My Dog Is Getting Fat...

My dog is suddenly looking pudgy.  At first, I was worried that she might have some dread dog disease that had decreased her metabolism or simply caused her to gain weight.  I took her to the vet.  She is okay. Okay, but  fat.

And then (ta da!) I realized, the reasons are simple and so common:

AGE:  She is getting old.  Join the club, dear Maisy.  She will turn 9 in June.

DIET:   I think the macaroni missiles, the peanut butter and jelly bombs, and the cheerio barrage are finally catching up to her.  For the last six years, the dogs have been heartily fed by my children.  When my first child decided he no longer wanted to share, the dogs started hovering around the second child's chair.  They are now on to the third, and when HE doesn't "want" to share, the dogs often take matters into their own, well, teeth.  The saying  "like taking candy from a baby" also goes for ham sandwiches, and chunks of cheese.  Maisy eats too much. 

EXERCISE:   I feel so guilty here.  I exercise every day, but my poor dogs are desperate for walks, and I don't provide them very often.  I should get up early and walk them, but I am not a morning person, and my husband often leaves for work before I am even awake.   I could walk them at night when my husband gets home (late), but then it is dark; I am exhausted; and it just doesn't happen.  So I am somewhat stuck with walking the dogs during the day, with at least one child.  Herein lies the problem.

First of all, walking three (poorly trained) dogs is difficult enough when I am alone.  They are a web of moving leashes.  On one occasion, I actually tripped and fell on my face in front of the neighbors.  How do those professional dog walkers do it?

 But when I add in a two-year-old who NEEDS to hold one of  the leashes (but lets go frequently),  a four-year-old who wants to ride his scooter (but doesn't want to wait for the rest of us "slow pokes"), and a six-year-old who walks as if he is 95 (with a slow shuffle),  I become the "crazy neighbor lady" yelling up one side of the sidewalk, and down the other.  "Get back here!" "Stop at that stop sign!" WAIT!!!"and then I turn around towards the shuffler,  "PLEeeaaASE hurry up" and then pleadingly to my side, "How about I hold the leash and you hold my hand...please?" And so I wander down the street yelling, "WAIT!" "Hurry up!"  "STOP MAISY, STOP!! as I chase the runaway dog, leaving three young children in my wake. 

Even with just one child we are a spectacle of lunacy.  So Maisy doesn't get enough exercise.

Even with dogs, it comes down to those same dread words:  Diet and Exercise.

And the words that usually follow them: Excuses. Good excuses, but excuses nonetheless.

I think we need to make some life changes Maisy.   It's not going to be easy.