Meeting Dr. Jang

Saturday was a big day for the very fat dog and her people. We went to the vet.

Perhaps we, her people, were more excited than she was because poor Miss Princess has spent more time at the vet lately that she prefers. I think she's made three trips in three weeks, and she, of course, would prefer no trips at all. But this was special because it was the first time she met "our" vet.

We have used the same veterinary practice, Aalatash Animal Hospital, for 15 years or so. At first, there was quite a succession of young doctors, mostly recent graduates of the University of Florida vet school. Then came Dr. Jang, and he has been with us for the lives and deaths of our last couple of pets.

Getting Princess in the car on a cold, rainy Saturday morning was the first order of business, and it was quite a feat. I opened the back door of the four-door car and encouraged her to jump in. The very fat dog gave me a look of pure skepticism.

After several seconds of indecision, she gave it a try. The front paws went up, but the back ones did not follow. I had to give her rear end a boost.

Naturally, being a dog, she managed to immediately remove the blanket I'd used to protect the back seat so she could get her wet, muddy paws all over her mom's leather upholstery (hopefully, Jeanne won't read this...).

Getting her out of the car was easier, thank goodness, and she trotted willingly into the vet's office. When the sights and smells of the place greeted her, Princess wasn't so sure she'd been wise to cooperate.

Next came the moment of truth: The weigh-in. She walked right up on the scale and sat willingly. The verdict was 114, a loss of three pounds in about a week.

Princess was a trooper as Dr. Jang poked and prodded her, eventually pronouncing her sound and healthy.

We discussed the weight-loss program I had devised -- 2 cups of Nutra MAX and 2 half-mile walks per day. He suggested that diet might be a bit extreme and recommended we give 3 to 4 cups of food each day.

I said our goal is to get her down to 85 lbs in a year. Dr. Jang said that was a good goal, but she probably should lose even more weight than that -- she ultimately should weigh more like 70 lbs.

The very fat dog gave him a look of pure skepticism (and so did I).