Why?

I was walking Liwanu today and ran into another dog walker out and about. The dog was a yellow lab mix (I'm pretty sure anyway) that had to be at LEAST 30lbs overweight! The woman proceeded to lecture me on Liwanu's lack of jiggling rolls and I finally blew my top after listening to her for about 2 minutes. I was on the trail so I couldn't easily ditch her and I decided just to be honest with her. I told her flat out her dog was obese and was going to suffer for her lack of common-sense when he got older (the dog is two). I explained to her that his hips and elbows were going to give out and he would eventually be unable to move on his own because of her need to show her love by feeding him garbage constantly. During this I watched her eyes grow to the size of dinner plates (Ok maybe small tea saucers) and then I got to the truly horrific part. All of the health complications that obesity leads to (not only in humans folks!) heart trouble, arthritis, risk of heart attack and stroke not to mention arterial blockage. That's when her lip started to quiver and I started thinking "Oh **it! She's gonna cry!". Well sure enough she burst into tears because she hadn't realized that she was killing her dog by giving him too many treats and not enough exercise. At this point I tried to tone it down a bit and be helpful (I hate seeing women cry, especially when it's my fault). Liwanu and I ended up accompanying her home because she wanted me to help her evaluate her food choices for the pup. An hour later we had managed to get her sorted out and now I'm supposed to meet her three days a week so we can walk our dogs together......*Sigh* the things my big mouth gets me into.

During this time Liwanu didn't try to eat her (which is amazing) he had no interest in her dog or her. Thankfully, since I don't think I would have been up to handling him during his lunging/snarling/'I'm gonna eat you' phase today. I've been sick and worn out lately so my energy isn't up to it's normal status.

This whole situation lead me to start wondering WHY people feed their animals in such an unhealthy way. Why do people see a fat dog and think 'It's well-loved' when in reality it's unhealthy, unhappy and at serious risk for medical problems. When we see the obese walking down the street do we think 'That person is well-loved'? NO We think 'They should go on a diet' or 'Gross'. How is it any different to feed an animal into morbid obesity and think that it is acceptable? A dog (or any animal) should be lean and fit. Not skinny and definitely not fat. They should have a waist and muscle definition rather than jiggling mounds of flesh making their lives miserable. Ever watch a fat dog try to run? They give up and lie down looking pathetic after a very short period of time.