Follow this page as we track the progress in the quest for Brutus to loose 25 pounds and become a lean, mean cuddling machine.  

*Please note that the need to change Brutus’s diet and recommended weight loss amount is the advice of our veterinarian and you should always consult with your vet regarding the health of your pet.  This diary is just a way to share our experiences with you and not to take the place of consulting your vet.Scroll down to the bottom to see the latest entry.

May 28, 2014: Weight begins at 125 pounds.  The first step is to drop his daily caloric intake to 3 cups of food per day, supplementing with fresh food items that help him keep the calories down and feel full.  This is tough in terms of creating variety, but we will add in green beans and apples as meal filler and snacks.  So far green beans are a hit and next week we will add apples.

May 30, 2014:  Now that his feet are better from his bout with allergy related hot spots, we strapped on our booties and took our first walk at the local park today. 2 laps around.  Tomorrow I will clock the distance.  Brutus is tired but had a great time.

May 31, 2014:  Did not walk at the park today.  Too busy on a Saturday.  Did 2, 15-minute sessions of long-distance fetch.

June 1, 2014:  I was able to clock the distance on our walk today and the 2 laps are .96 miles.  I hope to add a 3rd lap by the end of the first week.  He was asleep about 3 minutes after we got home.  Things are going well with the green beans.  Brutus loves them.

June 2, 2014:  1.24 miles today. Yippee!

June 4, 2014:  We did not walk yesterday because our day got started late and then it was too hot for Brutus.  Today we took a lovely walk for 1.47 miles.  I think Brutus could have walked a little longer, but it was starting to get a bit warmer out so we called it a day.  The diet is bit tough.  The green beans and apples are only doing so much in making him feel full so he is bit annoying about food right now.  I thought he was going to eat my whole hand taking his green beans last night before bed.  This too will pass I am sure as his body adjusts.  I think we will walk tomorrow even if it is raining, we will have to wait and see.

June 5, 2014: Rainy day today so we didn’t get a walk in.  Secretly, I think Brutus was happy for the cool rain.  We did play a bit of ball outside later in the day so all wasn’t lost.June 6, 2014:  Brutus licked his foot a bit sore last night, so we only walked a mile today without our boots so that they didn’t get further rubbed on inside the boot.  Going to have to walk a few days bootless and see how it goes.  Of course that means a good foot wash after each walk to get the nasty pollen off.  Fun for me.

June 8, 2014:  Got a great walk in today at 1.49 miles.  Still without boots, but hopefully we can get the boots back on in a couple of days.  He is a bit exhausted. Poor baby.  I stopped cutting his food since we are walking so much right now because he is completely ravenous and it seems a bit harsh to cut his food when we just added is a lot of exercise.  We shall see how it goes and maybe only cut it a little at a time if we really have to.  We have walked a total of about 6.4 miles so far.  Very exciting!  One more week and he will be ready to go back out onto the trails.

June 20, 2014:  Walking is going very well.  On average we do about 1.5 miles every 2 days.  We didn’t think we needed to post updates everyday, but we will keep you posted regularly.  We started walking at a nice trail going around a lake and it has been a nice change from the park.  A nice wide trail to walk on and side trails to extend as we progress.  Lots of fun.  Plan to go to vet next week for a weigh in.  We will let you know how it goes.

June 22, 2014:  Another great walk at the hiking trail today. Brutus saw his first horse and it freaked him out so much that he growled at everyone who passed us for about 15 minutes afterward.  I am sure he will get used to seeing them, but it was still pretty funny.  He said nothing while we walked passed the horse.  We go to the vet on the 25th to check his weight.  Wish us luck.

June 25, 2014: 3 pounds down, yippee! The vet was happy and impressed with how much walking Brutus is doing.  He suggested we lower his food gradually if we want to get quicker results, otherwise he will just loose it slower.  He is happy with it either way.  We looked back over his chart and when we got him at 10 weeks, he weighed 11 pounds. So teeny tiny.  His weight has gone nothing but up since then. lol  Hopefully it will continue to drop until he reaches his target.

July 12, 2014: We have made good progress walking and we are continuing to walk every other day.  We have not yet gone over 2 miles at a time mainly due to the fact that Brutus will still not go to the bathroom unless we are at home.  I cross my fingers that someday that will change.  We spent 2 hours at a park yesterday, walking and lounging around by the water and when we got home, he spent 5 minutes peeing. lol  His food is finally cut to the amount the vet recommended.  Most days he does not complain, but when he does the green beans save the day.  Next week we head over to the vet for another weigh in.  I will let everyone know how it goes.

July 21, 2014:  Walking is going well.  Continuing to not go over 2 miles since we find that Brutus gets too sore if he walks any farther right now.  Hopefully we can increase the distance once the fall weather hits.  I haven’t had a chance to take hi to get weighed yes, but will let you know as soon as I do.  He did however go pee at the park yesterday.  Probably because we took his brother Rocco with us, but maybe its the start of something new.

August 12, 2014:  Walking is going really well and Brutus is gaining lots of muscle tone.  His recovery after a walk is so much faster and we occasionally add extra mileage when the weather is good.  Yesterday we even jogged for a bit.  Next week, we will have another weigh in.  We will let you know how it goes.

August 13, 2014:  After seeing some swelling in his back leg, we took him to the vet today.  Looks like he has a bit of an injury that has caused the swelling and tenderness.  Not sure how he did it or if it was caused by his walking routine, but he is now on rest for 2 weeks.  It is a bummer, but we are going to see if we can find a place for him to swim so he can get some low impact fun in.  On a good note, his weight is now down to 115.6 pounds.  Our vet is very pleased with his loss so far.  We will let you know how it goes with his recovery.

