My Fat Dog: The Book

How to train your dog with doggy crack, aka venison or salmon treats..

A little video starring my dog Faith.

Too Hot for a Long Walk? Time To Train For Tricks

85 is starting to feel cool in our neck of the woods.  So our dog's not getting the walks she needs.  Until we can get her to a pool or a lake or a river or maybe even a large bucket, I do more training inside. Where to start?  How about here?  Thanks to Johan the Dog for this great library of ways to "get your trick on."  Johan's an agility dog.  How agile?  Why, agile enough to have  his own Twitter feed!

How Far Would You Walk For Your Dogs?

This guy is walking from Austin (TX!) to Boston (with his dogs!) to raise awareness about canine cancers.

Powerwalking with Your Dog

NYC Fox 5's Jodi Applegate has a really fun segment on how she POWERWALKS with her dog in glorious Central Park.  The second part of the segment includes tips on how to make your dog your personal trainer.   

Celebrity Dog Role Model: Cookie from "Real Housewives of NYC"

Cookie is an inspiration...what a great carrot chomper!

Spring is in the Air, and Your Dog Could Be in the Water...

Time for DockDogs, baby!

Seriously, if your dog is the swimphomaniac my girl is, consider competing. It is So. Much. Fun.

Featured Fat Dog Breed: Dachshunds

Here's a nice excerpt from the Dummies series about the quirks of the dachshund breed, who are especially prone to pulchritude.  Dachshunds: chowhounds extraordinaire, with a penchant for jumping combined,  sadly, with delicate spines.  If you're thinking about buying or adopting a lean and lanky pup, well, the dachshund is not your first choice. 

But man, are they cute.

Happy Stop Canine Obesity Month!

As usual, Faith has put on her winter two or three, and Jeff and I are working to get them off her. The tools are simple:  a measuring cup and a longer walk.  Now that she's nine, it's even more important that she not be carrying any extra weight.  We want her to feel good moving, and feel good living.

Meanwhile, an estimated 17 million dogs in the U.S. are overweight, and it's...not cute.   So the AKC has put some special oomph into lessening the number of pudgy pooches.  They offer a terrific, easy, self-assessment (dog assessment) quiz here, at their Stop Canine Obesity site.

As I've mentioned before, when we adopted Faith, she was overweight, and we didn't do such a great job getting the weight off--which led directly to some painful, expensive orthopedic problems.    The good news was that Faith was a young dog, and while we were middle-aged, we could learn new tricks--like measuring her food, and swimming her on a regular basis, and walking hard.   And she has never had a recurrence of those problems.  You're extending your dog's life and her comfort by helping her lose weight. And isn't that what you want?

Time for a new contest!

SAN FRANCISCO / Retired police dogs get long-term care

Very touching.  And very necessary:   SAN FRANCISCO / Retired police dogs get long-term care.