It’s not just people that have to go on diets. Dogs do too – if they have been badly fed that is. Overfeeding can be as problematic as underfeeding in extreme cases.

And there have been several extreme cases. In the UK in 2006, two brothers were taken to court for letting their dog get too fat. Rusty, a nine-year old Labrador weighed 11½ stone (161lb, 73kg) had trouble standing up and, judges were told, looked more like a seal than a dog.

One more recent example of a Very Big Dog was Jerrod, an obese dog in Minnesota, northern USA who has just been put through celebrity-style detox and weight-loss sessions. Jerrod was in the worst shape of his life when he was surrendered to the humane society.

His knees were locked into place, he was morbidly obese, and his hair had fallen out all over his body.

After hundreds of hours on an underwater treadmill at an animal health centre, called The Paw, and a strict diet and more doses of love than he\\\\\\\'d probably ever seen, Jerrod\\\'s transformation has been remarkable.

His health has taken a dramatic turn for the better.

"It\\\'s not just his life expectancy," said Lora Bode, the veterinarian technician who has worked with Jerrod since April. "It\\\'s quality of life. We\\\\\\\'ve decreased his pain, his knees can function like they\\\\\\\'re supposed to ..."

Along with working on the treadmill, Jerrod has also undergone regular regimens of stretching, ice packing and leash walks. Once he began to improve, he began working on climbing stairs — a task once impossible for him — and some light jogging. In total, he\\\'s lost 32 pounds with about another 10 or so to go.

And although he\\\'ll be on arthritis and thyroid medication for the rest of his life, he\\\'ll have a nearly normal life with his new owners, Sarah and Adam Cowell of Arlington.

They\\\\\\\'d seen him on the Blue Earth Nicollet County Humane Society Web site and, after one visit, knew they wanted to take him home. The day after meeting Jerrod — so named for the famous Subway sandwich shops pitchman who famously lost several hundred pounds — Sarah Cowell went to the humane society office and claimed him.

"I wasn\\\'t about to let anyone else have him," she said.

That was nearly two months ago. A few days after that, Jerrod had the second of two knee surgeries, both of which were performed in Faribault.

Since then Sarah has made regular visits to The Paw to visit Jerrod, and on Wednesday, she and Adam finally led him away to their car and off to Arlington.

By Anna Leach

 

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