Going to the Vet in the AM

[starfire]

My dog is overweight and it is my fault I know.

I am going to take her to the vet tomorrow and have her weighed I know her vet is going to get on to me! So after today it is probley going to be NO treats for her for awhile. She is NOT going to be happy at all !

I am taking her for her check-up late Feb. so I am going to try to get some of weight off by then.

Give us strength to make it until then!

Any suggestions for rewards besides treats?

[Kathy]

I had a 58# cocker spaniel so I know what you're up against. I dreaded vet visits because I got the lecture.

My vet said I could substitute steamed vegetables that are still slightly crunchy for treats. Cauliflower, carrots, green bean & zucchini were her suggestions.

My dogs all ate & actually liked vegetables from the time they were puppies so it wasn't hard to switch them over to veggies only. ChiChi lost about 16 # over 6-7 mos so it worked.

[dlangland]

Well, the 150 lb. Saint Bernard I used to have became very fond of, you'll laugh...raw snow peas, lettuce, but only if it had dressing on it, of course I use no-fat type, most any raw vegetable, and for treats one of her favoites was regular people crackers, the low-fat vegetable crackers...She thought anything people ate was a treat. You can get pretty inventive. Just have to see what they enjoy.

It may be a bit more exercise would help, although I don't know your situation. I have trimmed down my mom's housedogs, by letting them still eat what they do, treats as usual, but when they stay with me while my parents go on vacation, the dogs always loose weight without trying to just from getting more fresh air and exercise. Deb

[starfire]

The ideal weight for the Boston Terrier is 12 to 18 lbs not over 25 lbs at the most!

So, how much does she weigh? 26.3 !
The Vet said for her the idea weight should be
20-22 lbs.

The good news is she has lost .1 (she was 25.4 last March) I don't see how she did that!

So in March when we go back for her check-up I hope she has lost 1-2 lbs.

[vera]

My husky, Indy, has been renamed "the coffee table dog" by Marchwind because all you'd have to do is put a board on him and he'd make a nifty, wide coffee table He's on a severe diet, portion-wise, but what he really needs is exercise. He gained all this weight after he got neutered in October '04 and it caught me by surprise.

He's one of those dogs that'll run off and get in big trouble, so he has to be tied up outside. It's hard to exercise a dog that needs to be on a leash or in the house at all times, unless you can walk/run a few miles every day with an energetic and fast husky yanking you along (*laughs uproariously at the thought of even trying*)

He rarely gets a doggie cookie - maybe once a week, if that often-, so cutting or changing treats isn't something I'd have to wonder about. But if any of you have any ideas for exercise for a dog like him, I'd sure love to hear about it!

[Kathy]

Vera, since there's a lot of hardwood trees around March's place-could you run a wire line(wire clothesline) from one tree to another approx 6' off the ground and then attach Indy to the line so he could run back and forth but still be controlled?

I'm probably not explaining it the best but he'd have freedom to run for however long the distance was between the trees as well as a bit of side freedom depending on how long his lead is.

Since he's a powerful dog, that's why I suggested the wire clothesline.

[vera]

Kathy, he doesn't seem to like to run when he's alone out front, and not even the other dogs count as "companions". People do, though, so he'd walk/run with me or anybody else. The tieout he's using is about 15 feet long (Ira has the 20-foot one), but he's not making use of the 30-foot radius any more than he'd use a bigger space.

I'll have a fenced doggie yard again once I have my own place, and I think that playing ball or something, one on one, will help get the chunkies off of him - if we make it a project and work on it as such. Plus, Lannie had some good advice about his digestive system and feeding... adding exercise to that should do the job