“We love our pets and want to give them treats, but we often don’t think about treats from a caloric standpoint,” said John P. Loftus, veterinarian at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. “It adds up over time. Better to show our love in ways other than food.”

“And everything counts as a treat, including marrow bones and rawhide,” Dr. Linder told me, as well as scraps of human food offered by owners or scarfed off their plates. Treats used for training or retrieval should contain only a few calories each, like Fruitables Skinny Minis or Zuke’s Mini Naturals.

Rather than overdoing treats, give your dog love and attention by playing ball, fetch or tug-of-war, which provides some exercise that burns calories. Cats, too, love to play with things they can wrestle with, like a toy mouse on a string or a ball of yarn. For pets that are too old or unwilling to play, you can show your love calorie-free with a caress, belly rub or scratch behind the ears.

Whether you feed your dog once, twice or even four times a day, the amount of food dished out should always be measured. Many owners are guided by serving sizes listed on pet food labels, but these are just general guidelines that tend to err on the high side, Dr. Loftus said. Not all animals are metabolically alike or equally active. Best to judge quantity by whether your pet is gaining or losing weight on the amount of food you provide, he said.

His colleague at Cornell, Joseph J. Wakshlag, said, “Guides should say ‘Please feed at the lower end of the feeding recommendations when starting our food, and increase only if the animal is losing weight’.”

As to whether to feed dry kibble, wet canned food or a combination, Dr. Loftus said, “The jury is still out as to what’s better.” Dr. Wakshlag added, “The calories make a difference, not the food. You can feed very little of a high calorie food and get weight loss if you are diligent. In general, canned foods designed for weight loss tend to provide fewer calories than dry food alternatives.”

Equally important is to learn to resist dogs that beg for more food than they need. Dr. Linder said, “If you’re already meeting your pets’ nutritional needs, they’re not hungry. What they’re really asking for is your attention. Better to distract them with an activity.”