Here is a little bit about me and my family. I am a former U.S. Marine and I had a BLAST while I was in. Aside from my children, it has been the highlight of my life. I have two little girls ages 5 & 3 and I just adore their ages right now. I found this website after adopting our 4 year old Golden Retriever from the local shelter. I was doing some research on dog training and Leerburg.com had all of the answers. We have had her for almost 4 weeks and she is a very sweet, fat, and lazy dog. Penny knows some basic obedience like site, down, come, shake, and she handles well on the leash. It’s obvious that she was overfed and not exercised by her previous owner as she weighs in at a whopping 100lbs, ugh she needs her girlish figure back. I put her on a diet of 1-1/2 cups of Natures Recipe both morning and evening and she has lost about 8 lbs so far. I plan on switching to a raw diet later. Penny follows me around the house as if she were my shadow. She waits so patiently for me to walk through doors and she will sit/stay when I present her food, then wait until I point at her dish and say eat. She is super gentle when she takes her treats or anything out of my hand. It intrigues me to see a dog concentrate on using her lips and not her tongue to get a yum yum. She shows interest in training and is a fast learner. My biggest concern right now is with her weight. I dont know what excersizes she should/shouldnt be doing. She has very little stamina, I am talking about an hour of swimming and she is ready for a nap. I am going to order the Basic Obedience and Pack Structure DVD’s, in the mean time I have been marker training her and she responds very well. My plans for her are to be a companion dog for me and my girls.

Welcome to the forum and Semper Fi!
Thank you for your service!


And....a 100 lb. Golden? Sheesh, that's not a dog, that's Jabba the Hutt with fur.....
That dog is *lucky* to be owned by you now, keep up the good work!

Welcome! You have a beautiful family!

Beautiful family, beautiful dog!!

As far as the exercise I would take it one day at a time. Consider an obese human starting an exercise routine. Their first few weeks are going to be hard, but with time comes strength and endurance. It sounds like you're giving her a GREAT life.