The Daily Dog: Hefty much?
I will have you know. I do have her on a diet, I walk her an hour every day, and I’ve had her thyroid checked. I really just don’t know what else to tell you. She’s big-boned? “Healthy”? Of strong stock? The camera adds 40 pounds?
Bonus pic below the fold…with hot caption action.
Maggie whispering sweet nothings in Sunny’s ear…pre or post humping?
March 31st, 2008 at 4:59 pmI’d hit it.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:01 pmFirst photo caption:
1. Bring me Solo - and a cookie
Also, the camera adds 40 lbs? How many cameras were you pointing at her?
March 31st, 2008 at 5:05 pmShe looks like she just ate the circus that came to town.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:10 pmReminds me of my favorite children’s book — “Frog and Load Are Friends”
March 31st, 2008 at 5:12 pmFat and happy! When you get to be her age it’s just good to be able to chase stuff.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:13 pmMaggie: “Psst…don’t tell frog what I do to you. I want it to be a surprise!”
March 31st, 2008 at 5:14 pmlookit that face, lookit that face! all sorts of complex emotions that consist of disapproval, disapproval, and slight disapproval. awwww.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:23 pmI’d buy your explanations if Maggie wasn’t getting a little heavier as well. I’d say Sunny’s obesity is contagious. Clearly, as part of your campaign as Supreme Overlord of the Known Universe, you will have to ban transfats for canine consumption.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:24 pmI’d be shocked if the frog didn’t have a name, or at least an anthropomorphized personality…
March 31st, 2008 at 5:35 pmBill - The frog is Howard, and he likes sitting on the patio, watching the rain, and confusing Sunny with his stillness.
Rex - “I’d hit it.” You win the comment thread.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:50 pmSunny: “Lucky for me that everything in the universe is on my diet.”
March 31st, 2008 at 6:22 pmForeplay
March 31st, 2008 at 6:55 pmMan, I’d love to be a dog. Especially Rachel’s dog.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:59 pmSunny’s tongue is purple? I thought that was just Chows and Chinese Shar-peis.
March 31st, 2008 at 7:07 pmThe camera adds 40 pounds?
March 31st, 2008 at 7:51 pmExactly how many cameras are on her then?
How many chins is that…three??
Her face always cracks me up. She always looks so durn put out, unless she’s snapping at something (pork or Maggie).
March 31st, 2008 at 7:55 pmRead the blog daily and love the dog pics, but as a vet I have to strongly encourage you and others out there…
March 31st, 2008 at 7:58 pmlean dogs live an average of 2 years longer…
You love your dogs like I love my dogs, be strong and cut back on the goods. Pleasepleaseplease, for Sunny’s sake!
Tell your brother the same goes for Pookie!
The camera only adds weight if it is actually eaten.
Having said that, I am compelled to note that Sunny is an old lady and, thus, a poster child for post-menopausal metabolism meltdown. You are looking at your future, if you don’t take care, Miss Rachel.
Seriously, don’t they make low calorie dog chow? I feed my inactive cats a high quality, veterinarian approved reduced calorie diet and it helps alot.
March 31st, 2008 at 8:29 pmSuggest that you begin to feed Sunny a home-cooked diet. I’ve put both of my phat pooches on a beef stew menu and they not only hoover it up but have lost weight as well.
Sidney, our black lab had gone from 95lbs to steady at 75lbs and is far happier eating “people food”. Ditto with Louie our golden. The vet applauds and recommends the diet for other doggies.
The recipe is as follows:
1 TB vegetable oil
1.5 lbs. ground beef
28 oz. diced canned tomato
1 qt. beef broth
Brown beef in oil, add tomato and beef broth, simmer for 10 mins.
Add 6 cups water, bring to a boil.
Add 6 chopped peeled potatoes and 6 chopped peeled carrots. Simmer for 10 mins.
Add a box of pasta - the short kind. Cook for 10 mins.
Add a bag of frozen peas or green beans, depending on what your dogs like.
Add 4 cups cooked barley (about 1/2 box).
Stir, cool, and serve. Our dogs get 1 qt. per day each. Sunny may need more, Maggie probably less. Figure 1 cup per day for each 15-20 lbs. of dog, depending on activity level.
