I’ve just read the most ridiculous but true article about dogs here in the US. 

Over 3 million dogs in the US are obese!  Yes, that’s right.  There are 3 million dogs running (or trying to run) around here more than 20 percent above their ideal body weight.  And you know why….like mother like daughter, like father like son, like owner like pet. 

If you sit around all day at your desk and when you finally get home, you’re too tired to take the dog for a walk, your dog will pick up your bad habits.  First, he’ll keep eating even after he’s had his full.  He’ll be so stuffed from a meal, that he can barely keep his eyes open and take a ritual post-meal nap.  He’ll find the cool air-conditioned house to his liking and whimper every time you open the door to let him out to get some fresh air.  He’ll enjoy watching the game with the guys because he’ll be able to let loose and make all the noise he wants.  And soon,  he’ll start looking less like a dog and more like a cuddly stuffed animal with lots of folds and curves. 

The pharmaceutical company is banking on you not realizing what you’re doing to your dog.  They’re hoping that you’re so gung-ho in spending unnecessary money on diet pills that you’ll pay the extra money to make your dog slim and trim for the new year.  They’re not telling you that you can save your money and keep your dog living longer if you’d just stop overfeeding your dog.  No….that’s too easy.  They want you to make an appointment with the veterinarian, spend your money on the visit to the vet, buy the diet prescription drug, then make the necessary followup visits with the vet to see how your dog is doing on the new medication.  But this won’t phase some of you dog owners who’d travel around the world to give your dog the very best. 

I’m not hating on dogs….I love dogs.  I just think that enough is enough and that we need to start taking responsibility for our actions and stop trying to patch up the hole instead of taking the time to fix it. 

Must our dogs suffer because we don’t have the self-control and self-discipline to push away from the dinner table when we’ve eaten enough?

The Health and Wellness Queen’s food for thought.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 8th, 2007 at 12:08 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.