Does This Collar Make Me Look Fat?

You guys, Basil is on somewhat of a diet.

Several months ago when I took him into the vet for a skin irritation, the veteranarian told me he needed to lose a few pounds.



Up until that point, we'd been excited to see how big he'd get each time we took him to the vet, hoping he'd get up in the mid to high 80 pound range. When the vet told me he weighed 84 pounds, I got very excited until he said we actually needed to watch it and that a better range for weims is more in the 75 pound range.

In general, Basil has a large frame for a weimaraner. When we first got him, we got a chance to see his grandfather, who was a giant dog — maybe 90-100 pounds if I'm not over exaggerating. So we expected and hoped that Basil would be somewhat big (not fat, just big). That being said, we tried to keep a better eye on what we were feeding him and how much after that last vet visit.

So after a few months of trying to feed him what we thought was a healthier diet (he already gets tons of exercise), we were excited to hear the results during his latest checkup this past weekend. After he got off the scale, they announced that he's gained 3.5 pounds!

Oh my...87.5 pounds.

It was a different doctor at the vet office that saw him this go round and before weighing him they kept commenting on how big and great he looks. You know, the kind of big that is still healthy and good looking.

In the end, after the exam, this doctor agreed that while his frame is larger for a weim and he looks great and is healthy — that there is actually a tiny bit of room for weight loss. She said she'd love for us to shoot for 83 pounds over the next several months. She basically said that with hunting dogs like Basil, keeping a leaner frame is actually better for them, then she joked that he should have an hourglass looking figure — a deep low chest and a high inline waist.

I'm a total pushover when it comes to food. I just don't like the idea of anyone feeling hungry when there is plenty of food (even dog food) around. In any case, I told the veterinarian this go round that we've been feeding him probably about 2 solid cup fulls of food twice a day, sometimes with a cooked egg or wet dog food mixed in, along with natural treats all throughout the day.

She handed me a plastic cup measuring exactly 1 cup and said "for starters, let's make sure it's really just 2 cups twice a day."

C'mon dad, is this really all I get?

So that's where we're at. We're trying 2 exact cups along with regular treats and just keeping an eye on things. They told us we can come into the office anytime and weigh him on the big scale for free and suggested we come back in about 3 weeks to see how things are going.

All I could think was, it's the holidays! How unfair is it to have to be weighed during the holidays!

Poor Basil.

Have you ever had to put one of your pets on a diet? My sister has two dachshunds (see some shots from their visit with us here) and the older of the two is overweight. They joke that when the dogs stay with my mom on the farm that they are "going to Gran's bootcamp" since they always come back a few pounds lighter than when they were dropped off.

Basil sure did have a great time running around the farm over Thanksgiving — maybe a trip back to Gran's bootcamp is in order? We'll be sure to keep you posted.