OMG! 3 Fat Labs!

[TuMicks]

Well, I've been unable to be with and enjoy my dogs because my mother lives 250 miles away and she has these crises that pop up. (She's 91 and in exceptional health, but still... at 91 living alone, anxiety and loneliness can make things seem insurmountable to her.) So, we've been gone for a little over a week.

During that time the dogs have been under-exercised because of rain, snow, mud and other El Nino unpleasantness. I don't blame hubby for that. But he's been feeding them a full 33% more than their maintenance metabolic needs and all three of them are completely porked out. Oh, gross!

[POPTOP]

Made my smile, my DH does the same thing. He'll feed them the right amount but it's all the extra stuff. The weather has not exactly been great for long walks.

They'll wear it off.

[Annette47]

And on the flip side, I just felt Chloe’s ribs and two days of non-stop playing in the snow and she has clearly lost a couple pounds while on her regular rations!

[Snowshoe]

That's hard, when your mother is so far away. Are you the only child? It was hard enough for me with my Mum just an hour and a half drive away, but my sister was right with Mum. Lots of dog and other stuff was put on hold for me too but I was close enough to supervise the OH. However, I do catch him giving everybody completely unearned rewards. All they have to do is breathe and they deserve a treat.

[TuMicks]

Here's the problem...

If you have a handsome (i.e., conformation bred) lab, a little extra mass can have it's own sort of charm. When you have field bred labs that get pudgy, they look like blood-engorged, black ticks with long legs and a tail. Not a pretty sight!

My brother and sister live 3000 miles away... and they're willing to help. But the reality is, I'm pretty much responsible. I totally AM GOING to an AKC HT Judging Seminar in Oregon and have my flight and hotel reservations made. My brother is flying in from Florida to be with mom during that time. Of course, he flies in on Super Bowl Sunday and there is not a rental car anywhere available and we're not sure there will be cabs either. But he'll work it out.

Tomorrow we'll take the 3 clowns to a local soccer field and let them run until they can't run anymore.

[Dallas dawg]

Lmao, nice description. Are you telling me Rocket Dog got fat too?

[Abulafia]

Yes, that's a great description of the difference. Just a different body type. Hoku is conformation-bred, so while she went up to "pudgy" for a month or so, she's slimmed down to "I can solidly feel ribs," but she still has substance. Five pounds here or there are something *I* need to pay attention to, but she doesn't look that different to others (some say "beautiful!" and some say "Is she chunky?" and some say "Is she half Newfoundland?").

I could totally see 3 or 4 lbs making a huge difference w/ a Field Lab. I am sure you'll get them back on track in short order!

[TuMicks]

Oh yes... Rocket Dog as currently configured, might have a little too much payload to achieve orbit. 3 cups daily keeps the dogs where they need to be unless they're being trained. Hubby has been happily giving them 2 cups twice daily. So everyone gets more tennis ball time and less food beginning tomorrow.

I have to tell you how tennis ball works for our 3. We have the 2 seven year old labs that include Lee Roy-the-Mystery-Dog (Chocolate Lab who appeared on our doorstep at 1 AM one morning), and the little MH maniac-All-American Pheasant dog. And we have RD. The 2 older dogs know how to compete for a tennis ball that hubby hurls with one of those chuck-it devices. RD has never been able to understand the rules, she thinks it's a total scrum... run around like a maniac barking at everyone and screwing up their chase. So the way hubby does it is to give her a tennis ball. This she holds onto running around and around showing off wondering why the other guys won't chase her, while Lee Roy and Bridget ignore her and play ball.

Gosh I've missed the clowns.

[Snowshoe]

I bet none of your dogs are as bad as one we met yesterday. After months of not meeting we ran into them Sat. and Sun. I had been asking other dog walkers about them, fearing my not seeing them for so long meant maybe the dog, a rescue and age not certain, had died. Nope, she's still walking and not only is she alive, now there is enough of her for two dogs. No word of exaggeration, this poor dog is a double wide dog. I've mentionned before biting my tongue when I know saying something will make no difference, I've been meeting these people through two dogs of theirs and two of my own so I know, it will make no difference. The woman actually brought up the dog's weight herself. I was appalled when we met and saw the dog is fatter than the last time I saw her. It's so sad.

[Maxx&Emma]

It blows my mind how quickly my own Lab can gain noticeable weight. It is a constant battle to keep others from giving in to begging and sad eyes.