News Digest

Dachshund Dennis becomes a proper sausage dog by cutting out the burgers

Once a wanton wiener dog, Dennis went on a diet and is now a happy shadow of his former self after losing more than 75% of his body weight. Less than two years ago, Dennis (pictured) weighed in at a whopping 56 pounds — about the size of four or five miniature dachshunds, which is what he is. A series of “before” photos show Dennis resting on rolls of fat, his head seemingly too little for his blob of a body. He couldn’t take more than a few steps without being out of breath. Then Brooke Burton adopted him from a relative who had fed him burgers, pizza and other human food, and didn’t pay much attention to the dog’s burgeoning belly.

In the beginning, you could tell he was very depressed, that he really didn’t feel good at all. He didn’t have much of a personality. After he lost weight, this bossy little demanding man popped out. He’s into everything, he wants to play with everybody.

Brooke Burton

Burton, a 26-year-old nursing student, put him on diet of dry dog food, plus lots of walks and affection. Now the 6-year-old wiener dog is a svelte 12 pounds and happily chasing squirrels in the backyard, playing fetch and bossing around the other three rescue dogs that live with him. Dennis lost so much weight that he started tripping over the folds of excess skin that were left over and getting infections. He has had three operations at the Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center to get rid of it.