Critters

Had to take a couple of the critters to the vet today: Ballou, for pre-op blood work for the upcoming loss of los ping-pongs, and a career thereafter as a soprano. Jude, because he needed to update his rabies vaccine. Nothing spoils an evening watching TV quicker than having your dog foaming at the mouth and savaging the couch. (Although the last case of rabies in a domestic dog in these parts was, I think, more than fifty years ago.)

Jude also needs to lose some weight. He's always been chunky, but he porks up around Thanksgiving -- all that turkey skin and gravy -- and he needs to slim down. My fault he's overweight -- he sits there looking pitiful -- Oh, please sir! May I have some more? -- and it's too easy to give him the leftover sandwich instead of going to get a nice non-fattening bit of apple or green bean instead. And in the cold and wet, the walks tend to get shorter ...

If your dog is too fat, so the saying goes, you aren't getting enough exercise ...

The solution is simple, if not easy: He needs to a) eat less and b) exercise more. That's pretty much the solution for people, too.

Psst! Tubby! You want to get skinny? I got what you need. Eat less. Exercise more. Ta-dah!

What? Oh, yeah, I can hokey it up, but that the secret, and all the rest is just bullshit. Huh? Oh, yeah. Right. No money in doing a diet book that simple, is there?

So, it's rabbit food and more walks for the dogs, cold and rain notwithstanding, and the long loop instead of the short one.

And it's also true that a tired dog is makes for a happier household, that's a bonus.

An amusing note: As we took off for the first of our long walks today, The mail truck was in front of our house when we left. We walked straight down the street to the end, about half a mile, and the truck's delivery route was the same. We beat the truck to the turnaround.

Slow delivery as Christmas gets closer.