I am not sure why I should change anything; everybody loves me around here. I am overzealous to say the least, or sleeping; that’s my average day. While I spend about 80% of the time snoozing, the other 20% is all about getting someone to throw me the ball. (Oh, I like eating too.)

Recently my mom has been looking up information on pet obesity and now she’s talking about changing my diet. She is always running off on these tangents, and somehow I’m the one that pays the price. She has to get all involved just because October 11th is National Pet Obesity Awareness Day. That’s all it took and suddenly she’s spouting statistics about how 54% of dogs are overweight or obese. (58% of cats!) She told how obesity shortens lives, and what WE should do about it. We? Here it goes. The next thing you know she is online at PetObesityPrevention.com trying to figure out if I am obese! Whoa! Wait a minute. Me? I look awesome.

I get that pet obesity can cause arthritis, diabetes and heart disease. I just don’t see what that has to do with Mom changing my diet. I suggest we take a look at some facts about pet obesity. First, the best way to know if your dog is obese is by taking them to their vet. Depending on their breed and size, the vet will be able to tell you. (I’m going! I know Dr. Bob will set her straight.)

But what does my mom do? She consults Dr. Ernie Ward, another veterinarian, just because he is lead researcher and founder of the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. He told my mom about October 11th and said, ”Pet obesity continues to emerge as a leading cause of preventable disease and death in dogs and cats.” He said, “Our pets are in real danger of not living as long as previous generations, and developing serious and costly diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, and other largely avoidable conditions.” (Okay, so this may be more serious than I realized. So I guess we just ask Dr. Bob.) And soon!… because treatments for obesity include working on weight loss.  This means eating less and/or more exercise. (I’d pick exercise.) Your vet might have ideas for changing your pet’s diet… IF you need to. (I have lots of ideas for exercise; get them a bunch of balls and play fetch a lot. They’ll love it.)

As for me, I told Dad what Mom’s up to and he’s taking me to Dr. Bob. Of course he’s gonna say I still look awesome. I bet he’ll say I need a little more exercise. You know what that means, Dad, more throwing the ball! Let’s go!r

Facts courtesy of

Dr. Ernie Ward,

PetObesityPrevention.org