Help! My dog is obese!

[NightWatch]

So... sitting in my POLICE dispatch center and this women (sounded to be early 20's) calls me and tells me she is hiking down this trail and there is a dog just standing there. Just... Standing there. She's being a little vague, so I ask if this is her dog. It is, some other blah blah blah.

Basically, it breaks down like this. This is girl went hiking with at least 2 other friends with this golden retriever, which they tell me weighs 100 pounds. By the way, a golden retriever isn't supposed to weigh more then 75 pounds. They are also supposed to be a very active, physically strong breed. I would know, I looked it up here: http://animal.discovery.com/breedsel...ile.do?id=1740

These young whipper snappers are too tired *cough*lazy!*cough* to carry this poor, exhausted animal down the mountain. So they called the POLICE hoping we'd carry the dog for them.
Here are some thoughts:
1) Your dog is obese, stop feeding it so much
2) Since your dog is obese, there is a good chance it's old, maybe even has arthritis. You probably should have taken it to a vet first to be sure it could handle hiking. Or just have left the suffering creature at home.
3) I'm a wee-sized lady and I'm fairly certain I could have lifted the beast and carried him down the mountain, even if I had to stop frequently for breaks.
4) There are at least 3 of you... How exactly can you not be able to carry the dog?
5) WHAT THE %&%^???!! You're kidding me? What did you just say? You've got to be shitting me. You're 150 feet from your car!!!!! Seriously?! You can't carry 100 pounds with the help of friends 150 feet? You. Are. Pathetic. I'm selling you to some pink-camo wearing, temp juice purchasing Nunavut-ite. You guys would get along great, and with any luck they will cannabalize you. But maybe they will share their hats and sunglasses with you first. If you're lucky.

My IQ has dropped 40 points thanks to you, Ms. weak-compositioned EW.
(PS: emphasis on the word police isn't to toot my own horn. but to emphasize the point, 'why would you call the police to help you with that? cops are not pack mules.')

[AKWalMartCartGuy]

as someone who has seen the general public try to wrestle with heavy things, I can say that it's entirely possible that 3 people couldn't lift 100 pounds between them, I've been called for carryouts where the customer couldn't get it off the shelf because of the weight, and i've picked it up and flung it around like a piece of plywood

that's not to say it's not pathetic, made even worse by calling the POLICE to fix it

[Snowbird]

2) Since your dog is obese, there is a good chance it's old, maybe even has arthritis. You probably should have taken it to a vet first to be sure it could handle hiking. Or just have left the suffering creature at home.

4) There are at least 3 of you... How exactly can you not be able to carry the dog?
5) WHAT THE %&%^???!! You're kidding me? What did you just say? You've got to be shitting me. You're 150 feet from your car!!!!! Seriously?! You can't carry 100 pounds with the help of friends 150 feet?
(PS: emphasis on the word police isn't to toot my own horn. but to emphasize the point, 'why would you call the police to help you with that? cops are not pack mules.')

Regarding #2, this poor animal might also have had another illness that can cause bloating. This happened to one of my family's pets when she got very old. Just makes me sad to think they don't understand pets aren't any more invincible than they are. Not that they realize that either, I'm sure.

Regarding #4, this would require, you know, like, thinking.

Regarding #5 and PS, I would say they freaked out, something that would hinder thinking but then, that wasn't going to happen either. I'm sure it was the freaking out that prompted the panicked call because they couldn't see beyond the problem to any solution. Sad, really.

[Crazeyal]

People with overweight dogs, usually have the same eating and health problems. They were probably ready to drop themselves.

[Buglady]

And the problem with sitting down and resting for a few minutes would be.... ?

eesh.

[Bradester]

Not to be nitpicky, but I had a golden retriever who was well outside the breed standard, with his ideal weight being around 90-100 pounds. He was just an all-around huge dog.

