A Date with Ray

According to the Center for Disease Control, 35.9% of adults age 20 and over in the US are obese, and the percentage of the same age group who are overweight, including obese are 69.2%. Not surprisingly our pets are encountering the same issue. According to this article, nearly one in every four dogs and cats in the United States is overweight or obese.

The Peaceabull household has three adults and five animals which almost mirrors these stats. Of the three cats, Miko is definitely obese and between the two dogs, Ray is inching towards obesity while Julius doesn't appear to have missed any meals lately. He is still trim, but certainly on the well-fed side.

As for the humans? I will only throw myself out there and say that I need to lose weight. I'm out of shape, my clothes are shrinking too tight and while taking a CDC weight assessment, I was actually relieved to be overweight and not obese.

I'm not athletic, I don't love to exercise, I like good food, good beer, cheap wine and I'm not naturally thin. Since wishing the fat away has not been working out so well and more importantly, I want to keep Ray healthy, I've made a committment to him and myself that we will start walking.

A nice walk.

With Julius going to day-play so successfully, I wanted to do something special for Ray. Day play for Ray isn't off the table, but I'm considering a few options so rather than just talk about how much we need to go walking, I decided to just do it. I drove home for lunch noting that the sun was shining and the air wasn't unbearably cold, so as soon as I arrived home, I grabbed the leash and Ray's Tiennot Sweater and off we went.

Good and frequent check-ins!

Presently, Ray has a sore foot so we didn't go too far, but the pure joy he exhibited as well as the good manners, kept me afloat a happiness cloud for the entire day. He wagged his tail the entire walk, checked in with me often, kept a pretty loose leash and when the pee-mails got to be super interesting, was pretty easily redirected. A pleasurable walk for both of us.

I'm committing to our walks on a regular basis and as our stamina and the weather permit am hoping to extend them to some meaningful meanders around the neighborhood. We'll keep you posted.

Is it Haute in Here?

...or is it just Ray?  We were eagerly awaiting our package, because although there is no longer a waiting list for a Birkin bag, there is a slight waiting list for custom dog sweaters.



Fuzzy picture-operator error.

 That's right, just in time for award season and the red carpet, Ray-Ray is in Haute Couture.  Who is he wearing, you ask?  Oh, just a custom made sweater by Tiennot Knits.  It's what all the best dressed pooches are wearing this season, especially ones celebrating their team winning the Super Bowl. 

To tell you the truth, I debate on ordering this since the first moment I read about Tiennot Knits Sweaters.  Of course I wanted one for Ray because I want him to have everything but he's always been a little iffy about clothing.  He's had a couple of knit sweaters but always did better with fleece and t-shirts.  I certainly didn't want to order a custom sweater just to keep it in the hall closet.  I needn't have worried, though.  That's what is great about custom. I wanted to make sure it was not too long and just tight enough to be snuggly. 



The funniest thing, though, Kevin was home when the package arrived and left it on the table, so when I got home I opened it and ooohed and ahhed over the sweater then set it back on the table.  Ray, however, knew it was for him (you'd think he gets lots of packages or something) and kept whining and nosing at the table till I finally put it on him and took him outside. 

He was pretty proud of his new look.

The Snow King

When we decided to adopt a Pit Bull type dog, I had every intention of collecting an entire wardrobe of cute clothes for him.  I'll admit, that even though I pretty much had my heart set on Ray, there were some moments of doubt as to whether or not to adopt his only sister.  Cuz, one word:  tutu!  After reading so many other blogs wearing cute, snuggly sweaters and wraps, I just knew my pink piggy of a boy would be grateful for a nice fleece or sweater to ward off the chill of the snowy days here.  In fact, last year, he wore a fleece and/or a coat nearly every day while it was cold and as a rapidly growing pup, had a pretty impressive wardrobe of discards.  I found that something more fitted and snug without buttons or velcro worked the best.

This one worked out so well, that I bought it in several sizes and it made the transition from late January through March or whenever the weather turned a bit milder.   It's amazing how hard it is to find a shirt or jacket that will fit a big chested dog, even a puppy. 

While this one technically fit, it didn't last very long because the buttons presented a challenge in that they demaded to be eaten, or at the very least, removed. I think I ended up purchasing more that he didn't wear than things that he did wear. We also went through quite a series of wraps with a velcro closure.  I believe velcro is code for Pit Bull Crack, judging by how joyously Ray set about attacking the velcro.

So, with all of the snow we've gotten in the past few days, I figured that Ray would be a shivering mess who would run out to do his business and run back inside as quickly as possible.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  My thin haired, pink skinned little piggy seems to be a snow dog.  He's been zooming through the snow all around the pool, knee deep in snow, plowing drifts with his snout, chipping ice chunks with his massive clubs that he calls paws and running proudly around with is prize.

Standing outside in Uggs, jacket and heavy sweat pants, I usually have to demand Ray come inside because if my legs are cold under all the layers, this naked little pooch has to be cold.  I think he'd just play out in the snow as long as we'd let him.  In fact, I've never seen him so much as shiver, not even a little bit.  We've been fortunate that the temperatures haven't been too severe yet, but I think I'm going to have to find a coat or sweater that fits well and start getting him used to it again just in case it gets bitter outside.  Then maybe we can work on rebuilding the wardrobe again.  Hey, if you can't play dress up with you dog...who can you?

So, tell me, do you dress your dogs and do you have a special trick for success?