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BUTTONS - CAVALIER |
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BUTTONS came to us for his week of rehab recently.
At the start of the week, his weight was a whopping 36.5lb and a big clue as to
the cause of this was the massive carrier bag full of treats which accompanied
him! Needless to say, they went straight in the cupboard and the week was spent giving him carefully extended exercise. This is a breed which can suffer cardiac problems at the best of times, let alone when they are twice their optimum weight. So there would have been great risks in over exercising him. 
Buttons diet was
dramatically reduced for the week so that he eagerly looked forward to his
meals, whereas before he apparently would sometimes hardly touch his food having
gorged himself on jumbones, bonios and the like. His exercise consisted of brisk heel-work and tread-mill sessions three times a day. He took to the tread-mill like a duck to water, as can be seen by the photo. By the end of his week's stay, his weight had reduced by 3lb, almost 10% and his flexibility and fitness had dramatically improved. Where he had previously dawdled behind on his walks, by the end of the week he was actually starting to get in front and a bit of heel-work had to be done! He had been unable to climb the step out of our dog-room, but by the end of the week was leaping in and out with our own dogs. His body fat was obviously much reduced and he even had a bit of a waist! Buttons returned home, minus his treats and his owner was given a new, much smaller food bowl for him! There is no reason why this lovely little dog shouldn't continue to reduce weight and improve his fitness, given a positive approach from his owners. His health is now in their hands! "I can see he has lost weight and he is much more lively, so I know it's down to me to keep to his diet. He won't be getting so many treats from now on, because obviously I don't want to lose this dog at an early age, which happened with my last one. Thank you for your hard work Peter". |