I make a double batch and it lasts 5/6 days, keeping in the fridge and warming in the microwave before serving.
March 31st, 2008 at 8:37 pmGood gravy, in a bowl. That sounds delicious and like something I would enjoy. Do you and the family ever eat it when you are too tired or too rushed to cook?
I must say, however, that it doesn’t sound the least bit like a reduced calorie diet for man or beast.
March 31st, 2008 at 8:47 pmMy previously overweight 11 year old Dachshund went on Prescription Diet (a Science Diet product)Weight Loss formula which we got through her Vet and it has worked miracles. This dog was 20% overweight and would easily eat herself to death given the chance. This food along with portion control has really slimmed her down. She still gets a pig’s ear now and then but only as a special treat.
March 31st, 2008 at 8:50 pmMy oldest dog is on a diet. He has two more pounds to loose.
March 31st, 2008 at 8:55 pmCheck with your vet about how much you should be feeding Sunny. I was feeding Fonzi from the recommendations on the food bag. It was about twice as much as I should have given him!
There is a really great raw dog food that is frozen chunks of meat (chicken, beef or venison). It has some veggies in there too. It’s frozen and you just defrost the number of chunks the night before. But you can jam them into a Kong to make them really work to get their food. And it lasts longer this way.
I remember seeing her pictures 5 or 6 years ago. It really sucks to see them age, doesn’t it? They grow up so stinking fast
How much of the Canidae per meal are you feeding her? Since it’s much more nutritionally dense than her old chow, she needs less in volume. To give you an example, Kodos gets four cups a day, but if he were still eating what the breeder feeds, it’d be more like six.
March 31st, 2008 at 8:57 pmUh oh, Rachel… your hero Dr. Helen has officially counseled you to put Sunny on a most severe diet.
May I suggest a new weigh-in weekly feature? It can be your own version of The Biggest Loser. We’ll be your enforcers. Just commit to weigh Sunny, say, every Sunday and post the results. We’ll laugh and jeer at you and Sunny if we don’t see some change, and soon.
How to weigh the fat (sorry, there’s just no other word) dog? I won’t insult Sunny by suggesting the local truck stop or weigh station… But you could get a couple of bathroom scales and put a piece of plywood or something across them. Then add up the two weights shown, subtract the weight of the plywood, and there you are. Or you could promise the local vet a plug if you could just bring Sunny by once a week for a quick weighing.
What do you say? It would be MUCH better for Sunny than the continuing public humiliation…
March 31st, 2008 at 9:09 pmI’m glad I’m not the only crazy one. You’re even more dedicated than I am. I home cook (lamb, quinoa, sweet potato, green veggie), but only have one much smaller critter.
Homecooking for two largish doggies takes a commitment.
March 31st, 2008 at 9:32 pmLike Woof and Anne, I make the “Kids” food. For a different reason, however. Try getting quality dog food in the Middle East - in Saudi Arabia - where dogs are considered vermin and not pets or Kids. Impossible. Real Food for Dogs - 50 Vet-Approved Recipes to Please the Canine Gastronome by Arden Moore has some low-fat and reduced calorie recipes; Barker’s Grub - Easy, Wholesome Home Cooking for your Dog by Rudy Edalati has a couple low-fat, reduced calorie recipes; and Natural Food Recipes for Healty Dogs by Carol Boyle has them. Yes, it requires quite a commitment cooking for two-large Kids - a Great Dane and a Standard Poodle - but I do it and with the exception of the Boy [the Great Dane] having dust allergies both Kids are extremely healthy. I cook huge batches of it, two or three months worth at a time, and freeze it.
You KNOW we all LUV Sunny, RL, and we just want her to live a long and healthy life. I have no idea how many calories pig ears have, but I suspect that they are not nearly as low fat as applesauce banana rice-milk ice cream [a treat recipe from one of my dog food cookbooks].
March 31st, 2008 at 10:47 pmMaggie knows Pig Ears are a popular and tasty commodity… she’s simply sampling the goods before making the Big Introduction of Sunny Brand Chewy Pig Ears (Maggie Lucas, CEO/CFO/President and Official Taste Tester)
I want in on the IPO
March 31st, 2008 at 11:47 pmPoor Sunny. I gotta think that low-carb low-fat and high-protein along with regular exercise will slowly but surely do the trick, but she’s never gonna look as good in a bikini as she once did. Well, hell, neither will I….
