Kamp K9

So I'm still relatively new to blogger land and still figuring out how it all works, but I came across the K9 Kamp challenge put on by Kol and Kelly.

I have always owned older dogs who weren't the most active. We would try and do some fun activities with them once in a while but sadly by the end they were pooped for the next week. I will admit that when I first adopted Scout, one of his potential names was Obi, short for Obese because he was the fattest dog I had ever laid eyes on. I'm mean there was a whole other dog living around his mid section.
Once we got him home and out on daily walks and structured feeding, he lost all the weight and we discovered that lovely waist line hidden within. Because we worked so hard at getting all the excess dog off Scout, that's why it bothers me so much when people tell me my dog is fat. He is big boned and barrel shaped, yes, but for his age (13 years) he is as slim as he is going to get.

Maybe a year after we adopted him, he still has a lot of weight in this picture.

But that's besides the point. I knew this time when I adopted a dog I wanted a younger one for a few reasons, one being I wanted a dog I could be active with, a dog that would help encourage me to be more active and to explore this wonderful city that I live in.

Within the last year alone I have gone places with Kobi I never knew existed, or just had no motivation to check out. Thanks to Kobi I have even started jogging! Something I hate! With a passion. But Kobi motivates me to get out an run for at least 20 minutes every morning. We started off with me not being able to run a full minutes, but now I can run almost a full 20 min without breaks (aside from some sniff and pee breaks) and at a decent pace! Something I never thought I would be able to do.

I like being fit, but I hate the gym, I've tried working out at home but it's just boring. Why confine myself indoors with other sweaty stinky people when I can get fit with my dog?
Being active with Kobi is helping to not only build my strength and stamina, but his as well. With us starting out in agility if I can have a strong physical foundation for both of us, hopefully it will make running a course easier when we do finally get there.

Now, I would be lying if I said there was no benefit for me. I am a very lucky person in that I have been the same weight since high school (almost 5 years ago now), and have pretty well remained the same shape and weight my entire life with only minor fluctuations. I am frequently scoffed at when I tell people I wouldn't mind losing a tiny bit of weight or just exercising because I want to be more fit. Just because I am lucky to be naturally slim doesn't give me the right to just laze around on the couch all day, I still eat well and I remain active which probably helps me stay the weight I am.

Now, I am getting married in two and half months! And I, like every other bride out there, want to look my best on my wedding day. To me that means losing, one maybe two inches if I'm lucky off my hips. Reason being, I purchased a sample size mermaid style wedding dress that at present has little to no walking room through the thighs. It has room to be let out up to four inches which will make a big difference, but if I can lose at least an inch around my hips that will give me 5 more inches or room to walk and move in my dress. Jogging is helping and eating a fresh diet is also helping, but Kamp K9 will help take me to the next level in ensuring I have goals that I can work towards and keep creative to avoid getting stuck in a rut and losing motivation.

This is my first year participating in K9 Kamp, but hopefully it won't be the last. Too bad today isn't a great starter. It' pouring rain and there is thunder, which even indoors is making Kobi very uneasy. So though I'm not squimish about walking in the rain I won't torture him. Instead  we're working on calm and quiet, we'll do some more training and wait for the thunder to stop.