How do I manage weight loss for a dog that cannot exercise much right now?

Normally, a weight loss plan combines a moderate diet reduction with increased activity, but when exercise is restricted, the calorie deficit needs to come almost entirely from food.

This means leaning toward the higher end of the typical 10 to 20 percent reduction range, since there is no exercise contribution to help create the deficit.

Follow your vet's specific guidance on what activity is and is not appropriate during recovery, since safety and healing take priority over weight loss during this period.

Gentle mental enrichment, such as puzzle feeders using part of the measured daily food, can help keep a resting dog occupied without adding physical strain or extra calories.

Weigh every two weeks and expect a similar 1 to 2 percent of body weight per week loss target, achieved through diet alone rather than the combined diet and exercise approach.

Once activity restrictions lift, reintroduce exercise gradually as advised by your vet, and reassess the food amount again as activity genuinely increases. Keeping a simple written record of the food amount used during the restricted period also makes it easier to see exactly how much to adjust once normal movement resumes, rather than trying to remember the original figure from before the restriction began, which could have been weeks or even several months earlier in some longer, slower recoveries from a more serious injury.