Millie is overweight, not to much but overweight nether the less,

She is 9 yrs old now, she does not get the exercise she once had, she sleeps all day and does not do a lot of running around.

I have cut her food down a bit, I wont cut it down any more,

I accept it may shorten her life a little, but TBH, its a calculated decision , shorter life and a full belly, or starve her and her be hungry and live longer.

Not saying everyone should follow my lead, for this dog in these circumstances its how we work, she is not obese, she should be lighter, but she isn`t, but shes happy xx

I don't know anything about the food you are feeding, but if it is not a meat based food, this could be your problem. The dogs may be overeating in order to get the nutrients they need.

When one of my dogs became a bit overweight (I had to start keeping him on a lead, and hadn't thought to reduce his food intake) I tried cutting his food down but he was still over. Then I read an article stating that for overweight dogs cut the food down by 50%. I know that seems a lot, and I started by adding veg and decreasing the meat then phasing out the veg. Within a couple of weeks he was on half portions and not hungry. He got back to his ideal weight in no time, then I gradually increased his food by approx 25% and he has maintained his optimum weight. I know it sounds harsh, but seriously - it works, and he doesn't miss the extra food.

My elder dog will be 12 next month and she has maintained a constant weight during all of her adult life.

There is no need for "special" food, dogs, like us are overweight for one reason, too much food and too little exercise (unless they have some medical condition).

When we got Izzy 8 months ago she was overweight and looked worse for it as she is a stocky build and not as tall as Cherry was. I calculated that for her height she should be 80% of Parker's weight so fed her accordingly and threw in one extra walk a day as it was summer so nice light evenings.

She lost the extra 3lbs and as a side effect (of the extra walk he was also getting) Parker also lost 2lbs so very pleased and wasn't difficult.

Izzy is 9 years 7 months now and Parker is 10 years 3 months but both still very active.

I was just reading a Dogsey post that said raw carrot was good as a low fat treat, grated or chopped... I hope that helps, I know how hard it is.... But worth it when you see them able to really enjoy galloping about without tiring.

Agree JB. So long as the vet is happy and the dog has reasonable quality of life.

Glad you added the bit at the end about health issues

It's nice and simple when you have sole control of your dogs diet, but as my circumstances dictate that my dogs have to be with my parents 50% of the time it's extremely difficult to manage their weight. Even more so when my parents spoil my dogs inspite of my many reminders not to!!!!

I totally agree with this, our old Lab was overweight for the last few years of his life, but he was happy and those few extra pounds made very little difference to his over all life span or quality of life IMO.

Ditto everyone else, try and cut down, don't give into them barking for food, just ignore it don't tell the dog off just ignore them until they stop barking, then pay attention to them when they are quiet. My CKC used to be the most vocal horror for a while and that helped. Just feeding the dog won't solve the problem, just covers it up for a bit.

Apart from that could they get more exercise, a few bits of homemade agility kit, ten mins longer on each walk?
Cut down on food, make sure they have set mealtimes, make food part of the routine, and agree with the others about maybe a kong