Biggest Loser take 2 and an apology

First and foremost to anyone that I may have offended last night I apologize. I was talking about our program on this board NOT because I feel that the pets here are fat but because I bet good money that almost everyone who posts here knows one pet that could be in better overall health. For me it is my parents dog, another member said it is her husbands co-workers dog.
Second, I am not really new to this forum just needed to make a new screen name because for whatever reason it would not allow my last one. So, this is Jerri, I do jumping with my dog Daisy (a lab pit mix) and I am friends and work with Darcy Monier. We work at the Animal Neurology and Er center in Commerce MI. This is a full service neurology clinic, as well as ER center and canine rehabilitation clinic. I am the rehab tech at the hospital. As the rehab tech I am launching a "Biggest Loser" program. The program is directed for pets that may be getting a little round around the middle, are pudgy or are just in fact obese. The clients can come in and receive an overall health evaluation, nutrition discuss and then we will design an exercise plan for the pet. The program will run for two months and at the end of the two months the winner will receive a prize.
I feel that most pets are not overweight because people are trying to create this problem but instead because they have not been given the proper education, tips and tools to combate the issue. Some pets simply become overweight because the pet is aging, or has sore hips or maybe a bad knee. Those are all things we can work with.
The final apology comes in saying trust me I would not want to offend any of you. I have met a great many of you and know that you are great and wonderful pet owners. Owners who may one day want to advance the conditioing that you do for your canine athlete which is another service that we provide at our clinic.
So please, do not be offened, and if you dont wish to share this information with others than that is ok. But if you know of a pet that could benefit from this program then please feel free to share this information with them.
Sincerely and with deepest sympathy
Jerri Mach
Vet Tech at the Animal Neurology and Er Center
248 960 7200

That is so cool. I am gonna pass this along to my uncle and his dog. Thay have a small obesity problem with "sammy". Great Idea hope to see ya at an event soon.

My father-in-law's golden retriever is sadly obese. My husband and I have both told my father-in-law, on numerous occassions, that it is not ok to free feed him by emptying half a bag of dog food into a large (human-sized) serving dish and allowing Nelson to eat whenever. He had changed his feeding habits for awhile but then decided that the dog was unhappy so went back to the old, unhealthy way. I know my father-in-law adores the dog and wouldn't intentionally hurt him - we just can't convince him that so much weight is hurting him. I am very sad whenever I see poor Nelson and how big he has become...

I hope other dogs will benefit from your program...

I think it is a good program but I dont think Bo will be participating. I unfortunately have the opposite problem with him. He looks like he is straight out of ethiopia. When I train him to get him in hunting and showing shape it is very very hard to keep the weight on. I am limited to certain foods because of his tempermental digestive tract. If i go to a higher protien/fat count (which is the only way i have found to get more calories) he gets diarhea on the food. I do supplement with liver and beef (he eats better than I do) and treats but he is tough to keep weight on. Now his owner is a whole nother story lol

traceys moms chiuaua needs to be on it that little guy is as big around as he is tall

Laszlo's Botond wrote:I think it is a good program but I dont think Bo will be participating. I unfortunately have the opposite problem with him. He looks like he is straight out of ethiopia. When I train him to get him in hunting and showing shape it is very very hard to keep the weight on. I am limited to certain foods because of his tempermental digestive tract. If i go to a higher protien/fat count (which is the only way i have found to get more calories) he gets diarhea on the food. I do supplement with liver and beef (he eats better than I do) and treats but he is tough to keep weight on. Now his owner is a whole nother story lol

We have the same problem with Abraham. One more person tells me to feed him more (he gets 10 CUPS A DAY), I will lose it!

We have the same problem with Abraham. One more person tells me to feed him more (he gets 10 CUPS A DAY), I will lose it!



Im right there with you- Ginger, (min. 4cups 2 cans aday if we not too active then it goes up 6 cup 3 can min.,Which is usaully the case.)

Unfortunately, every rib is seen on the poor, never fed, abused and neglected Abe! At least now he has a friend to beg for food with.

Thats nuts maybe ginger and abe are related

Yup... got another comment on my sack of bones today. Ha ha ha... but then I get a bunch of positive comments about him too. I just really want to show them the food bills!

Now the other dogs in the house... that is a different story. They'd all be fat little piggies if I let 'em!

In 3 days Abe eats as much as Jake and Gunther (combined) eat all week.

My vet ask one time when i was feeding ginger 8 cups of dry by itself if ginger was burying it.I said yes she was hiding it under the carpet . You dont have any throw rugs Abe could be hinding some of his food under.....

Well bo isnt a big big eater but He does get 4 cups a day probably only eats about 3 of it. Some days he will clean up his bowl....but of course he is a huge mooch so every one I visit thinks I am starving him. I swear I am not lol. However I think he would eat all the hamburgers, steak, ice cream, and pb and J sandwiches you put in front of him. Then he would need to go out side every ten minutes to let it flow out the back end lol. and ask anyone who saw him come out of the crate this weekend.....I promise I dont beat him when he comes out. It is all an act he knows how to play pathetic abused underfed dog to a T

TR75 wrote:In 3 days Abe eats as much as Jake and Gunther (combined) eat all week.

That's funny! Here is one for you... in what we feed Abe in one day would feed all 4 little dogs for 5-6 days.

I will also pass this along to my father-in-law, he has a border collie springer spaniel mix and she is just a mess of FAT!!!!!!!!
I ask him all the time if i can keep her for two weeks and show him that a good diet and not (hot dogs) for dinner will do her some good. I get so upset with them. they think it is funny. they feed tis dog any thing you can think of even the stuff dogs are not supposes to have. I am so scared that this dog os going to go for a wlk with them and just keel over. Any suggestions on how to get them to stop the bad diet.I will let them know about this web site and article, maybe that might change there mind.

Kim and Merlyn