Flying Poodles

Weight and Health (and Heeling)

This morning, Dancer, who is 24″ at the shoulder but light-boned, weighs 46.5 pounds. It seems a good weight for her. She is fast and strong when she runs and appears comfortable with the amount of food she’s getting.

When Elly (also 24″ at the shoulder but more heavily muscled) first developed her IBD (irritable bowel disease), she weighed 49 pounds. When we put her on prednisone and the inflammation was eliminated, she gained 17 pounds in 2 months, going to 66 pounds… which is way too much for her. Once she was off the prednisone and we figured out what she could eat without getting bloody diarrhea (I hope no one’s reading and eating), she started losing weight, going quite rapidly to 57 pounds in about two months. In the year since then, I’ve been focusing on her overall fitness and trying to deliver a healthy diet. As of this morning, she is at a low of 54.5 pounds. I think another pound should do it. The slimmer she is, the better for her hips–but I don’t want to send her into another IBD bout either.

On an unrelated note, I’ve been trying something completely different with Elly’s nasty leash habits (she can pull you over!). Since she heels fine if you have treats, and pulls like a percheron if you don’t… I’ve been trying the method where you turn around and go the opposite direction at the second she pulls on the leash. Last night it took SEVENTEEN turns to get from our front door to the top of the steps into the play area… Ten minutes, but she did stop jerking me around. With consistency and a few years, it should be possible to walk out the front door without being worried about being pulled over.