Yay! My foster dog has started to lose weight again!

[QED]

Poor Daisy. She came to our rescue at 51.5#, way over her idea weight of 35#. It's been a very slow process. She was stuck at 42.5 for over a month but was another pound down today. We're getting there, albeit slowly. She is a beagle-corgi mix, prone to chubbiness anyway.

At first I just limited her kibble, replacing half with unsalted green beans, and joined her for a brisk 10 minute walk in the morning. It was so hot here that walking her in the afternoon on the hot pavement was not safe. She lost a few pounds quickly then plateaued. I switched her to Blue Buffalo's weight loss food and she lost some more then again plateaued. So we switched to Science Diet's Metabolic formula and she lost nothing for another month.

One of the guys at our Petsmart has been our coach. He insisted on doubling her walking time. So last week we were up at 10 minutes to fucking four am for a 20 minute walk. Wonder why I was so tired all week!

For all the bitching and moaning, it worked and my Daisy is losing again.

I think I'm on my way to foster failure #4.

Here she is - not a great photo of her but you can see her sweet face.

http://209.240.159.238/dog-adoption/0000001436

[QED]

1. Here's a better photo

Taken in July when she was still rather chubby.

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[TorchTheWitch]

10. awwww! How cute!

She looks like such a happy doggie!

[shenmue]

2. Oh my garsh!

She so squee! Love her!!

[QED]

3. She is a very happy girl.

She can be food aggressive but that's her only "flaw." She's very sweet and plays with my puppy like a puppy herself. She's 9! I'm in love with her. 5 dogs! OMG.

[shenmue]

4. You must get the best hugs

[QED]

5. I do. And puppy kisses!

[shenmue]

6. Ooooogah!

I has an Envy!

[catbyte]

7. Awwww! I don't think I could part with that sweet face either.

Squee!

[QED]

8. Darn. No weight loss this week but....

I see a definite waist and I can feel her ribs below the blubber. Progress. I hope next week will see a loss. Meanwhile, I took her with me to Home Depot and she charmed everyone. She's lost her fear of men and just basked in the lovin' she got from everyone.

[TorchTheWitch]

9. more exercise

Dogs need a lot more exercise than people think. Keeps them healthy in the mind as well. Dogs that don't get enough exercise can become rather neurotic.

Is it possible to do the exercising at another time of day? Also, it doesn't need to be a walk. Just briskly playing is exercise, too. There's lots of stuff you can do right in the house... playing chase the toy or tug with a toy or running up and down the stairs... anything that gets them moving about more will help.

Don't forget that a pound of weight on a smaller dog is a lot higher percentage of their weight than a larger one. I'm small, so me losing 10 lbs. is a lot of loss for me and really noticeable, but someone a lot bigger than me losing 10 lbs. may not even be noticeable.

Weight loss is a lot healthier if it doesn't happen too fast. Seems to be easier to keep it off that way as well. I dunno, for the weight of the dog were it at a normal weight seems like a one pound loss every couple of weeks is pretty quick.

Keep at it. Best results always take time. You'll get there though.

Speaking of dog walking, time to take the beastie for his nightly excursion.

[QED]

11. You're so right...

But I've got to tell you that when I get home from work I'm exhausted. Teaching ain't for sissies!