September 20, 2014: It has been a long month.  After the first week of no walking or exercise at all, Brutus and I both got a bit restless.  Unconvinced that the selling was injury related after he developed pressure sores on other areas, we are pretty sure the swelling is sore and allergy related.  So we slowly added back the walking with short quarter mile walks at first.  Things were going well, but the pesky lick granuloma’s on his foot caused more swelling and he needed antibiotics.  So not walking for another week while we waited for the swelling to go down.  Now we are back up to about 1.5 miles of walking as long as I keep his food wrapped and have entered week 3 of antibiotics because the healing is not fully complete.   Not only that but the only way to keep him from licking without the dreaded cone is to put his foot in socks all day.  It’s and endless cycle of cleaning, treating and soaking his foot.  Of course, the sock needs to be re-positioned every hour or so which is delightful. lol,  All in all Brutus takes it is stride.  Hopefully, I can report back really soon that we are sock free.  I will let you know.

October 1, 2014:  We are not entirely sock free as long as people are home to constantly watch that Brutus does not lick his foot.  Since we are not entirely healed, we are bathing daily with antibacterial / anti-fungal shampoo and soaking once a day in Epsom salt.  If there is not change by the end of the week, we will begin laser therapy next week.  Someday we will get a handle on his allergies.  We are still walking every week and have finally gotten back to about 2 miles each walk.  Hopefully, his next weigh in will not be too far a step back due to the foot issues. I will let you know.

November 24, 2014:  It’s been a while since the last update.  We are sorry for that.  After several setbacks with his feet, we are now treating him with anti-fungal medication and after about 35 days, he is slowly improving.  We are still walking regularly and have gotten him a jacket to wear in the cold weather.  The best information to report is that Brutus is down to 110 pounds.  The vet and I were very happy and I think we can reach 11 pounds by Spring.  Photos of Brutus and his new coat will be posted soon.

December 20, 2014:  Brutus has been struggling with yet more foot issues lately.  Between that, the rain and cold temperatures, we have walked less than usual.  Now he is off the Apoquel (see the main blog post) so we will have to take hiking day by day dependent on how he is feeling.  Let’s hope I have better news when I post in 2015.

March 5, 2015:  Hello everyone.  Things here have been pretty quiet.  Lots of snow has kept us indoors and we are eagerly waiting for warmer weather to resume hiking.  Brutus has done fairly well off of the Apoquel, but is currently having an issue with one of his feet that will require antibiotics. In a couple of weeks, he will have his allergy testing and we will hopefully be on the road to some relief.  Stay tuned.

March 20, 2015:  Great news today!  Brutus is 109.5 pounds, which means he has not gained any weight over the winter.   Check out the post regarding is allergy testing.  We hope to be back in the woods hiking in a week or two.  So excited to try and reach his 100-pound goal.

April 21, 2015:  We have gone to the park to hike at least twice a week so far.  It’s been going well and we hope to increase the hike time by next week.  Brutus will get his first allergy shot on Friday and we are very excited to get started.

May 10, 2015: Hey everyone, hiking is going well and we have begun to extend our hikes a little further on cool mornings.  Still a bit too early to extend hiking on a warm day, but hopefully he will be able to handle a little extra on those days really soon.  I hope to get a weight on him the next time we go to the vet in a couple of weeks.  We will let you know how it goes.

May 19, 2015:  We have suffered a bit of a setback due to a swollen back toe.  We will see the vet tomorrow to get antibiotics.  This is par for the course because of his allergies making his feet itchy, but this one toe is problematic and we will need to address the constant issue with the toe at some point.  For now, I just want to get him on antibiotics so we can get back to walking.  He will have to come off the Apoquel while on antibiotics, but it’s a small price to pay in order for it to heal faster.  I’ll keep you posted.

August 3, 2015: Apparently all my updates between May and today have disappeared.  We are enjoying our hiking when the weather is good and not too hot or humid.  Allergy shots going well and I hope to get Brutus weighed this week.  I will let you know how it goes.

September 4, 2015:  Last weight was 106.8.  Yippee, he has not gained any weight since it has been too hot these last few weeks to get in much walking.

October 3, 2015: Walking is going well although this last week has been tough with all the rain and my back is acting up so it has caused a small set back.  We haven’t been able to hike in 4 days. Hope to get back out again on tomorrow at least for a short distance.  We have jumped up the amount we walk in a session to 3-4 miles  twice a week with at least 1 shorter 1.5 miles walk in between to keep us going but to not burn us out.  Let’s hope winter snows hold out.

November 4, 2015: Having a great fall hiking season and loving the 3-4 mile hikes.  On a great side note, Brutus had a weigh in a could of days ago and he is down to 104.6 pounds.  Another 2 pounds down and the goal of dropping to 100 pounds is so close.  After that, we will need to evaluate how much more we want him to lose.  So excited and let’s hope we can keep the weight off with a nice mild winter.

November 21, 2015:  As you may know from reading my main blog post, Brutus has torn his CCL and is scheduled for surgery.  Until we are back up and going again, I will not post any more updates to this page.  Stay tuned to my regular blog posts for updates on his surgery and recovery.

April 1. 2016:  it has been some time since we spoke about Brutus’s goal of losing weight.  I am pleased to announce that Brutus is now 90.6 pounds.  A new Brutus is here and he is fabulous!

August 25, 2016:  The unthinkable has happened folks.  Brutus has lost too much weight.  I never imagined this would be a line I would right,but here we are.  At 85 pounds and looking a bit thin.  I am pretty sure Brutus is going to love the small increase in food, especially since the weathe rin breakeing and hiking is going to get into full swing again.