The women who attend Lisa Hartman’s roving yoga sessions aren’t your typical New York yoginis working to stay sample size. They come to class with a yoga mat in one arm and a pampered pooch in the other, and their canine companions lie on the floor and exercise with them.
“One of my clients is a beautiful blonde, married to a powerful man,’’ Hartman says. “She doesn’t work; she works out, and is obsessed with her weight. She power walks three to four miles every morning with her poodle-mix, who is allowed only organic foods and no cookies whatsoever. If she thinks it has gained a pound, she makes it wears these Spanx under its outfits that she creates by cutting down her own pantyhose.’’
In New York, where a day without a visit to Equinox or Crunch can cause fitness freaks major anxiety, the obsession with staying trim and toned is being carried over to our dogs. At Best Pet Rx on the Upper East Side, manager Trish Welke says low-calorie dog food and treats are becoming increasingly popular, as is doggy exercise equipment.
“Customers are asking for new products like resistance bands that you put on dogs so that when they are walking they develop muscles,’’ she says.
And, there’s extra pressure on a dog to keep her puppyish figure when she has a luxurious wardrobe.
“My client Cathy just picked up two Italian harnesses for her Bijan, Coco, and she put her on a strict diet to make sure she doesn’t outgrow them,’’ says Edward Alava, owner of the Dog Store on East 61st Street. “Some of my clients spend $400 to $700 on a cashmere coat, and if a spaniel gains 5 pounds or a Yorkie gains 2, they have to get a whole new wardrobe … Nobody wants a fat pet.”
Dr. Debra Jaliman, a 57-year-old dermatologist who lives and practices on Fifth Avenue, keeps her Havanese, Truffles, on a strict regimen to make sure he doesn’t get chubby. “I want him to look the best he can. I don’t want him waddling around,” she says. “Even when it was over 100 degrees, we got up at 5:30 to walk” and “I am obsessed with measuring his food.”
Veterinarian Dr. Cindy Bressler warns that dog owner’s obsessions with diet and exercise can go too far.
“One woman in the fashion industry was on Atkins, and she wouldn’t give her dog carbs, so he was upset and always barking,” she recalls. “And some people run with puppies before [the dogs’] bones are formed, which can give them problems, or push their dogs to run farther because they want them to be in better shape, which can actually make them overheat and send them into organ failure.”
And when a fit-focused dog owner is forced to take a workout break, it can be a problem for both the person and her pet. Elizabeth Frank, 36, who lives in the West Village and owns a special event and marketing agency, not only felt unhappy about her own weight when a sports injury prevented her from running on the West Side highway with her two pit-bull-mixes, Charlotte and Mr. Bones – she was also bummed about her dogs’ declining fitness.
“I didn’t feel great when I got stuck wearing my fat jeans on a regular basis, but some of my friends were making jokes about my dogs; they said Charlotte was getting hippy,” she sighs. “I felt terrible that they were teasing her, and I think she was getting depressed. I’m also a firm believer that my butt grows in proportion to my dog’s butt.”