Health
Obesity can be dangerous for dogs, experts warn — here’s how to help your pudgy pup lose weight
The need to shed unwanted pounds affects not only humans, but also dogs, according to veterinary experts.
Pet obesity rates have been on the rise over the past two decades in the U.S., with 59% of dogs classified as overweight or obese in 2022, according to a report from the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention.
Obesity can shorten a dog’s life expectancy, contribute to pain and increase the risk of diseases such as diabetes, skin conditions, respiratory disorders, renal dysfunction, osteoarthritis and cancer, according to the report.
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So how to help your furry friend battle the bulge?
Fox News Digital spoke with several experts who offered advice for helping your pup shed some pounds.
Pet obesity rates have been on the rise over the past two decades in the U.S., with 59% of dogs classified as overweight or obese in 2022. (iStock)
Dr. Jeffrey Krasnoff, a veterinarian at Brookville Animal Hospital on Long Island, New York, told Fox News Digital that if your dog is gaining weight, it is important to start by seeing your veterinarian.
“Overweight dogs should be checked for underlying medical conditions, such as hypothyroidism and Cushing disease (an excess of the hormone cortisol),” Krasnoff said.
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For Linda Fiordiliso — an American Kennel Club (AKC) judge who also shows bulldogs in national competitions and owns a dog grooming business in West Islip, New York — keeping her dogs in shape and healthy is a priority.
“The dog should look toned. I don’t need an Arnold Schwarzenegger, but I need a dog that looks healthy,” she said, noting that this requires monitoring the animal’s diet and exercise.
Even for dogs who aren’t on the competitive circuit, it’s important for them to remain at a healthy weight, the AKC judge told Fox News Digital.
Advice for monitoring intake
Overweight issues in dogs are usually caused by overfeeding, Krasnoff said — noting that pet owners need to be disciplined when it comes to feeding dogs the appropriate food and portions.
“Dogs can’t open refrigerators, so it must be the owners who are giving the food to their beloved dogs.”
“A lot of people give too many treats — and that’s how the dog gains weight, just like a person who eats too many snacks and then sits on the couch all day.”
Krasnoff said he’s had success with certain prescription diet foods — as long as the owner strictly adheres to the diet plan.
To reduce calorie intake, Fiordiliso said she adds frozen peas or string beans to her bulldogs’ food to help them feel fuller with fewer calories.
If your dog is gaining weight, it is important to see your veterinarian, experts agree. (iStock)
There are a variety of tactics to help dogs lose weight — starting with identifying the source of the extra calories, said Lori Asprea, a licensed veterinary technician and assistant professor at Long Island University Post Veterinary Technology School.
“Perhaps the pet is being overfed at meals or is being given too many treats, or kids or other family members might be handing out extra goodies or parts of their dinner,” Asprea told Fox News Digital.
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The next step is to determine the pet’s caloric needs.
“I suggest that anyone interested in weight loss for their pet consult with their veterinarian to help them calculate the furry family member’s caloric needs,” Asprea said. “There is a base formula, but we tailor this based on pet activity, breed, health status and goals.”
For best results, reduce a pet’s daily intake gradually, veterinary experts suggest. “We never want the pet to be underfed or to have behavior and health changes from a drastic reduction in food,” an expert said. (iStock)
In households with multiple people, it can be difficult to keep track of how often the dog is fed.
Asprea recommends coming up with a plan to track what the pet gets daily — the amount of food and treats, including the calorie counts — and then comparing the actual intake with the recommended intake.
“Some of the treats out there have a lot of calories and can really pack on the pounds for our pets,” Jacqueline Geary, a licensed veterinary technician specializing in emergency and critical care on Long Island, told Fox News Digital.
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“Substituting treats with something such as a baby carrot can make a difference,” said Geary, who’s also a faculty instructor at Long Island University Post Veterinary Technology Program in Brookville, New York.
She recommends breaking treats into smaller pieces rather than giving an entire milk bone for one reward.
For best results, veterinary experts suggest reducing daily intake gradually.
