Healthy Pups

So Bella needs to lose weight.  She's 4 now, and about 5-7 pounds more than is ideal for her breed.  Plus she has a bad back.

Just about a year ago she had this:

Intervertebral Disc Disease

The discs that separate the vertebrae have a gelatinous nucleus with a tough, fibrous outer covering. As the dog ages, these discs lose pliability and may begin to calcify. At this point, a bit of force can cause a disc to push into the spinal cord or to rupture, or become herniated, and push the nucleus into the spinal cord. This causes the dog a great deal of pain and can lead to paralysis.

Bella had to have surgery to the tune of 6 grand and now I want to keep her and her back healthy.

So we started a new workout regimen for her... and hit Riverside today.  I wanted to ogle shirtless runners, always good motivation to get working, and get her some cardio.

So we took off from 31st and headed towards 21st, but Bella refused to walk.  I mean she planted her ass and would have none of it... so we turned the other direction and she was perfectly content to walk the other way. 

So I started Runkeeper on my phone to see how far Bella could make it.  We stopped a few times for water and for Bella to mark part of Riverside as her own... but in 30 minutes Bella did 1.15 miles. 

Let's see if I can whip her fat ass into shape too.