INTERVIEW: It’s time for your pet to have a makeover
A new Animal Planet series has a title that says it all: My Big Fat Pet Makeover. On the show, which premieres Saturday, Sept. 30 on 10 p.m., pet expert and trainer Travis Brorsen helps pets and their owners change their lifestyle and become healthier. Along the way, he offers some helpful techniques to the many pet owners watching on television.
The six-episode first season focuses on behavior modification and weight-loss issues, and each segment ends with the dramatic “weigh-in” to see if the pet has shed some pounds.
Recently, Hollywood Soapbox spoke with Brorsen about his work and the new series. Here’s what he had to say:
On the show’s development …
“I’m originally from Oklahoma. I grew up on a ranch there, and after college, I did not want to go back and drive the tractor. So I was like, where can I go? And I did some theater in college, so I was just like, I’m going to go to Los Angeles. Anyway, I ended up out there, and after doing some acting, in 2008, there was a writers’ strike. I had a boxer at the time, and I ended up on this reality show called Greatest American Dog on CBS in 2008. My pup and I at the time actually won the show, and that just kind of got me then into the whole pet space.
“And one thing led to another, met my wife. We moved to New York. I’m kind of fast-forwarding through a lot of stuff, got to New York City. She sings on Broadway, and I brought my dog training company here to New York. And a production company out of Austin, Texas, called Castleview Productions reached out to me. … I loved the concept. I actually flew down to Texas on my own time. We shot a pilot, and two years later, almost two and a half years later, after shopping it around, here we are with six episodes in season one and a lot of exciting things happening.”
On the important issue of pet obesity in the United States …
“It’s estimated that 54 percent of all dogs in the United States are either overweight or obese and then 58.9 percent of cats, and just to give you an idea, that 54 percent of dogs is somewhere around 41 million to put a number on the dogs that are overweight or obese. So it is a big issue, and when I go into these homes and these families, obviously in the title it’s called a makeover. That’s really what it is. It’s not just, hey, let’s help your dog lose weight. We’re completely making over how they raise their pets from lifestyle to pet enrichment to exercise, health and nutrition and even training. So if you’re watching this show, and you have a pet that is not overweight, but it might pull on a leash or jump on your neighbors or bark at the doorbell, we’re fixing all problem pets.”
On the successes he found in season one …
“The plans we put together for people, they’re proven plans. It’s all about families changing their lifestyle, changing what they do on a day-to-day basis. We had six episodes, two pets per episodes. They’re all an hour long. … I don’t want to give away endings, but it was a very successful run, a very heartfelt, a very feel good and uplifting family show.”
On what audiences can expect in episode one …
“In the very first episode, Fletcher, who is a beagle, [his human owners] work opposite schedules, so one would be gone in the morning. And the other would get up and feed him, and then it would depend on who was home during dinnertime that would feed Fletcher. But what was ultimately happening, because they weren’t crossing over, they weren’t crossing paths, one would feed Fletcher breakfast, and they’d go off to work. And the other one would come home for work and feed Fletcher breakfast again, and so Fletcher was ultimately getting double meals almost every meal.
“He weighed in at a whopping 50 pounds, and for a beagle, he should be somewhere between 25 and 35 pounds. So, for them, what we did is we got a simple chart that they could put on their refrigerator, and in the morning, they could literally flip over a little tab that said if Fletcher had been fed breakfast or not. So they would feed the breakfast. They would go over to the fridge, flip the little tab, and it would say, ‘Have you fed the dog, yes or no?’ It would flip over to yes. Boom, out the door. So that was one technique we used.
On the other techniques in the show …
“The other one we used was to actually measure out the food for the dog, so, for instance, Natalie, Fletcher’s mom, said, ‘Well, you know, we give him somewhere around 2 cups.’ I said, ‘OK, well, show me.’ Well, she pulls out a cup that is like a Big Gulp that you get from the convenience store. …
“We would say, OK, the daily portion for calorie intake that your pet should have would be X amount. Let’s just say it’s a cup and a half, and we would pull out that cup and a half, which would include treats. If you’re giving your pet treats, that cup and a half would have to include the daily limit for treats as well. We would put it into a Ziplock baggie or a Tupperware bowl, and that would be the place if anybody in the family was going to pull food out. It had to come out of that bag or that bin, and when that Tupperware container was empty, it was gone. And that was it. If it was gone at 3 o’clock, f there was more left at 7 p.m., fine, we can use it, but everything in that day had to come out of that container to help limit the food intake.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
My Big Fat Pet Makeover will premiere Saturday, Sept. 30 at 10 p.m. on Animal Planet. Click here for more information.
