Beans is getting too fat. She’s getting older and less active and now that’s it’s cold out, she’s really packing on the weight–she’s gained eight pounds in two months! We recently put her on a diet which she hates, really hates. She stands there giving her low-fat food contemptuous looks, all the while hopping from foot to foot, as if she’s waiting for the real food to be brought out. We’ve also cut back her treats. Cutting back treats was particularly difficult because we have five dogs and we couldn’t give everyone but Beans a treat–she’d be heart-broken. So we began giving her smaller treats, which she notices. I know she notices. She looks right at me, then at the other dog’s treats as if to say…”MOM! Her treat is bigger than mine!” Which makes me feel terrible–it’s not like I can explain that it’s for her own good…

It doesn’t help that poor Beans is totally focussed on food 24-7. It’s like she has an addiction! Like I used to be with cigarettes! But while you can find addiction treatment for humans, poor Beans has to tough it out. The only thing that has helped satisfy her are rawhide chews, which she quickly devours, so I’m not really sure they are all that helpful. I guess I should be grateful that Beans can’t open the fridge.