The Joy of a Healthy Routine to Maintain Your Pet's #PerfectWeight

This post is sponsored by Hill’s. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Hill’s® Science Diet® Perfect Weight 10 Week Turn Around, but 'Pixel Blue Eyes: Her Tails of Adventure' only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. is not responsible for the content of this article.

As a proactive pet parent, Mommy is constantly working to keep me at my #PerfectWeight. She's not alone. I know many of you are trying to do the same for your pets. But how do you know what the #PerfectWeight is for your pet, especially when more than 50% of pets are overweight? And if your pet is in need of shedding a few pounds, how can you make it happen? 

First thing you should do is talk to your vet. I can tell you from experience, a lot of factors go into what my perfect weight is, and each pet is different. The vet factored in my health, body structure, my breed, and activity level, and came up with my #perfect weight of 11.5-12 lbs.

If you and your veterinarian find that your pet needs to lose weight, my friends at Hills Pet have a great weight loss pet food called Hill's® Science Diet® Perfect Weight dog and cat food. Their 10 Week Turnaround Challenge will help get your pet on the path to their #perfectweight. They understand that pet w eight loss is a struggle that can be hard to do on your own, so Hills Pet wants to help! But w hether your pet needs to lose weight or just maintain their #PerfectWeight, there are some great tools available to help make it a success. 

Back when I needed to lose a couple of pounds, the very first thing we started with was a healthy daily routine that Mommy and I follow each day. We use a daily calendar and each of my feeding times are scheduled out to the hour. 
Instead of getting one huge meal a day, Mommy breaks my meals up into four little meals, which is better for my metabolism and keeps my energy up throughout the day. She just divides my total food for the day by four and I get fed all through the day. I love it! I can even tell time and I start reminding Mommy at a quarter til when it's time to eat.

Hills Pet has a great 10 Week Challenge calendar that you can download and use. Here's a few ideas to get started with the calendar:
1. Track progress of weight loss
2. plan your weekly outings with your pet - list the location & set a time each week to go
3. List your feeding schedule like the one I have below.
4. Post photos of your pet & how he/she is doing before, during and after the 10 week challenge. 
5. Celebrate victories! Document that new trick they learned or the extra pound they lost. 

Remember:  Having a healthy routine and sticking to it is critical to the success of your pet. 
A Typical Day for Pixel = A Typical Week
*NOTE: Times are approximate
7:30am - Wake up snuggles and cuddles with Mommy, then play tug of war or wrestle
8:30am - Breakfast together
9:00am - Work with Mommy
11:30am - First Lunch for Pixel
12:30pm - Exercise Break of a walk or playing fetch in the hallway
2:30pm - Second Lunch for Pixel
5:30pm - Mommy's off work - SERIOUS PLAYTIME (includes running for Pixel)! 
6:30pm - Dinner for Pixel & Mommy
Evening is free to go out together, play, groom, watch TV, cuddle, be together.

Exercise and physical activity is very important as part of your pet's routine.  Every day Mommy and I take time together to make sure I exercise and play. It doesn't matter whether you are inside or outside, there are lots of fun activities, games, and activities you can do with your pet to stay active and help them keep fit. The Hills Pet site has a wonderful list of fun activities and interesting ways to make exercise more exciting and adventurous for both you and your pet. Some of them Mommy and I already do, like chasing each other around the house, and playing hide and seek and dog tag, but you'll love some of their other unique ideas too! I bet some of them you've not heard of before.

Pixel's Favorite Doggie Activities:
1. Playing "Chase" with Mommy - either she chases me around the house while I'm holding a toy or I chase her while she's holding one of my favorite toys.
2. Going for a walk. 
3. Go Fetch! Mommy can throw any toy down the hallway or across the back deck and I go running after it to bring it back to her.
4. Practicing and Learning Tricks - I love practicing my tried and true favorites, but I've just started learning two new ones, "Jump" and "Under" where I walk under Mommy's legs or a stick.

Here's a video of me and Mommy playing and exercising outside. It's a fun way for me to maintain my #PerfectWeight and spend time with Mommy:


A Healthy Routine is More Than Just Exercise & Food:

Hills Pet agrees that activities like grooming, training, socialization, affection and cuddling your pet are all important for your pet's overall health and well being. For example,  Mommy grooms me weekly. She brushes my hair almost every day, she washes my ears when they need it, she washes my paws when they get dirty outside, and every evening she washes my face with a warm soapy washcloth or warm unscented baby wipes because I tend to "wear" my supper on my whiskers and I get distressed because my mouth is dirty. Mommy and I love practicing my tricks together, plus we have cuddle sessions all the time. I'll role on my back pretty much anywhere for a belly rub and kisses!   All of these things are a part of our overall routine to help me stay healthy, they are activities that I love and that helps me feel secure and happy. 

Hills Science Diet Perfect Weight Dog and Cat Food is available for adults. And in their latest news, Hills Pet has created b reakthrough nutrition formulated to achieve & maintain a healthy weight & improve quality of life in small & toy breed dogs like me: Hill's® Science Diet® Small and Toy Breed Formula. With it's breakthrough blend of natural ingredients and prebiotic fibers for gentle digestion, it is made for the sensitive systems of smaller dogs. And if I know anything about the taste, it'll surely be a hit with your dog! So, if you think your dog is in need of a pet weight loss program, talk with your vet about the Hill's Science Diet Perfect Weight 10-Week Turnaround Challenge. 
You can find  Hill's Science Diet Perfect Weight at your veterinarian's office or order it online at Pet360 with an additional discount if you Autoship. 


Don't wait until there's a weight issue. You can start creating a Healthy Routine with YOUR pet today. Download the calendar, try some of the ideas I suggested, and have fun! 
Do you have some healthy routine activities that you do with your pet already? I'd love to hear about them!