A Morning Walk in Germany

Mom and I got up this morning earlier than the sun! It was too dark to go out though so we waited. You see, not all the streets are well-lit and the main street near our house is real busy sometimes so we wanted to make sure we were safe.

Mom got my backpack ready and helped me put it on. It slips if the weight isn't balanced so I carried Mom's wallet on one side and half a bottle of water on the other side, along with Mom's keys, waste bags (haha for pooh!), and hand sanitizer.

I got my leash on and we went out for a quick bathroom trip first, then started our walk.

Mom checked for things nearby that were within walking distance and we decided to try a bakery. It said it was only about 10-15 minutes away. The funny thing is, the directions from the map on Mom's phone were not very good. Next time we will use a different App. So the walk took longer than expected but it was still nice. We had trouble finding the bakery because it was in between buildings but I could smell it so I helped Mom find the way :-)

I had to wait outside at the bakery but I was good. Then I carried half of the baked goods home so I could give one to Dad. It made me feel really important!!

The walk home was quicker because we didn't get lost or listen to the directions again lol

Mom let me have a piece of a croissant as a treat. I couldn't have the whole thing, but a piece was good enough for me.

This was my first time using my new backpack. I had one before but it wasn't as nice and it wasn't designed to fit nice so I struggled with it and Mom ended up carrying it the one time we tried to use it. This Outward Hound Backpack is much nicer, and it has mesh pockets inside the big side pockets so even if a zipper broke, nothing important falls out.

Mom used an App on her phone to find the way to the bakery but the map wasn't very good so I started sniffing around and I found the way!

I don't shy away from stairs! Sometimes they're too much for me but I still try my best! 

Found it! 

I had to wait outside but that's okay. I got to carry some breakfast :-) 

Sometimes walking on the grass is nicer when my paws get tired... 

Mom shared the "bounty" with Dad and they gave me a little of the croissant to try since I carried it... 

Almost home!

A few collages from the walk...

Jake's NEW Beagle Diet

Hi Everyone!

It's been a while and I really apologize for that. You see, we moved. I'm now living it in up Southern Germany -- WHAT?! Yeah, you heard me :-)

My Dad got transferred here so we moved. I had to get another microchip. I don't really like them, but they're important so I went along with what Mom said. Zoya and Atom were getting them too anyway, so it wasn't so bad.

I do NOT like flying much at all. If Beagles were meant to fly, we'd have wings! 

This is me at the boarding hotel in Virginia. Zoya and I hung out there on the day the movers came to take all our stuff.

At the vet in Virginia. This is actually the place on Fort Belvoir, they had a better price for more microchips and they had all the paperwork we would need to travel with the military orders.

After the vet, we had to kill some time while the movers finished up so Mom took us to a burger place in Reston, VA to have lunch. I just hung out a bit, it was hot. You can see in this picture I was gaining weight again :-(

In the car after the long day...

Mandatory bathroom pictures with my brother and sister at the vet

At the burger place... 

In the car...

Mom was laughing because Atom is so little but he was concealing me for a minute in the picture above! 

So we got to Germany in May, and we had to spent almost two months in the hotel. It wasn't so bad, but it wasn't easy. We only had one room and with Mom, Dad, Atom, Zoya, and me... that's not much space. I had a bed though, so at least I was comfortable. Zoya didn't like it. Whenever Mom and Dad would go somewhere, Zoya would keep walking around all nervous and then she'd bark at everything. It's like... relax, Zoya... they're coming back!

Finally able to stretch! Hello, Germany! 

She's always like that though. She's adopted...

I mostly slept...

I have a lot of pictures on this other website that my Mom manages for our bigger family, and some of the pages are "private" because of something they called OPSEC. I don't really get it, but she did say that the pictures of me and Zoya and Atom are mostly "public" so it was okay to put a link on my blog to that site. If you go to the top here, you'll see I added some things. The one that says "Jake in Europe" will bring you to the pictures of me :-)

You may have noticed I changed my blog a bit. The truth is, I suck at dieting. Mom had to have more surgery and then she was struggling to workout and I didn't want to bother her when she didn't feel well so I didn't do much for exercise for a few months, and then we were moving and Mom and Dad were so busy so I just tried to help any way I could.

After two months in a hotel, I'm glad I didn't gain too much extra weight! I'm heavy though... too heavy. Together with my crate for traveling on the plane, I was less than 75 lbs (we can tell because of the price of my "ticket"), I think the total was about 64 lbs, but I really don't think the crate weighs over 20 lbs so no matter how I look at it, I really need to work on myself for a bit.

I keep slipping with my back legs and it's like I just lose my balance and I'm not strong enough to prevent falling so Mom keeps struggling to help me and I want to help myself.

I'm getting old, people! 

I have a birthday coming up in November, I'm going to be 10.... 10!

I'm too heavy...

I just want to be healthy...

Mom said that if we work together, I can lose weight and feel better, maybe by my birthday. So it's August 16th, 2013, and my 10th birthday is November 1st, 2013. I was born in 2003.

What we tried before just wasn't enough. I did lose about 5 lbs -- 5 lbs I surely gained back -- and so we know that measuring the food, walking each morning, and trying to add massage (to work out the fat!) wasn't enough for my Beagle body.

Mom did some reading and she thinks I should try the Hill's Metabolic Diet. I hear her say all the time "Diet's like that don't work! What you need to do is eat well and eat often, exercise, and hydrate!" But she says this is different. Mom's smart... she helps other people lose weight and she helped herself lose weight. I didn't know my Mom when she was that fat, it was before I was born, but she said she "used to be very fat and now only a little fat" haha

Hill's Metabolic Diet

Mom also thinks a regular walk would help even if I fall a bit here and there because of my weight and my legs giving out. I don't want to get hurt, though! Mom understands... Dad too. Dad actually had surgery on his knee before and so he knows all about pain and struggling. Dad gets me.

So the plan is to work on a walk schedule, find a way to change to the Metabolic Diet, and to emphasize the "newness" I changed my blog a little and I added NEW to the title.

For the next few days, maybe the next week, I'll share some info about obesity and dogs and weightloss, nutrition, and some things we're ordering to help me with my weightloss. During that time, Mom and Dad will help me make a schedule for my workouts and Mom's going to take my measurements and pictures again so we can start fresh.

Mom got me a new backpack to help with my weightloss plans too!

I'm just a Beagle, but I can do this! Thank you, in advance, for supporting and encouraging me and thank you to all the fitness people that encourage and inspire me through my blog and also through Instagram. Mom said I might get my own Instagram for this so please stay tuned and when we make that Instagram account, I hope you follow me there too!