The Land of the Truly Jumbo

It turns out that our perception that there is a disproportionately high number of seriously overweight people here is accurate. A report by the Trust for America’s Health says that nearly one-third (29.6 percent) of the population of Ohio is obese. That ranks the state 13th overall in the United States, tied with Kansas. By contrast, California is 46th with an obesity rate of 23.8 percent.

We certainly see a lot of people here with awkwardly huge bellies and asses plodding down sidewalks and grocery aisles. And you know there are a lot of fat people around when the supermarket where you regularly shop has a prominent display of stretch stocks for people with swollen feet.

The Enquirer reports that the obesity rate in Ohio could double by 2030 if people don’t start laying off meals and getting a little exercise. Based on what we’ve seen, that’s unlikely to happen – the diet and exercise part, I mean.

The Back Yard: A Timeline

January 2, 2012

February 10, 2012

March 10, 2012

April 10, 2012

May 10, 2012

June 10, 2012

July 10, 2012

August 13, 2012

September 10, 2012

The Invisible Fence Meets the Invisible Dog Brain

We finally decided to get an invisible fence installed to give the pups room to roam around the yard while preventing them from simply taking off down the road (which Violet tends to do). Some of our neighbors have fences like this, and they seem to be pretty effective. A wire is buried around a perimeter, and when the dog, wearing a special collar, approaches it, he/she hears a high-pitched sound and gets a mild shock. Before that happens, you work with the dogs on the leash for weeks to try to make them aware of the boundaries, which for training purposes are marked with flags as a visual cue. Then you gradually give them more freedom…

Ray picked up on the boundaries quickly, and he doesn’t really want to go anywhere, anyway; he just wants to hang around us. But Violet (sigh) is a different story. One of the first times we let her off the leash, she dashed around the house, saw a bunny on the other side of the boundary, sprinted across it, shock and all, and just kept going at top speed. My immediate, frantic search for her around the neighborhood turned up nothing. Luckily, though, a neighbor brought her back about a half hour later. “Looks like you’ve got a little more training to do with the invisible fence,” the neighbor commented as she hoisted Violet out of her truck.

Violet and Ray on a romp in the back yard (click to enlarge)

Umm, yeah. Since then, the number of shocks is: Ray – 0, Violet – 6. Sometimes she just wanders up to the boundary and – oh! – forgets. Still, she seems to be getting better at recognizing it, and we’re enjoying being able to go out to garden and do chores with the dogs alongside – even if we still have to keep a sharp eye on Violet, and maybe always will.