22-stone dog trades meat for herbs

ONE of Britain’s fattest dogs has been put on a radical new health food diet in a bid to shift some of his bulk.

Zollie, a pedigree mastiff from Aberdeen, is combining a new dried pet food with herbal and homeopathic remedies after he tipped the scales at 22 stone.

The hefty hound is one of the first dogs to take part in the holistic diet which features a recipe developed by Ayrshire entrepreneur George Burns.

Zollie’s owner, Elaine Knight, owns 24 Mastiffs but admitted the two-year-old is a one-off.

“As a breeder I’ve seen a lot of dogs in my time but I’ve never owned one as big as Zollie,” she said.

“He just keeps piling on the pounds and getting bigger and bigger, “It would be great to see him leaner with less of a waist line.”

Mr Burns, founder of The Land of Holistic Pets, claims his specially-devised diet and remedies will make dogs healthier.

“Scotland has long been recognised as the sick man of Europe,” he said.

“This also translates to many of our pets who not only devour the scraps from their owners’ plates but also consume bottom-end-of-the-market pet foods that can cause health problems.

“What we have devised bridges the gap between top quality supreme pet food and home cooking.”

The dried food, which is reconstituted from its natural state by simply adding hot water, contains carbohydrates, vegetables, proteins, fats, herbs, vitamins, minerals and seaweed.

Mr Burns discovered the holistic approach was widely used in the US after he studied the health issues associated with many commercially prepared pet foods.

“Nutrition is the foundation of good health in any pet,” he said.”By introducing herbs to a dog’s diet, it is possible to correct any imbalance there may be in their body.”