When Brooke Burton first saw Dennis the Dachshund he could barely walk. The dog was so morbidly obese that she thought he moved more like a slug than a dog.
Brooke was helping to clean the house of her great-uncle, who was a hoarder, back in 2013 when she spotted Dennis.
He could only take a few steps and then stop to rest. He was not a happy dog.
He weighed an astonishing 56 pounds (that’s a lot for a small dog that should weigh somewhere around 15 pounds).
He had been fed a diet of fast food that included White Castle sliders, pizza, Hungry Man meals.
Dennis had eaten whatever his owner had shared with him. Brooke could see Dennis was miserable and took him back to her home in Columbus, Ohio.
The vet told her that Dennis would have not survived much longer given the condition he was in. Not only was he too overweight, he was severely dehydrated and was riddled with skin infections.
Dennis immediately went on a strict diet of 1/2 of a cup of dry dog food twice daily and he only allowed to have vegetable treats.
Slowly but surely Dennis began to lose weight and began to walk more and more.
Once he started shedding the pounds, his skin got loose.
Dennis needed his excess skin removed because the flaps of skin kept tripping him up and getting infected.
Brooke turned to social media for help raise funds for surgery and thanks to generous donors, Dennis was soon scheduled for his surgeries at the Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center.
He underwent three surgeries as he gradually returned to normal weight.
He just had his last surgery in February, 2015.
Now two years later, Dennis is an amazingly svelte 12 pounds (he lost 44 pounds!). He’s full of energy and fun.
He’s no longer depressed and unhealthy. Instead, he’s happy, he’s playful and he loves balls and barking orders at everyone. (Bossy little Doxie!)
Brooke and Dennis also want to pay it forward and help other dogs like him. She’s opened a fund in his name (Dennis’ Legacy) at the OSU Veterinary Hospital. Funds raised will provide pet owners (dog or cat) that have an obese pet a chance to get healthy!
What an amazing difference a healthy diet and lots of TLC has made in Dennis’ life!
You can follow more of Dennis’ adventures on Facebook.
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