Just like humans, dogs can put on an extra few pounds. While their diet is not as diverse as ours, there are a few ways to help your pup get back in shape.

The first way to do this is to look at your dog’s diet. By increasing the canned or raw food in its diet, your dog will be taking in more protein and fewer carbs. A good ratio is 50/50, but you can choose to make the protein portion even higher. Give your dog smaller but more frequent meals, and use a measuring cup so you know exactly how much your pet consumes each day. Lastly, remove your dog’s access to other animals’ food throughout the house. If you have two dogs, give them separate bowls for feeding.

When it comes to exercise, take a few things into consideration. Extremely overweight dogs may need time to develop stamina — take things slowly. Some breeds of dogs need more exercise than others, so create activities accordingly. Retrieving games are great for hunting breeds while a squeaky toy works for a toy breed like a Chihuahua. Taking your dog on a 20-30 minute walk twice a day will help them maintain a healthy weight. If you introduce a new lifestyle to your dog, give it time. They will adapt.