As you all know by now, I focus a great deal of time and energy on the health and wellbeing of my family. I prepare organic meals, I avoid toxic cleansers, I have taught my children the fun of being fit, and we have all learned to meditate together.

Here’s where I have dropped the ball: my dog.

I have a highly nervous spaniel mix. She should weigh about 20 pounds. Most of the time, I jokingly say that she needs Xanax. Really, she may actually need it – she’s a wreck. She’s sweet and extremely smart, but she has the attention span of a ferret who’s been slamming espresso drinks (I think I stole that line from Dennis Miller.)

Anyway, we finally had “Fuzzy” spayed, and the vet pointed out to me that she’s overweight. Mildly. No problem, I think. After all, I was sick, and she was lying down with me most of the time.

So, I made sure to incorporate more activity into her daily life. All seemed well.

And then winter arrived.

Seriously, guys, she was starving. I mean STARVING! TO! DEATH!

So, she went to the groomer a couple of weeks ago and once her massive fur coat had been trimmed down to manageable size I discovered that my poor dog is shaped like a beach ball.

I’m terrible. I’ve been overfeeding her. I plunked her down on the scale and discovered that she’s 32 pounds. I totally stink!

Now, she’s curled up at my feet, making googly eyes at me. She’s on a diet. Translation: I’m feeding her the appropriate quantity of food each day. She’s very unhappy with me right now.

So, word of advice here: don’t forget to keep your pets healthy and fit. The long term risks for an overweight dog are not good!

In the past two weeks, by the way, Fuzzy has lost four of the twelve pounds. I make sure to take more breaks and play fetch with her (she never gets tired of that) and I’ve now found a hiking trail that allows dogs.

Here’s hoping she takes to some gentle hikes. Thus far, she’s only experienced walks in the park!

I hope your Mondays were painless, my friends! Blessings to you all…