That being said, Hunter was definitely not the norm, so it is very likely that this poor dog was obese. I know of a vet in town who says it's much crueler for a dog to be overweight than underweight, and considering the host of health problems that go with canine obesity, I tend to agree.

This girl sounds like one of the many people who have no business owning a dog, ignorant of proper care, feeding, and training. How much do you want to bet they didn't even bring water for the poor guy?

Hunter died of lymphoma last November at age 8, and it infuriates me to see fucktwits treat their dogs like crap when I would give anything to have Hunter back.

[Apathy]

I saw some show a long time ago featuring obese animals. (Yeah, I know, it was a slow day). There was some lady with the fattest dog I've ever seen. She takes him to the vet, and the vet tells her pretty point blank that the dog's going to die if she keeps overfeeding him.
Yeah, so she goes home, has a birthday party for another one of her dogs (lame), and then proceeds to feed the fat dog multiple pieces of CAKE.

People with overweight dogs, usually have the same eating and health problems. They were probably ready to drop themselves.

Quite true. It's really a mindset. I blame McDonalds and Lays. They probably don't understand that feeding a dog human junk food has something to do with the dog being fat.

[marasbaras]

150 feet? That's IT? Pathetic.

[South Texan]

Don't you get it? If they picked the dog up, they might get icky dog hairs on them! They might also get yucky dog smell on them. And of course, they might actually start sweating or get dirty, thereby ruining the look of the L.L. Bean hiking outfit she bought just to look right for her friends that weekend.

Besides, she DOES pay your salary...

[/sarcasm]

[Seraph]

My cat weighs 28 lbs himself...it's insane. I know he's overweight, but we've tried god knows what for him. He's on a diet, I run him around the house, etc etc...he just stays at that weight. He's a big cat anyways, but I'd love to get those extra pounds off of him. Disturbingly, he used to be slimmer when he was a flat out indoors cat...it wasn't until he became a half outdoors cat that he got huge. I've started keeping him inside completely again in the hopes that maybe he'll lose some weight. :P

[BlaqueKatt]

I would say they freaked out, something that would hinder thinking but then, that wasn't going to happen either. I'm sure it was the freaking out that prompted the panicked call because they couldn't see beyond the problem to any solution. Sad, really.

actually-this is what happens when parents don't let their children fail at anything-they don't learn how to problem solve.

[blas]

Bear is a lab/retriever mix, overall just a HUGE dog (her paws are the size of my hands!), and she weighs 100 lbs and isn't fat at all. She's very lean and muscular.

[ArcticChicken]

Disturbingly, he used to be slimmer when he was a flat out indoors cat...it wasn't until he became a half outdoors cat that he got huge. I've started keeping him inside completely again in the hopes that maybe he'll lose some weight. :P

I bet the neighbors feed him. In cat-friendly areas, there are almost always people who leave food out for the neighborhood cats.

[Mamadrae]

Quite true. It's really a mindset. I blame McDonalds and Lays. They probably don't understand that feeding a dog human junk food has something to do with the dog being fat.

Your being sarcastic there right?

They aren't holding people hostage and force feeding them after all. I've never heard them claim they're products are healthy either. People are simply to busy to think about what they eat usually.

On a side note I wrote this while eating some Lay's plain potato chips with my PB&J.

[Mamadrae]

My cat weighs 28 lbs himself...it's insane. I know he's overweight, but we've tried god knows what for him. He's on a diet, I run him around the house, etc etc...he just stays at that weight. He's a big cat anyways, but I'd love to get those extra pounds off of him. Disturbingly, he used to be slimmer when he was a flat out indoors cat...it wasn't until he became a half outdoors cat that he got huge. I've started keeping him inside completely again in the hopes that maybe he'll lose some weight. :P

My cat Ra made me worry about his weight. I thought he had to be overweight and took him to a vet for advice and such.

Turns out he's simply a BIG cat. His fur makes him look fat though (long haired cat) even though he's lean under it.

Times like that I miss when he was a little fluff ball like when I got him.