Just in case you're not just being a wiseacre - I can never tell, I'm dense that way --

Dog breeders, of the sort seen in "Best In Show", are trying to improve a breed by selectively breeding for quality. A good breeder is looking for puppies that are good enough to be Champions, and thus both contribute to the breeding pool and to their own wallet.

Some littermates will be immediately rejected as not showable, and thus will be "pet-quality", rather than "show-quality" dogs. Mismarking, bad gait, anything "wrong" can rule a dog out of the show ring life but most of these make great pets. I met a Boston whose fault was that he stuck his tongue out all the time. Not showable - but an awesome little pup.

Bean, my dog who died a few months ago, was from a top dog named Dusty who was a super Champion - Best of Breed at Westminster, actually. But when Bean was born, his mother bit one of his ears off, and thus Bean went immediately from show dog to pet dog, and his price reduced from $3000 to $500.

(As it turned out, one of Bean's testicles did not develop and thus he would have been pet quality anyway. And due to certain congenital defects he should not have been bred, and was not.)

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What works best for me is an increase in exercise (1/2 hour walk every other day) and no carbs (bread, potatoes, pasta, biscuits, cake) in the evening (but I'll have a biscuit or two, and/or a sandwich for lunch no problem, and continue to drink the alcohol I want). That lost me 1lb/week last summer.
Next best is limiting the evening carbs and no exercise. That's what I'm doing just now and I'm slowly losing weight (1lb every week or two). These two schemes (especially the second ;) ) are easiest for me to stick to and do not feel like punishment. They do say that slow weight loss is better than a quick drop ... less likely to be regained.
I note with interest the number of people who choose a diet which is the direct opposite of their habitual food consumption pattern - to me, this seems a recipe (pun intended) for disaster.
So, in addition to thinking about why you're eating (are you really hungry ?), think about your habitual eating pattern and try to find a diet that matches that, rather than fights it.

Very nice.

I agree with your observations, limey. Picking a plan that is opposite your habits is like scaling a mountain by running directly at the summit. The chances for success are much better with an oblique approach, like the switchbacks that crisscross the mountainside. Not as steep, but you get a little flat spot every so often to catch your breath. And if you stumble and fall, you won't wind up at the bottom of the hill, beat to crap, bloody and defeated. You'll just stop where you land, and be able to stand up, dust yourself off, and keep on climbing.

Surprisingly, I found the honest answer to this question, most of the time, is no.

/Thread Drift

UT is right. Hear that, UT?

UT IS RIGHT!

(WOW! Did anyone just notice that pigs have sprouted wings and begun to fly?)

Anyhow, my first Cardigan (Merlin) was a wonderful dog in every single way except that he was a "Whitely," meaning that unlike the Blue Merle jumping thru the tire in the pic above, one side of his face was all white - immedient disqualification from show ring or breeding. Not a single other thing wrong with him. Picked him up for $300 instead of the standard $1,000.00 that the breeder usually charged. Merlin ended up saving my Mom's life. Pretty good bargain for 300 bucks!

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the inability to lose weight may be symptomatic of adult onset diabetes (aka Type II). I'm going to start another thread on this subject but anyone who seriously diets and can't seem to lose more than a few pounds should probably be screened first by a simple fasting (10-12 hours) blood sugar test and if that shows anything north of 130 then they need to have a hemoglobin A1c test. If that is 7 or higher then you're officially a type II. I found out 2 years ago (exactly) that this was my situation and so I don't want to be the bearer of bad tidings but we, as an aging population, are just now seeing only the tip of the type II iceberg.

Show Quality.

That forum looks eerily like the celler...