Last night we had our second agility class. It was ok. I am less than thrilled with this class because it seems to move SO slow. Last night we practiced the turns again and added a cone (woo hoo). We also learned the command "Go" to send our dog to a target in front of us.
The most exciting thing came at the very end of class and it was the tunnel! Cam didn't want to go through it at first. But he had it down by the second try. By the end of class we were doing the full 10 ft. length of the tunnel.
Most all of the dogs in class pick up on things quickly. I just hate that we use this hour to practice things that are so easy over and over. We can practice at home you know? Fit in more things to teach us so I don't have to take so many dang classes!
Anyway, I had sent an email to the instructor 2 weeks ago asking how long it would take Cam to get to the point where he could run a course and she wrote me a long email back explaining the progression of the classes. So after class she asked if her email was helpful. I told her it was and just expressed concern that Cam picks up on things so quickly and I want something more challenging for him.
She told me just to practice over and over again and gave me some new tricks to teach him like spinning in both directions (he mastered this last night when we got home!) and walking up the stairs backwards (that is going to be a little harder).
Then she told me Cam was overweight. Cam is by no means fat, but he is not skinny either. She has a boarder collie too and was upset that he gained 2 lbs. and was now 41 lbs. Cam weighed 60 lbs. last time we went to the vet! She told me I need to get him down to 40 lbs max. So that means he has to loose 20 lbs! She told me to feed him as little as possible and to use pumpkin as a filler if he needs more volume to his food.
Since I need to loose weight too, this is good because now Cam and I can get in shape together. But it does concern me because I think he will look like skin and bones at 40 lbs. I know it is the same breed of dog as hers, but maybe Cam has a different body type. Maybe he is meant to be a little heavier than 40 lbs.
I don't want to be a Debbie Downer about the class. Cam does love going for a car ride and spending all that time with me and I love it too! I love the way he looks to me for direction. I love when he gets so excited when he does something right. I even love when he gets frustrated when he gets something wrong. He is just so cute and I am glad we are in this together!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
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Uh, that's a lot of weight! I'd be calling my vet to find out more and what is healthy and unhealthy! Yikes!
I agree with Heidi. Unless this woman is also a vet, I would get a second opinion. I have a pug and he is 18 lbs (which is small for a male) but the doctor said to watch his weight. Because he is smaller we can't let him get to the same point as other male pugs.
Congrats on having such a quick learner though. You must be so proud!
Crash dieting is never good for people so I'm assuming the same for animals. I'd be calling the vet to double check, too.
Stumbled upon your blog from 20SB...
Don't let her and her super model Border Collie tell you what your Border Collie should look like! You're Border Collie is beautiful, dammit!
I definitely think dogs have different body types. For example, you see labradors all the time that are stocky, and ones that are more slim. And I think both can be healthy.
BUT, I know that my dogs love eating canned pumpkin, if you decide to do that!
i agree with everyone. check with your vet first. 20lbs is a lot!
Awww Cam is so adorable! He's not overweight in my book (but me and Ruby are both fatties, so you might not want to take my word for it). I put Ruby on a diet and she was miserable and HUNGRY all the time. She started chewing things and she had never done that before, then she started pooping in the house and she never did that before either. I said screw this and went back to giving her the same amount of food as before. She's a dog, and all I want is for her to be happy. Same thing for Cam, he gets tons of exercise and if nothing seems to be wrong, I don't see why he should lose that much weight.
I've never heard to use pumpkin to help dogs lose weight... I have heard it used for upset stomach in them. I've heard more people use green beans (1/2 dog food 1/2 green beans) to slim them...
Good luck!!!
Wow, really ? She said he needed to lose a THIRD of his entire body weight .. ?! That hardly seems reasonable .. you should probably check with your vet first before you put him on that strict diet. Seems like he's doing great with the classes though, good job !! :)
I too am suspicious of the instructor telling you that Cam needs to lose so much weight! Stella needed to lose 5 lbs and so i just changed her to the "weight control" version of her food and was careful about how much i fed her. she lost the weight. Still, because i too could stand to lose 5 lbs (at least), i am always asking her: "how did you do it? How did you lose the weight and keep it off? was it lifestyle change?" yes. i'm a dork.
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