chubby pets

I noticed an article headline yesterday that I didn't open and read: something about obese pets.
Then this morning I chased around google images to find something about beagles and birthday cake for the Squin, and first saw this, which makes me heartsick:



I've seen a very overweight corgi in my last home town, but not like this. Any chance this photo is artificially fattened?

Sooooo, I chased down that article from yesterday - turns out it was on the BBC news online site - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7963985.stm

quoting,
Owners 'unconcerned at fat pets'

Less than a quarter of owners said they referred to food labelling advice
Nine out of 10 pet-owners are unconcerned about their animals' size despite an increase in overweight pets, a survey suggests.
Some 62% of dog-owners and 72% of cat-owners believed they could do little or nothing about their pets' weight.
More than 2,100 UK households were surveyed on behalf of the Pet Food Manufacturers' Association (PFMA).
A report by the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals in 2008 claimed one in three UK dogs was overweight.
(end of clip)

They had a photo with the article -

I figure this may not be all cut and dried, in that there may be reasons for pet weight gain (or loss) unrelated to poor feeding from owners, but my
unscientific guess is that it is mostly due to owners' poor choices re feeding and pet exercise/activity.

There also may be some mirror imaging going on, as the human populations increasingly have obesity issues.

I'm no expert on pet food, though I have opinions and some experience at keeping an unusually long corgi safe re weight and what it could do to his back... that is, he got the veterinarian recommended amount of pet food a day, and almost never a food treat (though lots of head scratches and eye contact and owner chatter), and plenty of exercise for most of his time with me.

I can see making one's own pet food, given the recipes are researched for nutritional value, but not everyone can do that.

How do you deal with your pet's weight, if there are problems re either too much or too little heft?