NOVADog Blog

I’m a girl from the deep south who prefers my winters on the mild side (in Mississippi we pull out our turtleneck sweaters when the thermometer hits 70 degrees).  Apparently Tippy is a southern girl too.  By the time we lost our sidewalks to all of the snow Tippy had had enough. She did not like walking on the streets and proved to be a bit difficult.  Rachel, our DogOn Fitness walker, handled her tempermental behavior like a pro by changing up her routine to help with the anxiety.  Unfortunately Tippy’s tempermental behavior was apparent when the photographer, Megan from Paws and Claws, came to take her picture.  All we wanted was a picture of Tippy standing up so you could see how trim she looked but Tippy refused to cooperate.

Thankfully spring weather appears to be on the way (yeah!) which means this challenge is coming to an end.  When I took Tippy into the vet to be weighed last week her weight had to ticked up slightly to 58.4 lbs.  I am not disappointed.  That is a reality of weight loss whether you are a dog or a human. We are determined to finish this challenge on a high note.

Now that my teenagers activities have ended I have put them on more dog walking duty to help keep Tippy moving.  We are still watching Tippy’s calories by using a mix of dry dog food and green beans with no added salt and Tippy has an appointment for a check up with the vet next week.  I am hoping that the vet will be excited about Tippy’s weight loss.  My fingers are crossed for good results at the last weigh in but either way we are so happy for the goals that have been accomplished.

Amy Peterson and her family live in Herndon, VA. Their dog Tippy, was chosen as the winner to participate in the NOVADog Fitness Challenge. Our vet consultant says that Tippy has about 12 pounds to lose during the 6-month Fitness Challenge, which runs through March of 2010. We invite our readers to check back often to follow her progress and read interesting articles about canine health, fitness, and nutrition.