I should have known that naming my little baby chihuahua Truffle could only have doomed her to grow to 14 pounds! The vet says the weight has to drop to about 9-10, or she is going to have arthritis. Poor baby!

She is on Hill's Prescription Diet for dry food, and we mix it up with a little of Pet Promise for Senior or Overweight dogs. We like Pet Promise because it has absolutely no by products or anything nasty in it!

We've given Truffle treats because she's just so darn cute. I know better!

I would take her for long walks every day, but she's a typical chihuahua and barks like a madman and gets plain ole nervous around other people or pets.
The diet food just doesn't seem to be working. I should check her crate to make sure she isn't hiding treats under the pad. One of my old tricks as a kid!

Maybe she orders pizza while you're at work! I used to have a dog whose eyes turned into pinwheels when the pizza man came.

The visual of the dog ordering delivery....

Jennifer...your Truffle sounds like our Ernie. He's not as pudgy but should be about 13-15 pounds-he's 18 right now. I take him for short walks at the park and he loves it! But too being part chihuahua (1/2 chihuahua, 1/2 mn. schnauzer-what a combination) he barks and barks and barks at people. And is nervous...doesn't do well around others at all. Not event he vet! But...he refuses to eat any kind of dry dog food now. Eats caesar and then wants to fill up on treats, pupperoni's and doggie biscuits! I think putting a dog on a diet is like putting a baby on a diet...how do you do it?

Anyway...LOL Suzanne! Picturing Truffle ordering pizza and the pinwheels in the eyes.

LOL! I can sympathize with having a fat pet. I posted earlier today on another thread; one of my cats now answers to "Fatty" or "Fat Fat" because we call him that so much. He is a big kitty, about 20 lbs. His real name is Persi. I have 2 others, Libby, who is a dainty girl, and only weighs about 6.5lbs, and Bear who is somewhere in between the other two. They're all on low-cal dry food, but it does not seem to be slimming Fatty down at all!

Relating to pets and pizza... Before we were married, my hubby and I were watching a show on TV about how animals learn, and how to teach them tricks, etc. We happened to have pizza for dinner that night. We decided to teach Bear how to open pizza boxes. You know, as a party trick, or some stupid thing. Well, we taught him too well. Ever since that night we have to put something REALLY heavy on top of the pizza box to keep the cat out of it! He can open the things faster than I can! And next thing you know, he's in the middle of the pizza, pawing at the pepperoni! Not that we have pizza anymore (sigh)! I suppose that's one solution!

Jen - can you get truffle on the treadmill?

That's an even better visual than ordering pizza! Take your dog for a walk without leaving the house.

Hey...we actually tried putting out dog on the treadmill, lol! Freaked him out! He ran out of the room and won't go near that thing. My question is...how long do you actually have to walk a dog to get him to lose? I mean after a short distance our doggy poops out and is ready to head back to the car. If it's hot, he can't take much outdoors...doesn't do well in the heat. He's just spoiled.

I used to have a cat that LOVED pancakes. I would give him one and if I dared to get near him when he was eating, he'd growl this evil, deep growl. He also like potato chips and pop rocks. Weird cat. His name was Morris.

Now my Old English Sheepdog, Junior, is in LOVE with veggies...especially lettuce. He can hear me from the living room when I open the lettuce bag and puts his big ole snout right between my gut and the counter. I give him the yucky outer leaves...and he LOVEs them. He also likes cukes, carrots and grapes. I suppose it's good for him, so I give him as much as he wants...

I have chocolate lab that is downright fat. I used to take her for walks with me last summer. Now, she pants so hard and acts like she can't make it. She is a very spoiled inside dog. I use low-cal dog food for her, but mainly she is just lazy and stays fat. Her big exercise for the day is going outside to the bathroom then she runs back in and lays down. My kids give her table scraps sometimes but I have restricted this . She wouldn't eat dog food at all if she could get anything else. She weighs about 100lbs. and this morning I found her on the kitchen counter licking spaghetti off my teenage son's plate that he left there when he got home from work at 3AM.

My collies are totally abnormal - my husband and I [jokingly] think they are anorexic b/c they will only eat about a cup or a cup and a half of food a day (according to the bag, they should be eating 3 cups each). They do love the people food, though.
Good luck with the Hill's dog food. We give our babies Nutro, but my MIL fed her cats Hills and she really liked the brand.

HAHAHAHAA...my cat Lucy is a trip, she LOVES beef jerky. It's the funniest thing...I never thought a cat would want something like that, Murphy, she loves her CHEESE.

Anyone got any pics to post of their pets?

Ok you can laugh but I put my labbie on the treadmill. I have to say you can't just throw them on a set it to run, it does take a little time to "teach" them. She is getting better, I still have to hold her but that should be better soon too. NEVER leave your pet unattended!

I have t say this have been a blessing durring the floods of 06 here in MA. so don't laugh
And little miss Dixie LOVES the pizza guy, wants to ride in hes car just for the smell, doggie perfume?

Bark solution is not as hard as you might think for you little pups. The citronella no bark collar is a reasonable answer for many dogs. http://www.healthypetonline.com/citronella_collar.html

Love my puppers, she is only 10 months but a true joy.

Remember: its never too late to have a good dog

LOL - truffle ordering pizza and then walking it off on the treadmill! The visual image is just too much!