Happy 4th! -- Day 34

It is hard to put a dog on a diet. I had tried before with Izzy, substituting frozen green beans, steaming broccoli and cauliflower in chicken stock and substituting that…. I mentioned yesterday that Mr. Smith is on a diet. His vet said he needs to lose 7 pounds (he weighs 37) and recommended cutting his food intake. This is so hard to do. Why? He is ravenously hungry. He has a remarkable sense of smell, and that boy could smell a cookie on the counter from across the room! He has been scavenging the streets and tries to pull me to all the discarded food in the park.

So why am I bringing this up? Because switching Izzy to Scooterfood has never been like this. I know she misses her rawhides, but she is content. She gets 2 meals a day and food she loves. (bonus that it is warmed up.) The treats that she gets (scooter treats, chicken treats and lamb lung) are her favorites and not bad for her. High in protein and low in fat.

I should note that Izzy and Mr. Smith are 2 very different dogs. Izzy has never been highly food motivated and Mr. Smith is part beagle.

Anyhow for the 4th, the dogs had a great walk in the park, went to the farmers market and chilled in the AC. Then dinner and fireworks. I fell asleep really early and my sister Genny said that she would take the dogs out one last walk. Izzy would not go, and because she would not go, Mr. Smith would not go. Funny dogs.

Mr. Smith Diets too -- Day 33

We left late for the park this morning. My sister walked with me so I could head on to work from the park. It was warm but Izzy plugged along, actually almost power walking with Stephanie. they did give her water at the park. She was pooped after that and did not go out again till Mike (filling in for Erin) walked her.

I had asked Mike (since he only sees Izzy occasionally) if he thought she lost weight. He left me a nice note: "Izzy looks like she may have slimmed down a bit. She was much more up beat on the walk than she usually is with me." And then he recommended ScooterFood! LOL! I will have to let him know what a fan Izzy is of ScooterFood!

She had chicken for her meals today, and a couple chicken treats. But that is it.

Mr. Smith is staying with us from Saturday until Wednesday. He is on a diet too.

The Sisters Visit -- Day 32

Izzy is all stocked up with a fresh batch of chicken. Could she be any happier? I thought she was going to go after my tote bag as were walking back from meeting Michelle.

My sisters came up for the weekend, so I came home from work early and Izzy was thrilled to see them. She ran across the street and even jumped on Genny in greeting. Izzy is not a jumper.

I would have thought was all the rain and humidity that Izzy would have no interest in being out of the AC. But Steph and Gen walked her for a good while and even met me at the bus stop on my way home from class. She definitely has more energy.

Running Around with Mr. Smith -- Day 31

It is getting hot and humid, but Izzy makes it to the park every morning. And we end up staying for a while. She loves to meet and greet all her friends. (and flirt if there are handsome boys We walked with Suzie, Sweetie Pie and Izzy 2. When Denise was giving out treats Izzy threw herself in that mix but did turn her nose up at the dry food. Denise used to have to hunt Izzy down to give her treats, so this is a big change in her.

She got chicken today, for both meals. Warmed up, of course. She did get some chicken treats. She so loves them!

Erin fed her dinner around 4pm and later Lisa picked her up to hang out with Mr. Smith as we had dinner. Lisa said that Izzy was so funny, laying on her side, expecting chicken to be fed to her like grapes. Oh, if only I had a picture! She acts so royal!

When I showed up Izzy raced down the stairs with Smithers, greeted me, and went back up them. Lisa lives in a 3rd floor walk up, and Izzy, in the past, has struggled with the second flight of stairs. It was not a problem today. AND then Izzy and Smithers played around the living room. Izzy even started it. When we got home she got her red devil ball (the rubber toys with horns and feet) and wanted to play more. In the winter I would not be so surprised about this, but this is JULY. She does not usually act so playful in the hote humid months.

One other thing that I noticed is that she is drinking less water. Normally in the summer, her big water bowl would be almost empty at the end of the day. I wonder if it is because she is getting more water from the food. Not sure.

Walkin with Ben and Sweetie Pie -- Day 30

So we had a great walk in the park with Ben and Sweetie Pie. It was a warm day but Izzy was a trooper and even got her flirt on with a couple boys. She does lay down in the shade/cool grass whenever I pause for a moment, but that is much better than planting her feet and refusing to go on (which she has done in the past.) We even stayed extra long, she was probably out for almost 2 hours this morning.

She had chicken and chicken today and even topped it off with some chicken treats. She never seems to tire of the chicken. Erin is feeding Izzy her dinner earlier (around 4) after their walk and Izzy seems better for it. Not hungry when I get home and is satisfied having a chicken treat while I ate diner.

I forgot to mention over the weekend that Izzy ignored my mom when we were home, which is totally out of the ordinary. Normally Izzy gives my mom lots of love. My mom is blaming it on her new diet. LOL!

Back to Brooklyn -- Day 29

I tried something different this Baltimore trip and left at 3:30am to come back to Brooklyn. Izzy slept the whole ride, except for the one picture. When we got back (which took extra long due to an accident on the bridge) Izzy got her breakfast and her walk. She pooed, as she did last night. I think that is a reflection of the extra treats outside her diet.

Her dog walker, Erin, gave Izzy her dinner at 4pm. Let's see how eating an earlier dinner works for her!

Old Friends -- Day 28

Today I took Izzy to visit our old neighborhood where she grew up. We were going to take a walk with her best friend, Anna, and Maire Paule, her person. We had not been back in over a year and Izzy could not have been more thrilled. She ran up the hill and all around with Ann and Callie. Hen we took a walk around the old neighborhood. The only noticeable difference with Izzy was that she did not try to chase all the bunnies we saw, which was a relief to me and my back.

Izzy did get a little spoiled by Marie Paule. But she was actually picky about the treats and oy ate the chicken treats that she was given. We sat outside and had brunch and Izzy did not beg at all. She had beefheart for breakfast.

That evening we went to my parents for dinner and Izzy had her chicken. We had to feed her separately from Elmo so he did not go after her food. Dad did give her a little chicken, but that was all. I don't know if she was begging for it, but think not.

Dad says her poo still smelled.