Between Rex and Andy the best lines were taken before I got here. That first pic calls for LOL’ing but I got nothin’.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:03 amI had a Ghostbusters flashback the moment I saw the first pic.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:20 amMy wife—Lucretia Borgia de Boyle—has been on a steady diet of Woof’s recipe for two years.
Now she has long ears and can lick…..well, I think I’ve said enough.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:30 amHa! Thanks I needed that laugh…
April 1st, 2008 at 1:15 amShe has long ears and can lick your balls? Good on ya, mate.
April 1st, 2008 at 5:35 amPatHMV - a weekly weigh in? Brilliant. That would be fun.
I have a feeling if Sunny’s inner thoughts during this diet and exercise program could be measured by that Cuss-o-meter, Rachel’s number would be MUCH higher.
April 1st, 2008 at 7:19 amMaybe a giant reinforced hamster wheel in the back yard. Or hold bacon just out of her reach and put her on a treadmill. Yeah, I just want to see a video of that.
April 1st, 2008 at 7:40 amAw, if Sunny knew so many people were concerned about her health. Thanks to everyone. Since I’m actually a lot more worried about this issue than I let on, I really do appreciate all the tips. I need help!
Labrat - she gets between 3 and 4 cups a day of the Canidae, I measure it out into two servings, morning and evening, of 1.5-2.0 cups each. About every third day, I leave out a cup or two of the Canidae and throw in a can of no-salt green beans. It just doesn’t seem like that would be too much, but obviously it is unless she’s got a serious metabolism problem, which she allegedly doesn’t. What do you think?
Woof - holy moly! I’ve thought about doing a people-food diet but to be perfectly honest there is no way I’m up for spending that kind of time cooking. I don’t even cook for myself that much. Heh. Plus, wouldn’t her poop turn to liquid on stew like that? I fear the repercussions.
PatHMV - That’s a different Dr. Helen. And I like the weigh-in idea! Hmmm. It’s even easier than you think for me to weigh her - the vet is right up the road and they have the scale in the reception area, and people are welcome to come in any time for a weigh-in. They’re even open 24/7. So I should start doing that more often. The last time I did, she weighed 94 pounds.
Also, just for the sake of this evaluation we’re all doing, I must point out that in reality, she hardly gets any treats. A pig ear maybe once every two weeks, no more than that. The treats I use to get her to sit still are all very small, low-calorie “weight loss” treats, and I give her maybe 5-10 of them every couple of days. According to the package, these treats are 5 calories each, so we’re only talking about 25-50 extra calories roughly 2-3 times a week. Is that too much? If so, I will start using green beans instead; she loves those. I don’t give her any other treats or any people food except the very rare steak scraps like those I took home from dinner at my brother’s on Friday night. She got about 2 ounces of steak out of that and it’s the first time in months.
We walk every day for at least 30 minutes, and most days for an hour total (two walks). On weekend days, I take her to the school/park and make her run. She plays/romps with Maggie for a good 30-60 minutes every day, too.
She had a full thyroid panel last summer and it was normal.
So as you can see, I really don’t know what else to do; it just doesn’t seem to me that her lifestyle should result in her being SO fat, which she really is. Rupert suggested feeding her even less and spacing the meals more frequently throughout the day, just like they advise humans to do.
Urgh. My poor fat baby.
April 1st, 2008 at 8:14 amrachel,
Instead of the Daily Dog… you should call it, “The Daily Howler”.
8-D
-Pat
April 1st, 2008 at 8:23 amMy sister just finished the Nutrition portion of her vet tech training and said that there are all manner of hidden carbs in the foods - that label reading and doing math is imperative if you want a good food. There is some sort of calculation - add all the %’s and divide by 100 to get the percent carb. I think. Hmm. I’ll have to revisit that.