“With overweight pets, just like people, we start small and make gradual changes to daily activities.”
“We never want the pet to be underfed or have behavior and health changes from a drastic reduction in food,” Asprea said.
“You can speak with your veterinarian about low-calorie snack options and certain prescription diets that are low-calorie but high in fiber, which allow pets to eat a higher quantity and feel satisfied while reducing calories,” she added.
One expert recommends breaking treats into smaller pieces rather than giving an entire milk bone for one reward. (iStock)
It’s never a good idea to try a human diet trend on your pet, experts emphasized.
For example, animal experts said there is not much research to show that intermittent fasting is effective in dogs.
“It is not a tactic we use, since the studies were fairly inconclusive and more research will be needed to better understand how something like intermittent fasting would affect our pets,” Asprea said.
“For now, we do not recommend fasting your pet unless it is medically necessary.”
Tips for keeping dogs active
Increasing activity levels not only helps pups shed pounds, it also boosts the animal’s mental and physical health, experts agree.
“The time spent being active depends on the pet’s health, age, disposition and breed,” Asprea said.
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“We always say ‘a tired pet is a good pet,’ so it’s important for owners to tune into their individual pets’ needs.”
Each animal, even within the same breed, can be different, she pointed out.
Increasing activity levels not only helps pups shed pounds, it boosts the animal’s mental and physical health, experts agree. (iStock)
“It’s worth taking note of how much they want to engage or if they have destructive behaviors because they are bored,” Asprea said.
Consult with your veterinarian before starting your furry friend on a new exercise regimen, she also said.
“As a general rule, with overweight pets, just like people, we start small and make gradual changes to daily activities so as not to overwhelm or stress them physically,” Asprea told Fox News Digital.
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There are ways to encourage lower-impact activity while being mindful of the extra stress the added pounds put on your dog’s joints.
“In my house, we play hide and seek with dinner,” Asprea said. “I take half the meal of kibbles and hide them all over and give the command to find. This is physically and mentally stimulating, all while getting dinner done.”
It’s never a good idea to try a human diet trend on your pet, veterinary experts emphasized. (iStock)
Fiordiliso suggested increasing the animal’s activity level by going on more walks and playing with a ball to get the dog moving to help burn calories for both the pet and the owner.
If at-home tactics do not seem to work, veterinary experts recommend using other services, such as physical therapy for pets.
There are also veterinarians who specialize in sports medicine and rehabilitation, using special tools like underwater treadmills to help get pets moving safely.
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In a dramatic turn of events that’s captured the attention of animal lovers worldwide, Punch — the young macaque at a zoo in Japan famous for his inseparable bond with a stuffed orangutan toy — has reached a major milestone in his journey toward social integration.
On Thursday, visitors and staff at the Ichikawa Zoological and Botanical Garden witnessed a breakthrough: Punch was seen cuddling with and hitching a ride on the back of a fellow macaque.
Punch’s story began with hardship. He was abandoned by his mother shortly after his birth in July 2025 — and to ensure his survival, zookeepers stepped in to hand-rear the primate.
On Jan. 19, 2026, the zoo officially began the process of reintegrating Punch into the “monkey mountain” enclosure.
The transition was initially fraught with tension.
Punch’s story began with hardship when he was abandoned by his mother shortly after he was born. To help him, zookeepers gave him a stuffed toy that he began dragging around everywhere he went. (David Mareuil/Anadolu via Getty Images)
As a hand-reared infant, Punch was bullied and ignored by the established group of monkeys.
He was often seen huddled alone with his orange plush companion while the rest of the troop interacted.
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In an official statement released Feb. 27, the Ichikawa Zoological and Botanical Garden detailed the meticulous care behind this process.
Previous viral videos showed Punch bullied by the rest of the troop, running to his plushy toy for comfort. (David Mareuil/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“From an animal welfare perspective, our primary goal is to reintegrate Punch with the troop,” the zoo said.
