A Shar-Pei looks cute with a chubby appearance. However, that doesn’t change the fact that it is unhealthy for dogs to be overweight. Dog trainer Travis Brorsen is on a quest to fight dog obesity in a lot of homes. This time, he is working with a mini Shar-Pei named Niko.
Niko desperately needed to lose weight. Niko’s family thinks he is overweight because he is lazy. The lack of exercise has caused Niko to be obese. When Travis first met him, Niko weighed 50 lbs.
Travis showed Niko’s family an activity challenge chart. It is a way to keep track of how much exercise the dog is getting per day. Since Niko is part of a large family, there are more people to take turns in helping the dog exercise.
The trainer promised a reward for whoever has the most number of activities on the chart. Niko needs to go down to 42 lbs in four months. Travis has made a detailed plan on how to approach the goal. Niko only needs to eat one cup of food a day, and he needs to have 20-minute exercises three times a day.
Travis came back after two weeks to check on the family’s progress. He was disappointed to see how little activity was on the chart. He expected more from a family with lots of members.
Travis proceeded to teach the family new ways of getting Niko to exercise. He also watched closely how each family member motivated their dog. After seeing how the family tried their best, Travis also adjusted Niko’s exercise schedule and added a total of 15 more minutes for the daily goals.
After four months, Travis went back to see how Niko is doing. He was happy to see the apparent difference. The Shar-Pei’s skin rolls were finally more visible on Niko.
The family’s activity chart had a lot more notes than before. Most importantly, Niko reached his target weight of 42 lbs. It was another successful mission for Travis.
Video courtesy of Animal Planet via YouTube.
