Help Your Dog Slim Down

May 3, 2006 — -- America's weight control crisis is now affecting our pets.

About 50 percent of all pets are overweight, according to Marty Becker, a veterinarian who has written a book called "Fitness Unleashed" to help both pet and owner lose weight together and keep it off.

Corpulent canines aren't cute. They are unhealthy and in danger of an early trip to pet purgatory, Becker said.

"If you keep your pets thin, studies show they'll live 15 percent longer -- that's about two extra years on the average," Becker said. "I'm not exaggerating when I say that pets almost never come to the veterinarian's office too thin."

Here are some reasons why pets get so fat, according to Becker:

Here are some signs your pet is overweight, according to Becker: