She Almost Won

by Brian Armentrout (aka Merry's Husband and Bella's "Father")

Since making the drive North in late February, I’ve been back in Birmingham for a record five days this week. Let me tell you, when the man of the house leaves, everything falls apart. Though, make no mistake, if you know our household, you know who’s really in charge. Certainly not me. It’s Merry…or, is it our white princess?

She almost won. No, not a race. You see, getting Bella to take a walk is like pulling teeth. It’s always been that way, but this past weekend was especially bad. For the past three years, we’ve taken Bella and Sophie on daily walks through the neighborhood loop, which is about a mile and a half. No big deal, really. Bella’s always resisted when we get half way up the first major hill. But, this week was different. I couldn’t even drag her lazy a** off our property. And this was just the beginning.

Seven times. That’s how many times I nearly pulled my shoulder out of socket, dragging Bella and her 30 or so extra pounds she needs to shed, up hills, down hills, and across several intersections. She fought me so hard, foam was gushing from her chops. In fact, had she just walked (or even run) like a normal golden retriever, she’d have been just fine.
Like every other walk, despite some extra sore muscles from pulling, tugging and yanking, I won. As some of you may have heard, we’re moving to the mid-Atlantic region, probably landing in Annapolis, MD, which happens to be a very active, walking community of humans and canines. And Bella better get it together.

I love that dog almost as much as I love Merry and my family, which is why I am so worried about her well being. She’s still a young girl who’s got a long ways to go before hitting a healthy range. In fact, during her weekly weigh-in today…we discovered she actually gained ½ pound. What? I confess, I gave her a small bite of red fish this week, but that certainly isn’t to blame. I’m convinced the veterinarians are wrong and she needs serious, medical help. They all, so nonchalantly assume and verbalize, we need to cut her diet and exercise her more. We’ve followed this protocol for the past six months to no avail. Humor me. Do we need a new vet? Or do we need the dog whisperer? Our white princess rules. She likes to eat, but so do I. What’s next? Suggestions? Anyone?

Weigh-In 6: Old weight 81 lbs. New weight...

80 lbs! She lost 1 pound! I should be overly excited, but I’ll be honest, I’m frustrated. Did you watch Kate Gosselin on Dancing with the Stars? She was terrible- really, really bad. It actually hurt to watch. The commentators kept on reminding the audience that she’s out of her element. She’s not an actress, singer or entertainer- she’s just a woman with a bunch of kids. Kate will never be a dancer. Even if she practiced everyday for the next ten years, she’ll never be an Edyta. She’s just not a dancer. It doesn’t make her a bad person, just not a dancer. The fact that she exploits her children on television is what makes Kate Gosselin a bad person (just saying).

I imagine Bella would resemble Kate if she was on a reality show for agility dogs. You would just cringe watching her try to jump over things or run through tunnels. It would be ugly. Thankfully, we’re not in a reality show…but life. And, I’m realistic. These next 10 pounds won’t come off easily, trust me. She lost 2 pounds in 2 months…even Oprah could do better. But I’m starting to see the bigger picture.

Bella will never be an agility dog. She’ll never go for a run with me. I don’t see her diving in the waves to retrieve a ball (if you recall earlier post about her bobbing around in the lake). You’ll never see Belles at the top of a mountain, unless there’s a chair lift. But that’s okay. She is who she is, but if you know her, you love her. So that’s my dilemma.

Should I put my focus and energy in getting Bella to lose weight? Or should I try for something different? Like having Bella be certified to be a Therapy Dog. Could you picture a better dog with children at a hospital? She’s not an agility dog, but I think Bella was born to be a therapy dog. She’s calm, patient and very gentle. She could pass the test with flying colors…except for one small issue…she can’t walk loose leashed. She can’t walk on a leash at all. Seriously, if you drive on Lake Cyrus Blvd. around 8:00am, you’ll see me, literally pulling Bella up the hill. Some days I win, other days, she wins. She won today. Before you judge my ability as a dog owner, imagine tugging 80 pounds of dead weight by a rope…not easy.

So here’s where I need your help. I’ve spent a lot of money on blood tests and expensive diet dog foods, so I can’t really afford to hire a private trainer to help me with this problem. If you know of anyone who is affordable, or if you have any suggestions, please let me know. Brian will videotape a demonstration of Bella walking on a leash this weekend, so I’ll have some hard evidence for you to show you my dilemma. Until then, take a look at the video I posted…pure Bella. I was trying to get her to fetch the Frisbee, and you'll see her little sister, Sophie, did the job for her

Old Weight- 83 lbs, New weight...

81 lbs!!!!

She lost 2 lbs!!!! I can't take all the credit. I had to be in LA for work, so Brian took care of the dogs this weekend...looks like he might be The Enforcer.

I wish I could write more, but I'm beat. Started a new job last week, and haven't had much down time to develop creative thoughts for the blog...I'll do better!!!

Weigh-In 4: Previous weight- 82.6 Lbs. New weight...

83 lbs...crap.

Josh at South Shades Crest Animal Clinic was disappointed too. As he lifted her on the scale with a grunt, he stared dejectedly at the number and sadly recorded it in her file. But as we left he give her a pat on the head of encouragement.

I'm not sure what went wrong this week, but I can tell you my mom bought Bella special "Easter" treats, and I couldn't let the decorated dog cookies just go to waste. We all need a little treat now and then. The problem is her activity level. To lose weight you have to decrease your calories plus increase your activity level. Bella needs to work on the last part. As you can see from the picture she loves napping...even in the middle of playing with her toys.

Stop and Smell the Roses

My life has been full of change. My husband and I are moving to a different part of the country.. did I mention he's already there? I'm living alone and trying to sell a house while starting a new job. I'm overwhelmed. We've all been there, in fact we're all there right now, in one way or another.

I took Bella for a walk today. She hates walks. I always thought it was because she detests exercise, but as she sniffed around, and I yanked her away from the seventh flower bed that interrupted our afternoon stroll, I realized maybe she hates going for walks because she can't actually enjoy them.

I decided to start this blog when my life took an unexpected turn, and I suddenly had a large amount of free time to spare. Like I do with so many things in life, I set a goal (reminder- laziest golden to lose 12 lbs) , and my focus became the endpoint, but do I actually take the time to enjoy the process of achieving the goal? How often do we do go through the motions without taking a moment to take in everything, whether it's the good or bad? My life isn't going as expected, but I still need to take advantage of life, and stop trying to control everything I can't, but take advantge of the things I can- like an afternoon stroll.

So today, I decided to stop yanking on Bella's leash. I let her stop at every mailbox, fire hydrant and poodle and just get a good whiff. Seems silly I know, but maybe it's the silly things, or simple things in life that we tend to overlook.

Weigh-in 3: Previous weght- 83.1 lbs, New weight...

...82.6 lbs!!! She lost .5 lbs.

This might not seem like a lot, but last night we had dinner at my parent's which means Bella consumed many table scraps. I tried to warn my enabling mother about the seriousness of Bella's weight-loss challenge.

She said I was being ridiculous- and "it's just a little bite."

A little bite of cheese, steak, potato, green beans and cake, yes, cake.

I forewarned my mother if she kept of feeding Bella "treats", I would videotape it and put her on my blog. She's going to kill me...

Weigh In 2: Previous weight 84 lbs, New weight...

Previous weight: 84 lbs

NEW WEIGHT.... 83.1 lbs!

She lost .9 lbs- not much, but at this point I'll take anything. Josh (pictured) will be working with us from here on out- he works at a vet closer to my home which makes it more convenient for our "weigh ins".

.9 lbs downs, 13.1 lbs to go...