Fitness Friday - For the Dogs

This Fitness Friday is a little unconventional, but I thought I'd share a success story... about our dog!

First, let me give a little background:

Molly is our black lab, who we got from a family off of craigslist two years ago. When we got her, we were told she was about 6 years old - just what we wanted (old enough to be over the puppy stage, but still young enough to enjoy for a while). However, her microchip revealed something different - her birthdate was actually 1998 - making her, that's right... 10! Instead of 6. In dog years, that's a big difference, especially in bigger dogs, whose lifespan averages 12-14 years.

She is now almost 12, and over the past two years that she's been with us, she has gotten slower, stiffer, deafer, and... well, heavier. Elderly dog issues have started springing up, to say the least! This spring at her annual vet check, I was informed that she was close to 20 pounds overweight! Yikes! She's a thick, stout dog anyway, so that extra weight is alot! The vet also told me her aging issues were going to get worse fast if she didn't drop some weight.

So began operation "Molly Gets Exercise". We live on a steep hill, so every morning the boys and I would take Molly for a walk up and down our hill (about 20 minutes total). I reduced her food amount to pitiful portions (she actually gets the same portion as our Boston Terrier, who only weighs 20 pounds, but is much more active), which was torture for her, because Labs are ALL about food. Its their "love language" so to speak.

Then, we headed to the lake for the month.

At the lake, she spent almost every day swimming, often several times a day. Swimming is her other passion - its hard to keep her OUT of the water!


While there, we noticed she was starting to go up and down stairs more easily, wasn't so stiff in the mornings when waking up, and was becoming alot more playful and interactive.

Now we are home, and for the first time ever, we can see a nice trim waistline on her, feel her solid ribs underneath her thick coat, and she's happy and energetic! Instead of an old lumpy couch potato, she's playful, happy, and active. It is AMAZING how just a little bit of weight loss has brought back her youth. I feel like we've won back those years we thought we had when we first got her, and am so happy.

The point of this story is that losing 20 pounds can make such a difference in just a dog, think of how much more so in a person! Its definitely extra motivation to keep trim and stay active!