it's all about her

My little one put on quite a bit of weight over the the last two and a half years. She gained more this last year in fact. The unbearably hot summers of Texas combined with it's ravenous insect population made it inhospitable for me to spend any more time than is absolutely neccessary outdoors. We managed to get some exercise during the winters, but it wasn't enough after all was said and done. A lot of changes have taken place since our recent move and reentering the roommate dynamic. One of the first changes was an increase in our activity level since we both needed to drop the unwanted pounds gained. I've always been on the lanky side so most people tend to have a hard time telling if I've gained or lost, but the beagle was definitely starting to show it. Her waist was non existant as was evident when standing or laying down. I was failing my beagle after swearing I would never let her turn into one of those old fat beagles you see so often at dog parks. Here's a picture of her, and her belly, from last June after a teeth cleaning and having a molar removed (hence the bandage and shaved portion of her leg).

Butterball Beagle

My roommate spares no expense in quality when it comes to his dog. The brand (Acana) he feeds it is one of the best I've ever heard or read about. Bridgette wasn't doing so well with her brand (Royal Canin) any longer so it was time for a switch anyways. I'll spare describing how it was affecting her since it wasn't a pretty sight. I went from feeding her one cup a day to splitting it into two feedings of a half cup. This is how the roommate feeds his dog. When in Rome as they say. She never ate all her food in one sitting before so this wasn't a new stretch for her. The new food definitely agrees with her due to the higher quality of ingredients and production philosophy of the manufacturer. She's slimmed down a lot, sheds much less hair, and is much more active and alert than before. A plus since she's officially a senior citizen.

I haz a waistline!

Her weight loss is starting to level off and she's looking a whole lot better. I weighed her a few weeks before we moved out and she came in at a whopping 31.5 pounds. In mid October she weighed 29.6 pounds, and 28.4 pounds in mid November. This friday she weighed 27.3 pounds. At this rate she'll be back at her optimum of around 25 pounds in another month or so.

So many trees, so little pee.

Exercise is always part of it and we've been getting plenty of it since moving here. It helps that we live in a conservation area with lots of nearby trails. Outside of the three weeks where I was sick, we've been averaging at least six mile hikes on the weekends. Oh and I've dropped about ten pounds myself, but that's not important right now since this is all about Bridgette.

Two hours and not a single squirrel, this place sucks!

I figure that the two of us should be back to normal health and weight before we em-bark on our next adventure.