When we took Hamul (actually his name is Pepper) into the rescue, he came in because his groomer recommened the family let him live with a family that would keep him exercised. At only 2 years old he weighed almost 75 pounds. He was a slug, and when they shaved him down, I nicknamed him my Holstein / Aussie Mix as his colors were close to a Holstein Cow, no offense to Pepper, just he was cute as a Aussie/Cow mix. I was lucky in my fantastic network of foster homes to actually be given a new foster home to bring on board, one that was up for the task to have Pepper lose weight. Enter Roxanne and her drive to get Pepper in shape. Below is what she did for our little Aussie, who came in at 75 pounds and is walking out the door eventually to a forever home at almost 20 pounds lighter.

Pepper Overweight

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First thing was to get him swimming. He loves the wubba so after a few times of throwing that into the pool and watching my dog go in to get it, he was not happy seeing her get his toy. So he decided to make a big splash and go and get his toy, and I was in right after him. He swam wonderful but I needed to keep him swimming and not just jumping in. I put a leash on him and lead him around the pool. That soon became a daily activity, usually twice a day we did that.

Pepper's Famous Belly Flop

Pepper Starts The Program

Next was walking and for quite sometime it was more like me pulling him on the walks. He loved to be out seeing new things he just didn’t want to walk. So for this I used treats. I cooked some beef liver. It’s a very motivating smell and I could give very small pieces and it has no additives or preservatives. He now walks at a good pace without  stopping and we walk 2 miles a day. His energy level has improved beyond my expectation, now we are working on Pepper not  pulling me. I guess he is paying me back LOL.

Now I had to give him a job to feel good about himself and work for his meals, so we play fetch. He did not want to do this in the beginning, but he soon caught on that he gets his meal after he plays fetch. He is jumping up to catch the ball and racing Lacey to get to them.

Pepper Losing Weight

Pepper’s diet is the same thing that I feed my dog  a species appropriate diet basically it’s raw meaty bones. Raw rabbit, chicken, beef, turkey, venison, fish, eggs and pork. 80% meat 10% bone 10% organs If you would like more info on this, go to raw meaty bones or Tom Lonsdale lots of info. My opinion is this is what got the weight off of him so quickly and helped in building muscle. Most of Pepper and Lacey’s treats are carrots, strawberries apples slices or cooked chicken and beef livers. I do as much natural and holistic as possible.

Thanks Roxanne, and for those that want this now Ripped Aussie, get in line, he is going to go fast…