77-Pound Daschund Placed on 'Biggest Loser' Diet

Skooter reporting 09/13/12

A 5-year-old daschund named Obie would be a candidate for the canine version of "The Biggest Loser" if there was one. The morbidly obese Obie weighs 77 pound, quite a load for its short legs.

His new owner, Nora Vanatta, put him on an extreme diet, and now Obie is living the real-life version of the reality TV show.

Vanatta fed the paunchy pooch a low-fat, high-protein diet that contains isoflavones to rapidly help his weight loss. She plans to eventually hop Obie on the treadmill and do hydrotherapy to lose weight, that is once he's light enough to exercise. And once he's weight dropped a few pounds, he may need surgery to remove excess skin.

Vanatta’s attempt to slim down her new pet by 10 pounds is a former veterinary technician from Portland, Ore. After reading on the Oregon Dachshund Rescue’s Facebook paged that his elderly owners, who called him “AJ” could not be able to care for him and, more particularly, couldn’t stop feeding him treats, Vanatta adopted Obie last month.

Vanatta wrote on the "Biggest Loser: Doxie Edition" Facebook page she created for Obie said, that the elderly owners just couldn't say no to those big brown eyes. He was obviously loved and is a joy to work with.

Obie and other contestants on the TV version of "Biggest Loser" face the heaviness of losing weight in front of millions. Vanatta plans to record his improvement on the Facebook page and is also planning to raise funds or asking perhaps for donations to help pay for his care and spark, perhaps, a health revolution.

Vanatta wrote that she hopes that he can be an inspiration to any person or animal trying to lose weight, and that it is so important to introduce pups and kids to a healthy lifestyle and food choices as early as possible. At the end she wrote, “Prevention is the key!"

READ MORE: Dog Makes 500-Mile Journey Home

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