My Fat Dog: Ten Simple Steps to Help Your Pet Lose Weight for a Long and Happy Life (Paperback)

~ (Author), Sebastian Conley (Illustrator), Deborah Greco (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The first guide to help you help your best friend shed pounds and maintain a healthy lifestyle through diet, exercise, and medication.

America's obesity problem isn't just a people problem—a recent survey indicated that 40% of America's pet population is overweight. And, just as in humans, obesity puts a dog at risk for serious illnesses such as arthritis and various skin diseases.

My Fat Dog tells the truth about what dogs need to stay trim and healthy:

• Healthy dogs do not need to eat every day; in general, they can abstain from food for up to five days without a problem
• Spaying or neutering may slow a dog's metabolism slightly, but it does not cause obesity
• Some "Reduced Calorie" or "Lite Diet" dog foods may actually cause your dog to gain weight

The book outlines an exercise program for your pet, analyzes which diet foods and supplements really work, and includes easy and quick tips on how to help your pet lose weight and live healthy. 20 illustrations.

About the Author

Martha Garvey helped her dog Faith lose the seven pounds Faith gained as a result of a paw injury and oversnacking. Founder of Moving Stories, Martha has written for The New York Times, Salon, and numerous websites. She lives in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Hatherleigh Press; illustrated edition edition (September 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578261988
• ISBN-13: 978-1578261987
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #902,752 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A portion of this book's proceeds will be donated to pet rescue in the Hurricane Katrina area, September 9, 2005

By	Martha H. Garvey "book author" (Hoboken, NJ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am the author, and I hope you like this book. I was inspired to write both My Fat Dog and My Fat Cat because I had a fat dog, and I know, first hand, how easy it is to overfeed and underexercise your pet...and how it can affect your pet's health and life span. (Our dog is now 12 pounds lighter and lots healthier.) I tried to make the book fun to read, and offer a lot of ways to get your pet started on the road to good health. It can be done, and I want to help. Please visit me on the web at http://www.myfatdogbook.com, and share your stories.

But I also want to tell you that I will be donating a portion of books' proceeds to organizations involved in rescuing and sheltering pets in the devastated Gulf Coast area. Every little bit helps.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My newly svelte dog, September 17, 2005

By	Ellen Young (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The first time I met a dog on a diet, twenty or so years ago, I felt nothing but pity for the poor thing and scorn for its owner. How dare she enforce human standards on her sweet, good-natured lab? Sure, he was a little barrel-waisted, but so what? Let the dog be free!

That was twenty years ago when I was a young pup myself and hated society's pressure on me to be thin. I have a bit more perspective now. I also have a dachshund. I've read that dachshunds are prone to back problems as they get older, and that excess fat aggravates this unhappy condition.

But it's so easy to slip him a little extra dog food or drop a bit of my dinner into his dish after I eat. He loves people food. He also loves training snacks, and the mini-treats in the car, and the food stuffed into his kong to keep him busy when left alone.

He began to expand. I knew I had to take steps. To paraphrase that notorious radio psychologist, Dr. Laura, "I am my dog's owner." I bought this book to help me be a better guardian of my pooch's girth.

It's a very nutritious book! My favorite tidbit is how to know if your dog is really fat of just, ahem, "big-boned." And I also know how much food to feel my dog, and how to read dog food labels. No more dumping food in his dish according to how hungry he looks or how especially fond I am of him at that moment. I guess one of the things I need pounding into my head is that overfeeding is not the same as love. If I want my dog to live long and prosper, I'd better control his diet and give him enough exercise. The author gives lots of ideas on exercise for all kinds of different types of households. Just do it! It matters.

Halfway through the book, there's a startling picture of a fat daschshund with my dog's face and coloring but a lot more pudge. I look at my dog and see his still boundless energy and healthy spine, and I know that picture is what I want to avoid.

I'd like more discussion of different theories of nutrition, because a perusal of the Internet discloses fierce argument over this point, and it seems hard to figure out. But so is human nutrition.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Straightforward and sensible, September 13, 2005

By	Sam - See all my reviews

This book is exactly what it advertises itself as - simple. But that does not stop it from being a very valuable source of information on ways to improve your dog's life. There are no high-tech, high-expense suggestions for how to treat your dog just like Paris Hilton treats Tinkerbelle. Instead, Ms. Garvey uses a straightforward approach, giving detailed and specific information on how to improve your dog's general living habits, from diet to exercise and much, much more.

If you are looking for the new Atkins diet for your dog, steer clear. But if you want to help your dog improve his or her overall health for, as the title says, "a long and happy life," you should absolutely buy this book.