I found some older photos of Twyla, and I thought I should share them.
Twyla used to be about twice her weight a few years back. She currently is around 68 lbs I think, and at age 14 (with her birthday of February 14th approaching) she's in terrific shape.
So, here's a photo of her from Summer, 2003:
Summer 2003. What a big doggy!
And here's some recent 2008 photos of the girlfriend:
Spring 2008
September 2008. Kinda bummed with the haircut I gave her, but oh well. I hope it'll grow back soon.
While her girth has definitely decreased, her jowl continues to expand, along with her drooly-ness. And, of course, I guess I should mention her back-sass, which has quadrupled or something. She's quite vocal at times. All the same, I love her, cuz she's a girlfriend! Yo go girl!
Ruff ruff!
For those wondering how she/we did it, it was basically just drastically cutting down her food intake. It's hard to say no to a cute doggy, but it's what we had to do. Her vet was pushing Science Diet, and also suggested some surgery for her leg and hip problems (she has hip dysplasia). When she was in the 120 lb range, she could barely go up stairs (she needed help, and being such a heavy doggy, that was no easy chore!)
Twyla ate just generic Dad's crunchies, mixed with light exercise, and within a year or so she had slimmed down tremendously. And now, (for better or for worse!) she acts younger than ever, enjoying walks and running around and jumping and yipping her head off (we think her hearing is going, which accounts for her increased back-sass). Her back legs still give her trouble sometimes, but giving her an aspirin seems to relieve the discomfort. You can still see her hind legs quiver, but hey, she's an old doggy, what do you expect?
Twlya loves playing with other doggies, but being older she doesn't have the stamina to keep up with many of them ("I'll let you go and get that Frisbee while I wait here and bark at you"). Anyway, she was never one for playing with Frisbees. She's a Dog's Dog, and goes for meat and bones (and garbage). She gave up her habit of taking the neighbor's pumpkins and dragging them home around Halloween time, and has instead opted to bring home hunting remains (she brought home a full deer pelt the winter before last...she made such a furry mess of the lawn!)
Oh my, I love my Twyla and talking about her. I could go on for hours! 
She makes me so happy. I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I have had writing it. 
Love you, Twyla!
xoxoxo
PS--Twyla is a mutt, with her mother being a purebred Samoyed but her dad being a rolling stone. We were told he was (part?) Bouvier, but I don't know what to think about that. Sometimes I tell people she's a Tibetan Mastiff, since she sorta looks like one to me.
Isaboo Sweater
