My Keeshond is fat...

What is a Keeshond you ask?  Well I have an Amazon ad for an owner's guide for Keeshond because there are ZERO books in the normal bookstores and local pet stores available on Keeshonden. Nothing cute for Keeshonden is available anywhere here in the Midwest that I can find. If you had ever read an owner's guide about Keeshonden before you got one, you would find they are prone to being overweight, which I didn't know.

So anyway, my dog is fat. He's so fat he was having a hard time walking. Yes he's torn both ACL's in his back legs at different times (chasing rabbits) which makes walking more difficult than it would be normally BUT being fat is the biggest issue for him. Why he's fat is a long story that would involve finger pointing so let's not go there.  Let's just say he was getting entirely too much food and I was not the one feeding him.

At a recent vet visit I had his thyroid checked and it's very low. So in addition to getting too much food and gaining weight, he has a thyroid problem and along with his allergies he's a lot of work and takes lots of pills. Something had to be done about his weight because in his present state he was headed for an early death or becoming crippled. In either case I felt guilty that I had let things get to the point where I was contemplating giving him away to someone who would be better able to care for him. The thought was breaking my heart.

I had to take control in a way that would not create more tension in my household. So, a shopping trip to the local Walmart yielded a daily pill box with slots for medicines Sun through Sat and with AM and PM boxes for each day, and 20, 1 cup Pyrex bowls with covers.  "HUH?", you say. Let me explain. The pill box which is clearly intended for adults who have a hard time keeping track of their medicines is now being used for the dogs twice daily allergy and thyroid meds, plus benadryl twice a day. Confusing? Perhaps. Not anymore.  Remember those bowls? The dog is fed twice a day and now he gets pre-measured amounts. Every 10 days I now fill his Pyrex bowls with a measured scoop of light dry food and then a measured scoop of wet food and refrigerate. Feeding him is as simple as opening a bowl. No can to open, no dry food to measure, just open and serve.

As I fill his Pyrex bowls I am amazed by how much "light" dry he was getting before this. It was easily 3-4 times what he needed, daily. Unbelievable. I'm surprised the dog wasn't fatter. But now about 9 days in he seems to be slightly more active and he looks like he might have lost a little weight. He goes back to the vet for a weigh in soon, perhaps 10 days. We'll see how it goes. I can only hope he's making some progress.