Covid Weight Gain

by Ruby Bonham

My dog has Covid Weight Gain!  How did my slim , trim and healthy dog expand to over twenty pounds.  We will NOT discuss her owner’s weight gain.  I have heard the chatter around the park of the human weight gain but now it seems to be affecting pets too.  Just as we humans try to explain it, I have tried to reason out why Dolly now answers to the name Chubby.  DeDe (chihuahua) has remained pretty steady.  Now to Dolly.  Initially I thought it was because she grieved so hard at loosing her Daddy (Ed) or maybe it is because she just turned ten.  Could it be because we don’t walk in the rain. 

She now eats Weight Control food and I have cut down on treats.  So far she has not lost an ounce.  I now break up her treats so she is getting the same number but not sure she is buying that.  DeDe runs to claim the big dog bed and Dolly makes do with the smaller one.  It is kind of cute to see her try to curl up in the smaller bed but her belly is too big to curl!  Usually she lays on her side and hangs over the edge.  If she is lucky enough to get to the big bed first,  DeDe simply pushes in beside her and ignores her grumpy grumbles.

A couple of days ago I started giving healthy treats like fruit and veggies.  DeDe likes everything.  Dolly’s first offering of banana was funny.  She picked it off my hand but curled her lips to avoid touching the nasty thing and spit it out.  She gave me a look that said she was offended.  About the third time DeDe reached for it so she decided to eat it, a tiny bit at a time.  She now eats bananas but then comes to me and says “where’s the real treat? Due to Covid isolation I seem to spend a lot of time talking to my dogs and trying to understand what they are trying to tell me.  It is a work in progress and Dolly clearly indicates that I am a slow learner.