My Fat Dog: The Book

Going to the dogs: Pets get their park - The Boston Globe

 Maybe you live in a town where you have an off-leash dog park already...and if you do, hallelujah.  But if you don't, this article provides some background into how to get started, and why to get started.  In Somerville, MA, the dogs have gotten very lucky.

Going to the dogs: Pets get their park - The Boston Globe.

When Pigs Fly...and City Dogs Swim

I am inordinately proud of the fact that I have joined the modern world and uploaded my first video to the video file-sharing megamonster, YouTube.  This is a brief video I took of our dog Faith swimming Queechy Lake in upstate New York.  Swimming rules.  It helped Faith recover from her sprained wrist and lose the pounds that aggravated the injury in the first place.  I recommend it highly to nearly every size, age, and kind of dog.

You would never have guessed from Faith's, er, configuration, that she would be a swimphomaniac--but she will retrieve her water Kong until it sinks to the bottom of the lake....and even then, we've seen her go under the dock to get it back.  She is at her doggiest in the water. Enjoy.

Dogs, money, health

Over the course of your pet's life, he is going to get sick. You can feed him perfectly, exercise him appropriately, train him gently, and...he will still end up in the vet's office.  Jeff and Faith and I were on the road yesterday, and we met Casey, a gorgeous Great Dane.  Casey's owner said that his last Great Dane suffered from heart disease, and the medication cost a whopping 300 bucks a month...but it kept the dog going for almost 18 months.  That's 18 months of pleasure with your dog...and over $5,000 out of your pocket.

So...where do you draw the line?

Gina Spadafori comments today on an article in the New York Times that deals with the high cost of pet health care.   Lots of good information (including a study that reveals that dog owners spend more on treats than regular old dog food), but the writer makes the fatal (both to Gina and to me) mistake of concluding "It's only a cat. Or a dog."  Yes. That argument worked very well in talking people out of their flooded houses in Louisiana and Mississippi last year, when it became clear that their "only a pet" was going to be left behind.

Gina argues for pet insurance that has a high deductible, and says, sensibly,

There has to be a middle ground between "sorry kitty, I can replace you for $20" and taking out a second on your home to pay for chemo.

Radical Dog Diet Tip: Move to Another Town

Okay, this isn't in my book, and it certainly only works for the short run, but...if all else fails with your dog's weight loss program, I have a suggestion:

Move to another town.

Our old home was, is, the capital of "Pizza on the Ground."  And Faith is the Queen of Pizza Scarfers.

New town? We haven't spotted a pizza slice on the pavement in three days.  Pluswhich, as they say in my home town, Faith hasn't made any treat buddies in the local establishments yet. No "Mark of the Three, No, Four, No Five Treats."  No Russ the Beloved Former Dog Trainer who Makes Faith Work  For Her Biscuit.

I'm not serious about moving if your dog doesn't lose weight easily (in AA they call it it doing a geographic), but what you COULD do is modify your dog's walk if you do tend to pass, um, food-centric areas of your town.

Good Pet Writer Writes About Pudgy Pooches and Cowsize Cats..

 Newsday pet writer Denise Flaim has a nifty article about helping your cats and dogs lose weight, and she brings up a great idea I hadn't thought of:  visiting a cat or dog show to get a good view of what a "normal" sized pet should look like.

We were really guilty of this, because our dog is a magical blend of pit, beagle, and Lab, which makes her, even at her healthy weight, a very curvy dog. One of Faith's fans used to call her "Marilyn Monroe."  So, in denial, we let her get...too curvy.

Faith is big-chested and full-hipped...something like her, ahem, female owner.  Maybe this is a new disorder--when you have body image distortion...for your dog!  Anyway, give it a try.  And if you don't have a pet show nearby, when you see a shapely dog (or, less likely, a cat), ask her owner how much she weighs.  People will rarely reveal their own weight, but pets are a different story.

The article also quotes the fabulous Dr. Andrew Kaplan who is...Faith's vet!