My dog Max has been acting strange; barking for no reason- acting as if he needs to be fed when he JUST ate- whining at me when I'm at my desk when I'm working. Then I noticed a lump on his back, so I decided "It's time to take him to the vet." I told this to my husband, to which he replied- "We are not spending more than 300 bucks this time..." Not that he hates dogs- but we shelled out nearly a thousand dollars on a cat a couple years ago who had thyroid issues, and we didn't want to have to take out a loan to fix another animal in our house.

So after a full examination- the doctor looked at Max's chart- took a deep breath, and blurted out, "Your dog is fat." I looked down at my grey fluffy friend, whom we rescued about 4 years ago. He definitely looked scared, but "fat"?! "He's 27 pounds. He's about 5 pounds overweight," the Doctor continued. And that lump I felt, which I was convinced was something cancerous? "Doggy love handles," said the Doc. "This little guy needs to be walked twice a day for about 30 minutes," he concluded as he handed me my bill. "That'll be 195 dollars..."

So my dog is beefy. I could either get him on a work out routine, or leave things the way they are. Considering it's still 4 degrees outside- I guess my doggy is going to have to stay plump.