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The strategy involved nursing Punch within the enclosure, so the troop could recognize him as one of their own, and pairing him with a gentle young female macaque prior to his full release to build his confidence.
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The latest footage, captured by X user @tate_gf, suggested the zoo’s patience is paying off.
The video shows Punch seeking physical contact not from his toy, but from another monkey — eventually climbing onto its back for a vital social behavior for young macaques: the “piggyback ride.”
The zoo’s strategy appears to be paying off: Punch, shown at far left, was recently seen riding on the back of a fellow macaque. (David Mareuil/Anadolu via Getty Images)
While Punch still carries his stuffed toy for comfort during moments of perceived danger, the zoo remains optimistic about his progress.
The organization cited the successful 2009 case of Otome, another hand-reared macaque who eventually outgrew her stuffed toy, successfully integrated — and went on to raise four offspring of her own.
The zoo has had crowds coming to see Punch, with hundreds of people lining up to get inside to see the young star, according to reports.
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“I’m hoping Punch has a good life like everybody else does, and think he’s a cute little guy,” one person commented online.
“Such a precious baby,” another person wrote.
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This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Artificial intelligence has been touted as a boon to healthcare, but a new study has revealed its potential shortcomings when it comes to giving medical advice.
In January, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Health, the medical-focused version of the popular chatbot tool.
The company introduced the tool as “a dedicated experience that securely brings your health information and ChatGPT’s intelligence together, to help you feel more informed, prepared and confident navigating your health.”
But researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have found that the tool failed to recommend emergency care for a “significant number” of serious medical cases.
The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine on Feb. 23, aimed to explore how ChatGPT Health — which is reported to have about 40 million users daily — handles situations where people are asking whether to seek emergency care.
Artificial intelligence has been touted as a boon to healthcare, but a new study has revealed its potential shortcomings when it comes to giving medical advice. (iStock)
“Right now, no independent body evaluates these products before they reach the public,” lead author Ashwin Ramaswamy, M.D., instructor of urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, told Fox News Digital.
“We wouldn’t accept that for a medication or a medical device, and we shouldn’t accept it for a product that tens of millions of people are using to make health decisions.”
Emergency scenarios
The team created 60 clinical scenarios across 21 medical specialties, ranging from minor conditions to true medical emergencies.
Three independent physicians then assigned an appropriate level of urgency for each case, based on published clinical practice guidelines in 56 medical societies.
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The researchers conducted 960 interactions with ChatGPT Health to see how the tool responded, taking into account gender, race, barriers to care and “social dynamics.”
While “clear-cut emergencies” — such as stroke or severe allergy — were generally handled well, the researchers found that the tool “under-triaged” many urgent medical issues.
The team created 60 clinical scenarios across 21 medical specialties, ranging from minor conditions to true medical emergencies. (iStock)
For example, in one asthma scenario, the system acknowledged that the patient was showing early signs of respiratory failure — but still recommended waiting instead of seeking emergency care.
“ChatGPT Health performs well in medium-severity cases, but fails at both ends of the spectrum — the cases where getting it right matters most,” Ramaswamy told Fox News Digital. “It under-triaged over half of genuine emergencies and over-triaged roughly two-thirds of mild cases that clinical guidelines say should be managed at home.”
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Under-triage can be life-threatening, the doctor noted, while over-triage can overwhelm emergency departments and delay care for those in real need.
Researchers also identified inconsistencies in suicide risk alerts. In some cases, it directed users to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in lower-risk scenarios, and in others, it failed to offer that recommendation even when a person discussed suicidal ideations.
“ChatGPT Health performs well in medium-severity cases, but fails at both ends of the spectrum.”
“The suicide guardrail failure was the most alarming,” study co-author Girish N. Nadkarni, M.D., chief AI officer of the Mount Sinai Health System, told Fox News Digital.
ChatGPT Health is designed to show a crisis intervention banner when someone describes thoughts of self-harm, the researcher noted.
