The Ten Pound Challenge

I had my annual check up at the vet last week and I am soooo upset.  That mean man said I was FAT.  What's worse is he said in front of the techs and anyone in the waiting room could hear.  I was so embarrassed and upset it's taken me this long just to talk about it.  I may need to go into therapy.

I am part lab and we all know labs aren't skinny chic like greyhounds.  Labs are more robust and have a layer of fat around us so we don't get cold in the water.  So my layer of fat is a little thicker than some other lab's layer of fat.  So I'm  a few pounds overweight.  Well, actually ten.

Instead of siding with me, Mom is siding with the vet.  She says it's all Dad's fault.  Since he got retired he is home with us all the time and he was much easier to train than Mom.  DixieLee and I figured out that if we want a treat and our usual tricks like looking cute or showing him where the cookie jar is don't work, DixieLee goes into Crazy Dog mode.  She runs around and jumps on the furniture.  I chase her until Dad says "enough" and gives us a cookie to quiet us down.

Works every time. Well, it worked every time until Mom read Dad something called the Riot Act.  Now we only get half cookies and only right after meals and before bed.  Now when we do Crazy Dog Dad makes us go outside instead of giving us a treat.

The mean vet gave Mom this teeny, tiny cup to measure my food with too.  He said that I don't need to eat as much as the people who make the dog food say I should eat.  After all, they want me to eat lots so we have to buy more.  Mom always bought us good quality food, not loaded with fillers, but even if it's full of good stuff, too much isn't good for you.

I guess the only good thing is that Mom thinks DixieLee is getting a little chunky so she only gets the teeny, tiny cups of food and half treats too.  The other thing is we are supposed to get more exercise.  I like that part.  Exercise means playing and going for walks.

When DixieLee came to live with us, Mom thought she would be a good playmate and we would get lots of exercise together.  That didn't work out so well.  She and I both like to nap and she'd rather chew on a toy than play chase.  My friends Sadie likes to play chase so Mom said Dad needs to take me to play with her more.

Dad likes that cuz Sadie's Dad is his good friend and they do guy stuff all the time.  Last time they got to paly with these big machines that dug a giant hole  in the ground.  DixieLee would have been impressed cuz she likes to dig holes.  When I go to Sadie's house we just run around her yard.  I like her yard because it is miles big and there is no fence.

I would really like to make that ten pounds disappear because I don't want Mom to be upset.  She said dogs who are overweight get died sooner than dogs who aren't and she wants me to be her Zeva for a long, long time.  I'm good with that!

Any of you have any suggestions.  Did you ever have to lose weight and if so, how did you do it?

Your starving friend,

Zeva

P.S. Blatant self-promotion: Every dog is a good dog, that's why we created our Good Dog Spot gift basket.