A major recent study suggests that being just moderately overweight is deadlier for a dog than a lifetime of smoking is for a human being. Being just “a little fat” is simply horrible for a dog’s health. It is literally worse than smoking. And being “very fat”? Well, it’s likely even worse than that. That’s […]
(What follows is a gross oversimplification of a somewhat nuanced issue. If, by the end of this post, you remain skeptical of my conclusions, I urge you to grab a copy of my book, Dogs, Dog Food, and Dogma. It includes a much more fulsome discussion of this important topic, one complete with citations, end notes, […]
Yesterday Varsity Pets launched an IndieGoGo campaign to create a mobile application and a book to help dog owners recognize, understand, and defeat canine obesity — the most under-appreciated animal welfare crisis in the country today. (If you haven’t done so already please consider watching our video and pledging to our campaign. If all the subscribers […]
First of all, if you’re at all interested in this topic, you really ought to check out Dogs, Dog Food, and Dogma, my book about the science (and business) of canine health and obesity. If you don’t think it’s the most honest, rigorous, in-depth, and all-around helpful book you’ve ever read on the topic, I’ll refund 100% of […]
I didn’t get a chance to watch the whole telecast, but I caught portions of it. A few notes: First of all, congrats to Sky and her people for their Best in Show win. It sounds like their well-deserved victory was the result of many years of hard work. Also, it probably goes without saying […]
If you’re reading this blog then you probably fancy yourself a pretty responsible dog owner. You probably hear us droning on and on about the prevalence of canine obesity and think to yourself “that’s a good point, but I’m part of the solution, not part of the problem. I work hard to keep my dog […]
If you want to help your dog lose body fat, become the Optimal Dog, and live the longest and happiest life her genes will allow, there are two fundamental strategies that you can use: (1) diet and (2) exercise. Obviously, these strategies aren’t mutually-exclusive. Meaning that you don’t have to just pursue one option or […]
If there is a core principle at the heart of every morsel of health and lifestyle advice that we give away here at VP it could well be this: If you want your dog to live a long and happy life, you must minimize the amount of excess fat in her body. (We’ve expanded on […]
It has been my experience that most people believe that they make healthier lifestyle decisions than their generational predecessors. There is a compelling causal narrative at the core of their beliefs: scientific researchers uncover new truths about the world every day; as that newly-discovered information trickles down into the mainstream over time, we all become […]
Obesity kills dogs. It’s that simple, really. We can spend our time discussing the specific health conditions that have been linked with obesity – nasty stuff like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Or we can focus on figuring out how obesity does it’s dirty business – explaining the specific biological processes going on inside an […]