Trim, taut and terrific... well, almost

Hi Everyone

This is just a flying e-mail to let you know that we are loving our foster home and our foster parents & we are having so much fun. We went out for a drive today with our foster dad and he stopped off at our lovely local vet clinic to do our weight check. Ernie weighs 11kg & I (Bert) weigh 22kg; how's that for impressive??

I hope you are all coming to the big Renegade Rod and Custom Hot Rod Show being held at the SPCA Village on Sunday 28th because we are putting in a VIP guest appearance. We will be hanging out at the Hills Pet Nutrition tent showing off our new waistlines from 12.00 - 2.00pm, so please come over and say hello.

Anyway I have to dash because I can hear the food bowls rattling & if I don't watch him Ernie will get there first and try to eat mine. See you all on Sunday...

Ernie & Bert

The healthy option is best...

Did you know that a healthy weight dog can outlive an overweight dog by two years? Did you know that your dog eating a slice of buttered toast is the equivalent of a human eating a whole hamburger, or a 50g chocolate bar?

We sure didn't, and that's why we're sticking to our diet and getting those excess kilograms off !

Our friends from Hills™ have put together a presentation that you can download in Microsoft PowerPoint format here, or Adobe Reader format here. Just click on the links.

And remember - just say NO to toast ! !

On holiday...

Hi Everyone

We just wanted to catch up & send you a photo of us looking very cool. We have gone on holiday to our new temporary foster home where we are allowed to stay for a while to get used to living in a normal home & keep on with our weight loss program.

We are both members of the Hills Pet Slimmer club & we are trying really hard to get our waist lines back and make everybody proud of us. Our foster parents are really lovely & are keeping us on a pretty strict diet even though we both do that "big brown eyes" look every now and again but it doesn't seem to work very often.

Isn't it lovely now its stopped raining and we have some sun, we are really enjoying getting outside and getting a bit of a tan before the beach weather really arrives. we are coming back to the SPCA next Tuesday for a visit and a weigh-in, so we will get to see all our human friends and say hello to everyone.

We are feeling so much better now & we will let you know how our weight check goes next week.

See you soon!

Ernie and Bert

Going for a stroll

Hi guysThought we'd better check in and let you know that we're sticking to our new diet.

We won't say that it's all good - we're used to getting lots and lots of little tasty treats all hours of the day and night!

That's all stopped now and we're just getting our regular meals each day.

A bit boring, but the upside is that we're getting lots more energy to play and walk around.

I won't say 'run around', because we can't quite make it into a run just yet... lol. But give us time and we'll get there, for sure.

See ya

Bert and Ernie

Charts

Here's the 'Pet Slimmer of the Year Competition' charts for Bert and Ernie, who are now on their strictly controlled Hill's r/d Prescription Diet.

Ernie and Bert’s journey – Fat dogs slim ...

On Tuesday 17th June 2008, two perky 8 year old Fox Terriers were surrendered to the Auckland SPCA as their owners could no longer look afer them. Ernie and Bert (as we have renamed them) are morbidly obese due to a poor diet and overfeeding.

Ernie weighed in at 20kg which is 67% overweight and Burt was a whopping 117% overweight (32.5kg). In fact, the team at the SPCA were speechless at the condition of these animals. Tracy Dunn, SPCA Operations Manager, mentioned that they often see malnourished and underweight dogs and cats but overweight animals to this degree is an unusual occurrence.

Animal obesity is becoming a major problem in New Zealand. We have a nation of over weight people that are in turn overfeeding and supersizing their beloved pets. Despite their weight problems, Ernie and Burt were happy dogs with wagging tails and bundles of spirit.

The team at Hill’s Pet Nutrition (the exclusive sponsors of SPCA feeding program) were called in to help. Hill’s have recommended that both Ernie and Bert are placed on a special weight reduction diet called Hill’s Prescription Diet r/d. The team at Hill’s were so taken by the brave characters of these special dogs that they have happily donated the food for the duration of their weight loss program. Prescription Diet r/d is low in calories, high in dietary fibre and has appropriate levels of protein. This combination will ensure optimal fat loss while maintaining lean muscle mass. From a welfare point of view, the combination of fibre and protein will mean Ernie and Bert feel full while losing weight.

Both Ernie and Bert are now signed up members of the Hills Pet Slimmer program and their weight will be monitored every week until they reach their ideal goal weight which is 12kg for Ernie and 15kg for Bert.

Hill’s looked at the dogs current weight and their ideal weight then devised a weight loss program to get the dogs health back on track. Sensible weight loss is loosing no more than 1-2% per week. Ernie’s weight loss plan is predicted to take 27 weeks and Bert’s is going to take 36 weeks. This is the safe period of time to reach their ideal weight, without putting undo stress on the dogs.

Ernie (above) and Bert (below) get their first weigh-in...

After just 2 weeks on their new diet, we’ve already noticed some positive changes in Ernie and Bert. They are finding it easier to move around and their weight is slowly but surely dropping. Ernie and Bert will eventually be going to a foster home, where help will be provided until their weight drops to a manageable and healthy level. Once they reach their goal weight, the SPCA will look for a new family for the lovable Ernie and Bert. With regular weight checks, it will take time, but these large little dogs will get a second chance at life.

The SPCA hopes they can be rehomed together as they are the best of friends.