But when can that dog on the left have a lie-down?

OK - I get that you are playing off the name Video Dog when you post these completely unremarkable pictures of animals. However, please remember that the first word of this blog is "VIDEO". Not "image", not "JPEG", not "totally fucking inane picture".

Sweet mother of crap, what has become of Salon? First, the books page goes to shit. Now, we have an entire section devoted to mediocre pictures of people's pets. What's next?

I hope the editors of VD aren't getting paid for this shit.

As someone who competes with my dogs in dog sports, let me tell you that I cringe whenever I see a dog (especially a big dog) THIS fat.

So many problems can be caused by or exacerbated by extra weight, and veterinarians are often reluctant to tell their clients that the dogs really need to lose. The measurements on bags of dog food don't help either--they tell you to feed the dogs WAYYY more than they need. As an example, I have a slightly-over 20 lb Sheltie, 14 3/4 inches tall at the shoulder, who gets approx. 3/4 cup of food per day, and a 26-lb Sheltie, 16 3/4 inches at the shoulder (all muscle and just right weight-wise) who gets 1 cup/day. Both get a tablespoon of low-fat yogurt on top of their food as well. This is SIGNIFICANTLY less than your average dog-food bag would tell me to feed.

Show breeders are culprits too. Go to a dog show and have a look at the Labradors. They're all fat. Same for the English Bulldogs, Rottweilers, etc.

Please please please don't look at fat dogs as "cute". Their health is just as badly impacted by extra weight as ours is, and it's a LOT easier to control their portions than it is to control ours!