writer, warrior, whack-a-doodle

Svelt

Svelt

July 12, 2011
Posted in: Dogs | Reading Time: 2 minutes

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful."

Notice anything different about Juno? She lost over 3 kilos (6 lbs) since March. She got down to 26.7 kilos (59 lbs) just after getting back from Provence last month. But that was likely from the stress of staying at the kennel. She climbed back up and holds steady at 27.0-27.5 (59.5-60 lbs).

To compare here is a photo from October last year:

I've never had a husky before so it was really hard for me to recognize when she gained weight because of the fur. Plus the raw food books really over estimate how much a dog of her breed and her size needs because their calculations were far too much. Now I watch her food intake religiously and it's helped a lot in how she feels. So she and Mr. Wild Dingo, who loves to spoil her, call me "The Food Nazi."

Ha! Like I'm so bad. She still gets plenty of treats from bully sticks and stuffed Kongs to raw meaty bones and second dinner (last 2 bites of our dinner) every night. I'll bet Jenny Craig doesn't have yogurt and salmon-stuffed Kongs in her diet plan.

"Hey lets go for a walk by the bacon, err, I mean, piggie farm Mom,  I'd like to give them a Siberian hello."

Now that she's blown her coat, it's really easy to see her waist line. Unfortunately, you can also see how thin her back leg muscles still are compared to her front body. I jog her 3 times per week for muscle building and she does gain a bit more muscle back there but it's quite dramatic how thin she is in her back legs. And unless he's walking or running, she won't stand much. I had to set up this shot above several times before I got one that would work because she lays down so quickly.  Still, she soldiers on and she runs and plays and carries on with little or no pain.

And the reward I get for all I do to keep her strong and pain free? She let me furminate her blowing coat this month with very little protesting. Snaps for me.

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15 comments on “Svelt”

  1. Woo-hoo! Woo go, grrirl! Mr. Jack is in need of a little weight-loss.... I think I'll print your picture & put it up to inspire him!

    Miss Moo

  2. She looks great, good work on the diet. Of course, we thought she looked great before too. We all think we could use a bit more in our bowl too (well, except for Phantom), but the Momster is pretty stingy when she doles out the kibble.

    Uhhh, we think we will pass on the furminator - no thanks for any more brushing.

    Woos ~ Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

  3. Gizmo's supposed to be dieting, too, because he has a tear in his ACL. Not an easy task, this dieting. But even loosing just a couple of pounds, he seems to be bouncier and happier. He's supposed to loose like 10 pounds. It'll never happen.

  4. She looks great! Whatever you're doing is definitely benefiting her!

    If you're trying to build muscle mass, you might want to give hydrotherapy a shot. I have a friend with an aging Greyhound, and she says that swimming the dog has made a huge difference in those back end muscles.

  5. I was just thnking about the hydro/treadmill thing. Can Juno do that periodically? It seemed to help her a lot. Bart and I were visiting his acupuncturist yesterday, and they had one of those tanks. We watched a golden have her workout. When Bart was done there was a portie in the tank. Bart and I went in and cheered her on. It looks like great fun. I had to drag Bart out of there...

  6. I'm thinking you should sell the yogurt and salmon-stuffed Kong idea to Jenny Craig before I do some dietician stumbles across your site and thinks its the perfect addition to their current menu. I mean, seriously; yogurt AND salmon? The girls just get yogurt. (But just in case I wanted to add some salmon, is it poached? Something else-d?) All that aside, Juno is looking quite sleek!

    Except for that hind leg thing. Poor girl. The husband has bad back problems and for undetermined reasons - and believe me, he's had every test under the sun - is losing muscle mass in his left calf. He's not losing strength, just muscle mass. Unfortunately, I can't get him to jog beside me while I ride my bike! Heehee!

    -Dr. Liz

  7. She looks gorgeous!! Good job getting the weight back down. I didn't realize how much she'd put on until I saw the old picture next to the new ones. Sometimes it's hard to recognize when they have put on too much weight because we see them everyday. Jackal is getting fat again because my husband is feeding him. I'm the food Nazi too. Unfortunately Jackal has acid reflux so he regurgitates bile if his stomach is empty too long . . . I need to find something for a filler that doesn't give him horrible gas because being fat is not good for him at all.

  8. Wooo Juno looks more beautiful than ever. Well done to you both. Love the waistline. She sure is going to be getting the male dogs interested and some dirty stares from the girly dogs 🙂

  9. Nice job Juno. I got a feeling I am going to be told I must diet by the vet next Tuesday. I keep hearing him say I am Phat, he says getting fat; not Phat.

    Remy

  10. Kudos to Juno, too, for the diet. Looks like she's at a very healthy weight now. Are you still alternating biking with her, as well as jogging - maybe one of each once a week? What's the doggie version of squat-thrusts? We still think Juno has improved enormously and there hasn't been any recent talk about orthopedic surgery, so that's all to the good. Maybe you could get her a treadmill? They're not just for pit bulls anymore.

    Jed & Abby

  11. She looks good to me! We are similarly obsessive about keeping our dogs svelte and our vet persistently reminds us that they both have ortho problems that require them to be thin. So, then, yesterday we found out that R had gained a few pounds. Not a happy discovery! Diet time...

    Have you tried running her up steep hills? That transfers most of the work of running to the hind legs and works them much harder than level running.

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