and boy was he FAT. They also only fed him about 2 cups a day. They brought all of his stuff with him, so I have the food scoop. He was even on diet food. They were using Nutro Natural Choice. My brother's 2 picky German Shepherds also eat Nutro and are severely obese. They only eat a tiny amount of food. I also have another Lab friend whose dogs are a bit chubby. They are on the same brand. It seems to me that some dogs must not process the food the same way. I switched the boy we got back to Eukanuba and we noticed a difference in his waistline withing a week. Nothing drastic, but noticeable for sure. Maybe just a change of food will do the trick.

Great point - I had a similar experience with a family who was feeding a very expensive food they saw recommended on a pet forum. They theorized they were saving money because they only had to feed a cup and a half a day, but when they dropped her off - same thing, their "cup" (came with their food storage bin) actually measured out at 2 cups.

I agree completely. Switch foods.
When I fed Eagle Pack I could not keep weight on my dogs unless I fed an extra cup of it.
Maybe they can also arrange to have someone come in to exercise this girl-she is too young to sit home or, be on weight reduction formulas.

Can they hire a kid to walk the dog?

One girl was so overweight she could not be spayed. This owner was also not measuring properly. Using a coffee mug.

Some dogs will drop weight on grain free food.

I would feed lower fat but would not reduce the amount of protein in a growing Lab.

Dogs draw their energy from fat first so if she is not getting any exercise to utilize it she will gain weight.

If the above is not the case I agree with others on checking thyroid.