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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Alison Sweeney signs on to help overweight pets

As the host of "The Biggest Loser" Alison Sweeney helps motivate people to lose weight and lead a healthier life. But while she was busy with that, she overlooked one important member of her own household - her dog, Winky. Now, she has signed on to help launch the Hill's Science Diet Weight Loss System, which has helped her get Winky fit. 

"I feel like I wasn't paying attention to Winky in that way," Sweeny tells Zap2it. "I was feeding her a bowl of food and just moving on. I was going to the gym by myself and I really didn't take her needs into account. I just wasn't focused on that." 

Yes, folks, Sweeney, who has helped dozens of people lose weight on TV, found out from her veterinarian that her own dog was obese. "I guess I was surprised," she tells us. "I didn't realize that I had let that happen, because I love Winky and I consider myself a good pet owner."

After educating herself on how to get Winky's weight down, Sweeney realized what a big problem pet obesity was in the United States - according to the star, about 77 million dogs and more than 93 million cats are overweight  - but, she needed to start at home.

"I knew that we needed to get Winky fit and I got involved with the Hill's Science Diet Weight Loss System," she explains. "Because it was exactly the right plan for helping me get Winky get back in shape. It was all premeasured food and biscuits. So, I could just get it in the bowl, get her fed, get her taken care of, then work on the next step like getting her outside and getting her running around and playing."

Sweeney tells us her surprise about her own dog's obesity is pretty common, since so many people don't think about their pet's weight and some even like the extra flab on their pets.

"I've actually met people, since we've been in this process, who talk about how cute it is, how cute their little chubby dog is," she says. "I don't think they fully realize just how unhealthy it is for your pets. A couple pounds on a person may not seem like much, but when you're only supposed to be twenty pounds like my Boston Terrier, that's a huge amount of weight. It's a huge percentage."

Along the way, Sweeney has learned the error of her ways and she has changed her own life to help Winky get fit. "After the vet sat with me, I really did a whole plan," she says. "Hikes with the whole family. And Winky and I would just go for a run out in the neighborhood, just really making sure she was getting the attention she needs to stay as fit as the rest of the family."

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