How spoiled is your dog?

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2003
How spoiled is your dog?
4
Thu, 09-16-2004 - 12:31am
I swear I think my dog doesn't know it's not a person. We lost our other dog, her lifelong companion, last week :( so now I think I'm completely overcompensating with her. She's becoming sofa cushion dog. Dachshunds are not supposed to be fat. It's just not right. She's always been spoiled rotten, but now all three of the boys and both I and my husband are handing out treats like they're going out of style, and she's quickly turning into what we affectionately call TubTub. She wasn't svelt to begin with, but this is getting ridiculous--I think I threw my back out picking her up today! I have to admit, yes she has a hat (and rubber boots--but I swear I bought those just because I thought they were funny!), and she even has a sweater for the winter, but I'm afraid I'm going to turn into one of those women who kiss their dogs on the mouth when I'm old.

Anybody else out there with a pooch that they can't seem to say no to???

Angela

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-13-2003
Thu, 09-16-2004 - 1:57am
I have a Jack Russell, who is almost 7 years old. He was big from birth (we got him at 7 weeks) and he is tubby as well.

He sleeps in our bed, usually between dh & I, head on the middle pillow, lying on his back with upper arms (I mean paws) on top of the blanket. He doesn't eat dog food or kibble, and has always refused to. He went 3 weeks without eating as a pup, and our vet finally said feed him whatever he will eat. So now he eats rice, chicken (no skin) and veggies. It's embarassing, but whatever! I also have a jacket for him, but have never put him in it. He refuses to play catch, and it the biggest suck in the world. It's not even like he's a dog. Sighhhh................

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Thu, 09-16-2004 - 9:26am
Angela, we also have a Dachsie named Daisy (AKA Tootsie Roll) that is spoiled rotten, but I've encouraged my DH and kids NOT to feed her snacks because she has also ballooned in size, mostly due to our Dachsie puppy Teddy, and Daisy has helped share his puppy food. My DH also likes to feed her whatever he's eating, which has helped in her growing waist line! Our dachsies don't have their own sweaters, yet...but they do sleep with us. Daisy is a blanket rat and Teddy insists on sleeping between DH and I....very crowded bed. I've had to "threaten" my DH into not feeding Daisy snacks, because of the very real possibility of her back going out. Dachshunds have to be watched so that they don't gain too much weight, because they can very easily throw a disk, and unfortunately at times they have to be put down if it's not operable. I'd really recommend that you put your pup on a weight loss/maintenance dog food, and avoid extra snacks (i.e. people food!!). It would be heart wrenching to have to lose another family member if you can easily prevent it!

Carson - SAHM to six human kids and two dachsie kids

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 09-16-2004 - 11:33am
Lesley, I have a Jack Russell also. Is yours a hunter? Wow, my dog has killed 5 SKUNKS and just this weekend tunneled under our storage building and cut through the telephone wire after a opossum. She is 7 also and I lost her mother to tunneling in a hole at my old ranch... something killed her. We live close to town... not really in the country and she is still hunting. I mean we have a fenced yard and people living fence to fence all around us.But there are wild animals still living around here obviously! She is very sweet but hyper(if anyone new is around) but not overweight at all.

We also have a chihuahua and the JR and the chihuahau sleep under the cover with DH and I. They are pretty spoiled too. DH and them have a ritual everynight eating cookies or chocolate. I guess they get so much exercise they arent overweight.





iVillage Member
Registered: 11-13-2003
Thu, 09-16-2004 - 1:50pm
They are very hyper dogs!!!!

He doesn't really hunt all that much, he did bring a rat to the door once, and when he was younger he would try to catch baby geese when we were camping. He doesn't seem to have much interest in it thankfully!

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