Buffy

Sweet Buffy continues her fitness journey and weight loss. Today she weighed in at 85.7 pounds which is 13.2 pounds down from her top weight. I ams so proud of her.  

She is able to trot further and seems to experience a bit less pain when climbing a step. She and I continue to disagree on her favorite hobby: licking her paws. She is not wearing the cone anymore as it was unpopular with everyone in the house. Now I have been using vet wrap to cover spots before they get inflamed. She is still on allergy medication but I haven’t seen much of a difference in her level of licking. 

She loves her morning walk/trot sessions and the cool weather makes it easier for her. Unfortunately she still reacts to other dogs we encounter by pulling and squealing loudly. Even with her weight loss she is a mighty force when she pulls. 

Buffy resting after her morning workout!
 

Buffy is still losing weight but it is slow. She is now 88.5 pounds. She has gotten so good at using the ramp to get in and out of the car! She is a pro at it. Tomorrow will be 14 days since she started her allergy pills.She is still in a cone as she wants to lick too much. I will contact the vet and see if there is anything further we can do for her. 

As it was cooler today we took a second walk after lunch. Buffy is always eager to go for a walk in the morning, but today she thought she was going to Disneyland. She was so eager to go!. She walks nicely with my resident girls. 

Buffy is now below 90 pounds! She has lost almost 10 pounds so far. I am very proud of her. She regularly walks 1.5 miles each day and trots for a bit of the way. She has developed a sore on her right leg. It is called a lick granuloma. As the name indicates it comes from excessive licking, so she back to wearing the cone.

The vet thinks it is caused by allergies as she has been itchy lately. She is now taking a pill for her allergies and has cream to help the sore to heal. We hope that the cone will not be needed for too long.

Another weigh in today and Buffy is now 90.4 pounds. She has lost 8.5 pounds and I am so happy for her. The vet techs were also cheering her on. She can walk about 1.5 miles in 45 minutes. Not breaking any speed limits, but she is able to go further than before. We are still doing early morning walks which are cooler.

I babysat a former foster (Lacy) for a few days last week. SInce Buffy tends to lunge, pull and bark when on a leash, we introduced them in my fenced in yard. Lacy is a passive dog and hard to rile up. Even off leash Buffy was pushy with Lacy. No growling or biting, but she definitely was establishing dominance. Due to Buffy's size, I intervened if she tried to put her weight on Lacy. My resident seniors were also in the yard at the time. Buffy made a few moves on Lacy over the next few hours but nothing serious. After that, all was normal. I walked Buffy and Lacy together the next morning and it went well. 

I was happy about this situation as it showed me how Buffy reacts to a new dog being introduced. She didn't try to dominate when she first came to my house, but then she was the new kid. After a couple of months she now feels seniority to the newcomer. She did well in this learning experience.

Buffy had a weigh in today. She has lost a total of 5 pounds. It is a slow process. One thing that may have slowed her progress was a slight indiscretion with the food container. She figured out how to flip the lid up and have a pre lunch snack! I don’t think she got very much but am now careful to snap the lid closed!

We did 1.25 miles this morning. The hot weather is hard on her so the only time we can walk is in the early morning. She really enjoys her walks. 

These pictures show Buffy’s “Yoda ears”. She gets the cutest expressions on her face. 

Buffy has had a good week. She has almost gotten up to a mile on her walks. We still are keeping to early morning due to the temperature. She loves them so much that she starts whining a few minutes before we leave in anticipation. On Thursday when the air was so bad we didn't walk and she was very disappointed. 

We checked her weight and she has lost half a pound. I am going to switch her to a diet food to see if that will help speed things up. 

Buffy has been enjoying spending time in the tall ornamental grass in my yard. I think that she feels like she is in the jungle there. Buffy is such a sweet lady. She will make a sunny, happy addition to the right home.  

Buffy is doing well. We are trying life without a cone to see if she can resist licking her toe. She loves to lick, but so far it has not been excessive. Last night Robbinsdale shot fireworks off very close to my house and I learned that Buffy does not care about loud booms at all! She was calm for the whole show.

Buffy has established some routines. She likes her morning walk very much. Due to the heat we only walk early in the morning just before sunrise. She loves walking on the boardwalk over the lake and watching the ducks in the water. She is still walking less than a mile but I think when it is cooler she will do better.

Buffy likes to lie outside by my gate and watch life go by. I only let her stay out for 15 minutes at a time when it is hot, but she loves the quiet time. Later this week we will get another opportunity to weigh her, so expect an update next week. 

Buffy is a big, sunny, smiley lady. She was found as a stray in South Dakota. The first thing you notice about her is her size. She weighs 95lb and should be about 60lb. She has already lost 3lb so is on her way! The next thing you see is her big happy friendly face and her helicopter tail. It does wag back and forth as well, but it is the circular motion that always delights me. 

When Buffy arrived she had a growth on one of the toes of her right front foot. A biopsy and mass removal were done. The biopsy showed no cancer but the prognosis is that the mass will return. The only way to prevent this would be to amputate the toe. At this point we are electing to keep the toe. Due to her weight and mobility issues we don't want to do anything as there is no is currently no mass. She takes medication for her joint pain. I expect that may be needed long term as she has trouble doing steps and getting up from lying down.

Her weight is a big concern. She is 9 out of 9 on the dog obesity scale. I have cut back on her food and we walk close to a mile a day. She doesn't have the stamina to do more, but we are working on it. She is enthusiastic at the start and then slows down. She is very friendly to people we meet on walks. She is aggressive with other dogs on walks. She pulls hard to get to them. She walks fine with my resident dogs so it is just unknown dogs that are the issue. I avoid other dogs or block her view when possible. 

She is a very intelligent lady. I bought a ramp to get her in and out of my car for vet trips. She quickly learned how to use the ramp (treats helped). She never barks in the house or yard, but she does snore a bit. She gets along fine with my resident senior dogs but hasn't endeared herself to them when she crashes around the house in her cone!

She seems to be used to table scraps, not mere dog kibble. I put about two tablespoons of wet dog food in the dry kibble and that entices her. 

Buffy is very affectionate (loves to lick!) and has a sunny disposition. This impresses me as I know that she has pain in her joints but she does not let it get her down. She meets every day with a smile and helicopter wag.

Buffy is an easy dog in many ways. She likes to sleep a lot. She is patient and sweet natured. She would be a cuddler but her size makes that difficult. She would fit in a low key household and doesn't require much exercise (except as part of her weight loss). Her complicating factors are the potential for a return of the growth on her toe and her leash aggression.The behavior is something that could be worked on. Such a sweet lady deserves the extra effort to give her a secure home!