OpenAI launched ChatGPT Health, the medical-focused version of the popular chatbot tool, in January 2026. (Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“We tested it with a 27-year-old patient who said he’d been thinking about taking a lot of pills,” Nadkarni said. “When he described his symptoms alone, the banner appeared 100% of the time. Then we added normal lab results — same patient, same words, same severity — and the banner vanished.”
“A safety feature that works perfectly in one context and completely fails in a nearly identical context … is a fundamental safety problem.”
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The researchers were also surprised by the social influence aspect.
“When a family member in the scenario said ‘it’s nothing serious’ — which happens all the time in real life — the system became nearly 12 times more likely to downplay the patient’s symptoms,” Nadkarni said. “Everyone has a spouse or parent who tells them they’re overreacting. The AI shouldn’t be agreeing with them during a potential emergency.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Open AI, creator of ChatGPT, requesting comment.
Physicians react
Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, called the new study “important.”
“It underlines the principle that while large language models can triage clear-cut emergencies, they have much more trouble with nuanced situations,” Siegel, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
ChatGPT and other LLMs can be helpful tools, a doctor said, but they “should not be used to give medical direction.” (iStock)
“This is where doctors and clinical judgment come in — knowing the nuances of a patient’s history and how they report symptoms and their approach to health.”
ChatGPT and other LLMs can be helpful tools, Siegel said, but they “should not be used to give medical direction.”
“Machine learning and continued input of data can help, but will never compensate for the essential problem – human judgment is needed to decide whether something is a true emergency or not.”
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Dr. Harvey Castro, an emergency physician and AI expert in Texas, echoed the importance of the study, calling it “exactly the kind of independent safety evaluation we need.”
“Innovation moves fast. Oversight has to move just as fast,” Castro, who also did not work on the study, told Fox News Digital. “In healthcare, the most dangerous mistakes happen at the extremes, when something looks mild but is actually catastrophic. That’s where clinical judgment matters most, and where AI must be stress-tested.”
Study limitations
The researchers acknowledged some potential limitations in the study design.
“We used physician-written clinical scenarios rather than real patient conversations, and we tested at a single point in time — these systems update frequently, so performance may change,” Ramaswamy told Fox News Digital.
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Additionally, most of the missed emergencies happened in situations where the danger depended on how the condition was changing over time. It’s not clear whether the same problem would happen with acute medical emergencies.
Because the system had to choose just one fixed urgency category, the test may not reflect the more nuanced advice it might give in a back-and-forth conversation, the researchers noted.
ChatGPT Health is designed to show a crisis intervention banner when someone describes thoughts of self-harm. (iStock)
Also, the study wasn’t large enough to confidently detect small differences in how recommendations might vary by race or gender.
“We need continuous auditing, not one-time studies,” Castro noted. “These systems update frequently, so evaluation must be ongoing.”
‘Don’t wait’
The researchers emphasized the importance of seeking immediate care for serious issues.
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“If something feels seriously wrong — chest pain, difficulty breathing, a severe allergic reaction, thoughts of self-harm — go to the emergency department or call 988,” Ramaswamy advised. “Don’t wait for an AI to tell you it’s OK.”
The researchers noted that they support the use of AI to improve healthcare access, and that they didn’t conduct the study to “tear down the technology.”
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“These tools can be genuinely useful for the right things — understanding a diagnosis you’ve already received, looking up what your medications do and their side effects, or getting answers to questions that didn’t get fully addressed in a short doctor’s visit,” Ramaswamy said.
“That’s a very different use case from deciding whether you need emergency care. Treat them as a complement to your doctor, not a replacement.”
“This study doesn’t mean we abandon AI in healthcare.”
Castro agreed that the benefits of AI health tools should be weighed against the risks.
“AI health tools can increase access, reduce unnecessary visits and empower patients with information,” he said. “They are not inherently unsafe, but they are not yet substitutes for clinical judgment.”
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“This study doesn’t mean we abandon AI in healthcare,” he went on. “It means we mature it. Independent testing and stronger guardrails will determine whether AI becomes a safety net or a liability.”
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