We’re pretty much hooked on Canidae and Solid Gold for our beast and he seems fairly fit - we’re also feeding with care to avoid rapid growth and hip issues as much as we can…
All that said - that is the best pic! You’ve a fast shutter finger, my friend…
April 1st, 2008 at 8:29 amMy 11 year old cat is on a diet. It’s amazing how quickly they adjust. Pre-diet, she constantly whined for food and just ate and ate and ate. Now, with two tiny servings per day, the begging has almost come to a stop with the exception of an hour or two leading up to dinner time. I keep plenty of fresh water and a clean litter box available, not to mention plenty of kitty skritches. The weight loss after only one month is noticeable, and I swear she’s happier too.
April 1st, 2008 at 8:30 amRachel, with treats that small and rare, it’s got to be her regular diet that’s causing the problem, perhaps along with some non-thyroid metabolism issue.
Go for the weekly weigh-in! Think of your readers, all breathlessly awaiting the next week’s results, all putting nice positive peer pressure on you to get to the bottom of what’s causing Sunny’s ample bottom…
April 1st, 2008 at 8:52 amSunny:
Your Mom’s hatin’ on you live and on the Interwebtubes! When you decide you’ve had enough, hitch a ride on up to Chicago, where I promise to shower you with compliments on your Botero-esque beauty. Just promise not to eat my cats - cool?
April 1st, 2008 at 10:24 amHA.
In my house, foreplay consists of three hours of begging.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:25 ama long time ago, in a place far, far away, my mother had an overweight poodle. all tests were negative. we took him to angell memorial, they did a special test and, voila, he had cushings disease. He was put on medication, but a side effect of the disease is constant hunger. when my father took over his diet, he added bran and baby food carrots and squash (he was a tiny poodle, but fat) and he improved.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:34 amI’m assuming from the amounts you listed that you’re feeding the Canidae Platinum. I have a number of people that come into my store at their wit’s end because they have been feeding a low-calorie food to their dog and not seeing significant weight loss. The problem, as far as I can tell, with the weight loss formulas is that while the fat content is much lower (6-9%) in these formulas, the protein content is too low and the carbohydrate content is too high.
Many of the better brands now have senior formulas with a higher protein level (24-26% vs. 18-21%) and reduced fat (10-11%). With the lower carbohydrate levels, we see a number of dogs that have had little success on a low-calorie formula lose the weight pretty fast after switching.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:23 amAh-HA! Thanks to The Everlasting Phelps, you’re on my Daily Fix list now. Gotta read you every day. You’re a hoot! And, just in time. I was considering cleaning up my act and not cursing so much. Screw that.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:26 amWow…3-4 cups a day??? Trooper gets *maybe* two cups of his food a day and green beans (1/2 a can). He’s 85 pounds and fit and lean. Of course he also gets treats throughout the day too from hubby. But since his main meal isn’t huge it works out.
A full can of green beans each day won’t hurt her.
We’re switching over to Solid Gold kibble and I plan to also switch them over to the BARF diet (great name!). Most dry food contains so much crap it’s amazing. Though it sounds like you have her on a good one…it seems like that much food is just too much.
Maybe switch to 1.5 cups for each meal with half a can of green beans. And pork of course.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:31 amThis pic reminds me of the episode of South Park where Butters glued balls to his chin. Thought you’d like to know!
April 1st, 2008 at 11:58 amThe Canidae website suggests 3 cups a day for dogs with a healthy weight of 75 pounds, and 4 cups a day for dogs with a healthy weight of 100 pounds. I’m guessing Sunny’s healthy weight should be 65-75 pounds.
The Canidae website also suggests 1.5-3 cups a day for Light/Senior diets, at least one of which Sunny could qualify for.
Canidae Lamb and Rice Feeding Guide
If Sunny were my dog, I’d immediately go for the Tough Love of two cups per day, to be supplemented with frequent tiny treats to discourage her killin’ plans. It would be too heartbreaking to reduce her food a little bit, only to find out it had to be reduced again later.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:54 pmRachel, since you are looking for ways to make money, I think you need to clue Canidae into this and get an endorsement contract for Sunny. Kirstie Alley swung a diet deal, and Sunny is way prettier than Kirstie.
