According to Hungarian Scientists, Fat Dogs Have a Lot in Common with Overweight People

According to Hungarian scientists, fat dogs have a lot in common with overweight people. The two traits they seem to have in common is the preference for top quality food and the unwillingness to settle for second best.

Dogs And Humans Are Alike 
Researchers from the study suggest that dogs could be used as a model for future research into the causes or the psychological impacts of human obesity. The researchers of the study conducted the experiment by placing two bowls in front of a series of dogs. One bowl contained a good meal and the other held less appealing food or was empty.

The study showed that the dogs that were of a normal weight obeyed instructions and would continue to check the second pot for more food but the dogs that were overweight refused after the first round.

The leader of the study, Orsolya Torda, stated that the researchers expected the overweight dogs to do anything to get the food but discovered in the test they saw the complete opposite. Instead, the dogs that were overweight took a negative a view to the test.

"If a situation is uncertain and they cannot find food, the obese dogs are unwilling to invest energy to search for food - for them, the main thing is to find the right food with least energy involved," Torda stated.

The study was published in the journal Royal Society Open Science. The scientists continued that these findings may be similar to how people who are obese view food as a reward. 

Obesity Rates
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 2015-2016 obesity affected at least 93.3 million Americans. Obesity can lead to other severe health conditions, including type-2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.

The CDC states that Hispanics and non-Hispanic blacks had the highest-age-adjusted obesity rates in America, with non-Hispanic whites and Asian closely behind. For young adults between the age of 20-39, at least 35.7 percent are obese and for adults who are between the ages of 40-59 years old, there at 42.8 percent are considered to be overweight or obese.

The CDC states that the levels of obesity decreased if a person has a higher level of education. For American that did not have a high school degree, they had the highest self-reported obesity rates. 

Tips that have been given to help prevent obesity include healthy eating, maintaining a healthy weight, and engaging in physical activity 

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Meet Dennis, The Miniature Dachshund That Lost 44 Pounds

Columbus, Ohio - Meet Dennis, the Miniature Dachshund that once weighed 56 pounds. He was put on a diet, and lost more than 75 percent of his body weight.

Less than two years ago, Dennis weighed in at a whopping 56 pounds, about the size of four or five miniature dachshunds. 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.

Brooke Burton adopted him from a relative who had fed him White Castle burgers, pizza and other human food, and didn't pay much attention to the dog's burgeoning belly.

Burton, a 26-year-old nursing student, recalls how emotional she became when she first saw Dennis in June 2013, and then persuaded her relative to give him up.

"Out comes Dennis, and I couldn't believe it," Burton says. "I wasn't even sure what breed of dog he was supposed to be because he was so large."

Burton 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.

"In the beginning, you could tell he was very depressed, that he really didn't feel good at all," Burton says. "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."

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 surgeries at the Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center to get rid of it.

Dr. Kathleen Ham, the veterinary surgeon who performed the operations, says Dennis' story is a good lesson for pet owners who might feed their animals too much.

"We have an expression: food is not love," Ham says. "Most of what your pet wants from you is affection and attention."

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