Best weight loss food?

It is rare that I would recommend this, but I would seriously see about getting Science Diet r/d (reduction diet).  It has very unhealthy ingredients for being on it long term, but if the dog is deathly overweight to the point that he can barely get up, I think it may be necessary until he gets into a more managable weight.  

First of all, I would have him checked for thyroid problems.  We had a golden that ballooned up over night it seemed, and it was thryoid.
 
However, my golden girl KayCee, who turned 7 today, had bad knees and between the surguries 14 months apart and the recovery, etc, she ballooned up also.  Nothing was taking weight off and i had her tested twice in 2 months time for thyroid, but was okay.  Finally my vet said put her on the Scicne Diet r/d, I did, and it did the trick.  She went to from 85 to 70 pounds in just a few months.   Once she started losing weight she had more energy and played more and that helped.  He then suggested I put her on Fit and Trim.  I did and she lost another 3 pounds and has stayed at 67 pounds for a couple or three years now.
 
However, I do give mine fish & veggies 4 times a week and boiled meat and veggies 3 times a week.  They get it at night along with some dry food.  All I can say is the Science Diet r/d worked great for my golden girl.

I'll second checking for thyroid problems.  MOST diet foods add more carbs and really don't help the problem at all.  Any good quality food, fed in lesser amounts is usually the best way to go.  Give him all the exercise he can handle, that'll help burn the calories, and fed him smaller amounts.  If he looses just a pound, that's going to help him be able to walk more...and with each pound lost, more exercise so it becomes a cycle.....he looses and can walk more which helps burn the calories so he looses more.  Just like in humans, dogs don't get this heavy in a week or two, and it's going to take a long time to drop the weight.  Slow and steady weight loss is the safest.  If you are looking for FAST results you'll be disappointed.

Thyroid check at MSU and the Eukaneuba Veteraniar Reducing Diet (available only from vets).  Measure everything.  If going to use treats, see if you can use the food and just reduce what goes in the bowl.  I wouldnt use treats at all during this period unless they were carrots and green beans.
 
No free feeding.  Dish down only for 10 minutes.  Remember, the dog's metabolism will adjust to the loss of caleries.  Frequent short walks and swimming if you could find it would be helpful to exercies without  heavy joint impact.
 

Once you have checked the thyroid, and the vet diets have done the job of getting your dog down from morbid obesity, I have a vote here for Innova EVO, believe it or not.  If you try it, be VERY careful to select the correct feeding rate for your dog's target weight - you'd be feeding a lot less than a regular food.

I just switched my overeight Marremma male (kind of like a Great Pyranees) to EVO and it was amazing how the weight melted off.  Please note that he's very active so you have to offer plenty of that too.

Since we are mentioning less than adequate ingredients to drop the weight quickly, I have had many vets send people in for Purina Fit and Trim.  Yes its corn!  But I myself with my DC-10 Wide Body Brittany have tried many diet foods when he was young.  He blew up after neutering him at 8 months.  Like someone blew into his mouth with a straw.  Anyway, nothing seemed to work.  What I did was get him on Senior food earlier than the norm which still tastes good but in Pro Plan has higher protein, but less fat in it.  I also cut the quantity given to him.   No treats.  I just this past month started giving him a biscuit or two after I come in from work.  He is in heaven since he never had them before.  I figure he is getting older and should have some enjoyment!  Or maybe that is me I am thinking of.....oh back to my story.  I have heard from people that nothing worked for them but Fit and Trim.  It drops the weight quickly.  I suppose you could use that and then give some chicken you cooked in there or veggies, both wouldn't cause more weight gain and would at least improve the diet some. 

My moms dog Minnie was on Nutro Lite for about a year with no results at all. 
 
Eage Pack Holistic Fish - feed less than the recommended amount.  Works GREAT!  Since that was suggested to me on here a while back she has lost about 4.5 pounds.  Shes only 26 lbs now so thats a lot of weight in a smaller dog.

I have heard from people that nothing worked for them but Fit and Trim. It drops the weight quickly.

But why does it drop weight quickly,and is this really a good idea? Could the weight fall off so quickly because there isnt much nourishment in this food and they poop it straight out?
Sure you could add fresh foods to make up for what this food is lacking ,but whats the point in that? Wouldnt that be like taking a chocolate sundae and mooshing vegies in with it to try and counteract the bad stuff?(sorry i'm bad with analogies[8|])

I just went and had a look at the ingredients to fit n trim,and all i can say is that it saddens and worries me that people feed stuff like that to their dogs[&:] If you have an overweight dog there MUST be a better way.I'm not a huge fan of lite diets as it is,but there are so many better brands with healthier ingredients out there,why resort to something that i couldnt find ONE good thing about?

Susan i hope you reply as i would be interested to your view on this.

I don't get it. So you put the dog on a crappy diet food, he drops the weight, and then you go back to a good food. Guess what-- he'll just regain the weight. It's like dieting for humans-- doesn't work long term.
Stay away from the "light" dog foods-- lots of dogs turn carbohydrates straight into body fat. You want a low-carb, high-protein food. Evo is a good one. Make sure you feed the appropriate amount-- it's a calorie-dense food. Add in veggies if you feel bad about feeding your dog so little. Or, better yet, make your dog work for a living. Eat out of a food-dispensing toy or have to obey commands to get the food. The large-bite Evo they have out now makes a wonderful training treat for the bigger dogs.  And of course exercise.

When Teenie got here, 11 months ago, she weighed 23 pounds. Now, she weighs 13. When I got her, I was feeding kibble. All I did was feed the reccomended amount, for a dog 3 pounds lighter than her (I used the lower end of the reccomendation). The weight came off, gradually. She lost 10 pounds, in 10 months. She's a small dog, so that's a LOT of weight. There isn't much need for diet foods, if you ask me. She was almost double what she should be, and she lost it all without one bite of diet dog food. 

Hi ,   We have had our 3 yr old Lab on Innova's evo for about 4 months now and he hasn't lost a pound.  We have also noticed he is starting to become allergic to it so we have to switch him back to Nutro's Lg breed weight mangt food. I know its heavy in grain but his itching is getting out of hand. We had him on 2 cups of the Innova evo and he didnt loose anything. Hopefully, it will work for others but for us it hasn't helped. Good luck!!  David

Wow David, I feed two cups of EVO to each of my extremely active working Marremmas (kind of like a Great Pyranees). My female weighs about 85 pounds and she is gaining weight. My male weighs about 125 pounds and he is toning up - not sure whether he's literally losing weight but his muscle tone is vastly improved and he has a waist now! I got the feeding recommendation right off the bag (the low end for 100 pound dogs).

The itchiness is troubling, but I do suspect cutting back might have effected some weight loss. EVO has dairy in it - maybe that was a problem for him.

We had him on 2 cups of the Innova evo and he didnt loose anything. Hopefully, it will work for others but for us it hasn't helped.

Just cut back. It's not a magic weight-loss potion:  if you feed too much of Evo (or any food) your dog will gain weight or not lose. You could try the red meat Evo, it's possible your dog can't tolerate poultry. Two cups sounds like a lot for a typical pet lab.