April 1st, 2008 at 1:01 pmWhat the others have already said- 3-4 cups a day is what I feed Kodos, who is SUPPOSED to weigh 100-110 pounds for a trim weight and also spends large portions of the day in hard running and playing with Kang. He’s 28″ at the shoulder and heavy-framed.
Depending on how big she was when she was at a healthy weight, I’d say that should be more like 2-3 cups.
April 1st, 2008 at 1:44 pmWowz! Iz tellingz Momie n Dady ha mich fud u gitz! Ifs I getz rilly long wok, dey gives me 2.5-tree cup. Udderwize, is 2-2.5 cup. Sunny, uz the luckest dawg evah, dawg.
p.s. Nice waddle.
April 1st, 2008 at 1:54 pmHoly cow! No, that’s just Sunny. (Sorry, it begged to be said.)
My best friend’s dogs did that licking each other’s ears out thing. They really seemed to enjoy it, both giving and receiving. I wonder how many calories are in ear wax?
April 1st, 2008 at 5:01 pmA few answers to questions/speculation:
Lily: The stew is okay for people to eat as well. Suggest adding flavor with onions, garlic, salt, pepper and thyme (not good for dogs). It is less nutritionally dense than dry food, hence the weight loss aspect.
Rachel: The stew is very thick after cooling and creates firm stools for the pooch. If you use peas and the dog doesn’t chew well, then you will have identifiable items in the poop. Sorry.
Anne & BT in SA: Agree 100%. The dog food industry is an unhealthy racket. There are a number of good doggie cookbooks (I particularly like the Good Food Cookbook for Dogs by Donna Roberts) and the commitment is to keep them healthy. It takes less than 90 mins per week and they are eternally grateful for the upgrade.
Rachel: Get to it. You have the responsibility to take care of them and they will love you even more for taking the time to make their dinner.
April 1st, 2008 at 7:23 pmRachel, I don’t know what to say, since my Fuzzy (mostly Chow mix) has been on Iams green bag for 10 years (I got her at age 2-4), has had to take a thyroid supplement the whole time because of low thyriod, and consistently weighs between 47 and 50 pounds. OTOH, Fuzz is more like a cat than a dog: I can put down a bowl of food, she eats what she wants, then walks away. She also begs people food whenever she can, but that just seems to make her eat less of the Iams.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:14 pmSorry to the much-more-knowledgeable blogospherere… who was to know I wasn’t the only Dr. Helen. I can’t imagine in my wildest dreams having to defend that title. Helen is an old school name. My apologies to the original Dr. Helen. I’m sure she had a better link to Rachul than I do.
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:22 pm-the ‘other’ Dr. Helen
I have a bull mastiff that I took off the ‘chow’. I buy her a 10-lb bag of chicken legs/thighs per week, boil and debone them (takes about an hour to boil and 20 minutes to debone…sorta easy because all I need to worry about is taking out bones and I leave cartilege and skin).
I then mix about a cup and a half of chicken (per meal) with either chopped up bread whole-wheat bread (4 or 5 slices) or a couple of packages of Ramen (she absolutely LOVES Ramen and just about any other form of pasta…she eats it so fast I’m afraid it’s going to shoot straight out of her butt).
I alternate “tastes” by dropping in a jar of pasta sauce (she prefers Alfredo) every other week or so so her food doesn’t get boring. I also give her daily vitamin and fish-oil supplements to make sure she’s getting all the good stuff.
Her weight dropped to about 105 lbs (from around 115-120…a pudgy 115-120) and has hardly changed a pound the last year or so. It’s also a heck of a lot cheaper than the canned option (costs me about $15 per week versus $25 for cans or about $15-18 for dry.
I didn’t do it for cost. Originally I did it because I could tell her food was boring her. She’s not my dog…she’s my buddy…so I care about that stuff.
The only treats she gets are chewbones (which she destroys in microseconds) and lean chicken treats from WalMart (about $15 per bag which last a couple of weeks).
Basically, it only takes a few minutes to take it out of the frig and mix it with the bread or pasta so I guess with the initial prep it probably costs me all of a couple of hours per week.
My friends think it’s amusing. Of course, they also think that dogs should sleep outside and that a trip to the grocery store isn’t an excuse to take the dog for a ride. What the fuck do they know?
April 4th, 2008 at 2:16 pm