In the book due out this spring (What? What do you mean, “What book?” Your Dog, The Owner’s Manual. Where have you been?), a key topic will be watching your pet’s weight. We say it here all the time. All things being equal, if you want a predictor of the health and longevity of your pet, look at their weight.
I am ashamed to admit that until the past couple years, exhibits A and B in the display of Dogs Who Need To Get Slim Pronto were Cami and Harry. Cami Missy Diva Piglet Punky Girl weighed in 19.9 pounds in May of 2009. That was her chunkiest. Harry Potter Dachshund Greene is built bigger than his sister anyway (since he’s a boy), and as recently as last June, he was 22.8 pounds. At his sausageiest (that is too a word — don’t get all Merriam Webster on me), Harry tipped the scales at 26.4 during his annual physical in August of 2008.
Today, I took them in for a routine visit. Drum roll please…..
Cami is down to 15.9, and her brother is 18.4. The sveltest our furry little Teckels have been since, well, a long time ago. They have tapered little waists again. While they’re nowhere near skin and bones, I can feel their ribs.
The weight loss has been a long, gradual process that didn’t begin in earnest until I got religion from our resident veterinarians (particularly the blond dude with the blue shirt, red tie and long publishing history). Here, for the first time, I can reveal to the readers of Pet Connection what our secret was to achieving this remarkable level of health. I think it’s fair to say it’s a groundbreaking new weight loss regimen.
Ready?
Our secret was….diet and exercise. I’ll wait a moment for you to write it down. Diet and exercise. Or, if you prefer, exercise and diet.
Diet: We stopped feeding them the standard crap that they had been ingesting morning and night for the first eight years of their lives. After returning from last year’s Global Pet Expo, we switched them to Force from The Honest Kitchen (full disclosure, a Pet Connection sponsor, though I pay what everyone else pays. I receive no kickbacks, monetary or other remuneration for saying how much I love their product. If I stopped blogging tomorrow, Cami and Harry would still be eating Force, occasionally with mashed butternut squash stirred in).
Also, the only treats they get are raw baby carrots, raw string beans and pea pods. Plus, for extra special desserts, JillCookies delivered fresh from Bozeman, Montana, courtesy of Cami and Harry’s BFF Jill Gibbs. That’s the entire diet. In other words, no more crap.
I’ve tried to be good about this, though this winter has made some weeks more treacherous than others. Still, when we go, I keep up a pretty good clip, and the goal is to get them panting and ready to conk out in the car, as they did today in this picture.
That’s it, really. That’s how they’ve gone from being, frankly, walking risks for Dachshund spinal disorders (weight is the #1 risk factor) to being their current, pesky little track star selves. I’d still like for them to shed another pound or so apiece, but I’m very happy with the progress we’ve made with them in just the past two years.
It can be done. If your pet is porkier than they should be, don’t just throw your hands up and say, “That’s the way it is, I guess.” If Cami and Harry can slim down, anyone can.
Photo credits: Both pictures, David Greene. Top, Cami’s diet has improved, but she’s ever hopeful that a wheel of brie will fall from the sky. Bottom, exhausted dachshunds after a romp in the woods.
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