Tubbs

Last Friday was Bauer's annual vet appointment. We expected the needles, the heart worm check, the drawing of blood and the talk about tarter build up. What we weren't expecting was an issue with his weight.

"And in this corner is Bauer 'the Retriever' Payne weighing in at a 58.2 lbs."

Our lean mean frisbee machine was 52.5 pounds this time last year. There are 3 reasons for the weight gain.

1 ~ Cheese on his food We started this so he would eat. He couldn't afford to lose weight when he was only 52 lbs.

2 ~ Less intense exercise We take him for regular exercise twice a day but the duration of the exercise has decreased. Bauer seems to get tired and hot more quickly than he used to. His 'stop' signal when playing frisbee is when he trots over to the shade of a tree and starts rolling in the grass. We have switched his frisbee from twice a day to once and now take him for a walk at night.

3 ~ He's 3 years old. Not a puppy any longer. **sigh**. We've put him on weight control dog food. With a small sprinkle of cheese.

After the vet appointment we walked home with our Tubbs. We slipped so easily into calling him Tubbs, it's not good, he's going to get a complex. However, it gave me an idea for Halloween.

Crockett and Tubbs. Fightin' Crime.

I just need to find a dog sized pin-stripe suit and to plead with RJ to grow/dye his hair and wear a white suit after Labour Day. Oh! I forgot the mesh shoes. This gets better all the time!!!