Marti Goes Golfing

After months (maybe years) of trying to get Marti back to playing fetch, I've learned that the only ingredients that matter in the fetch recipe are the ball and Marti's mood that day. She'll usually run after the ball, but will rarely, if ever, bring it back. The dog psychologist in me tells me that it all goes back to her playing fetch with Chuck and Lucy, which was more of her actually chasing them and then barking at them while they got the ball. I think she's convinced that she'll never get to it fast enough, so why bother?

It wouldn't be that big of a deal that she doesn't want to play fetch if I a) didn't remember the hours I used to try to wear her out with fetch as a wee pup and b) if she hadn't gotten a little chubby as of late.

That's right. Marti is now on Weight Watchers.

She really doesn't look too chunky when she's up walking around, but when she lies down, there's a bit of a pug pudge going on. And when I took her to the vet and she'd hit 27 pounds, and the vet told me she could "stand to lose a couple," I knew something had to be done. So I've dialed back the food intake a bit, and we've been taking long walks at noon that have been great for both of us.

I also increased my efforts trying to get her to play fetch and I finally found something that worked. One day when I tried a brand-new tennis ball someone had left at the park, it was like Marti had rediscovered her inner puppy. She played fetch for 30 minutes straight, while I stood there with my jaw on the gross dog park ground. And when I play with the special squishy tennis ball that she's stripped naked, she'll play forever too. And apparently now that's she's taken up fetch again, golf balls aren't off limits either. She not only ran after this golf ball with gusto, but ripped into its cracked casing with the fervor of a teething puppy (see picture below).

As for her weight loss, after two weeks of checking on the digital at home, she still hovered between 26 and 27 pounds, which I took to mean she hadn't really budged. But lo and behold, when I took her to the vet a couple of days ago, she weighed in at 25.8 pounds! I was beyond proud. All of our exhausting efforts are paying off. She's still got a few pounds to go, but I'm hoping that she will eventually get it off and become a lifetime Weight Watchers member.