Suky has now been a member of our local vets 'Tubby Club' for the past sixteen months and in that time she has reduced from 12.2 kg, as she was in this photo taken at the start of her weight loss journey ...
... to her current weight of a much slimmer 8.8kg.
Her journey is ongoing, with each appointment now being a chance to evaluate if she needs to continue losing weight or to move onto a maintenance programme. One thing's for sure we would never allow her weight to creep up to where it was before, she has done so well.
All we have done is to slowly but surely reduce her food intake, and she now eats a 'lighter' dried dog food especially formulated to help dogs feel fuller after a smaller meal. You should see the size it swells to once she has a drink of water after her meal. We tried it out for ourselves by pouring water on it in the bowl, it's amazing ;-)
So she has a nicely full tum on less food and slowly but surely her weigh creeps downwards. All I have to do is watch how many titbits Lovely Hubby gives her and reduce her evening meal accordingly if he has slipped her anything. It might see mean to some people not sharing my food with her but hopefully I've already added a couple of years to her lifespan by reducing her weight.
Instead of giving her things to eat to make her happy I play more with her and enjoy a bit of rough and tumble in the paddock, something she wouldn't have had the energy to do a year ago. And there are still some treats that she has, an occasional half of a small dog sized Dentastix and half a carrot every time I am prepping carrots, but it's never a regular thing like it used to be.
She's now a much happier and fitter dog, as her running all the way up the hillside this morning testified to, she only used to be able to manage a run down the hill ... and that would have left her out of breath.
One thing's for sure a fat Pug is not a happy Pug no matter what folk tell you, but our new streamlined slimmer Pug is most definitely a happy dog, and we are happy dog owners.
Sue xx
