Brutus is lazy!

by Nancy
(Venus, TX)

My 5 yr old Brutus has gotten very lazy. I've posted my story about him previously. How he used to belong to a neighbor about 20 acres away for his first 4 years of life and suddenly decided last year that he liked us better and no longer would stay at his original home, so the neighbor let us adopt him.

He was always an outside dog, never been in the house until we got him. Now he lives solely in the house. He goes out occasionally to do his business and to bark at something he hears but other than that, he is content to stay in the house and lay around and sleep all the time.

If we have the front door open, he knows how to push the storm door open and can actually let himself back in with his feet. If it's closed, he swings the bells we have attached to the door on the inside to let us know when he wants out.

We had an electric fence around the front yard that is now turned off. But because he was trained by the fence as to boundaries, he won't cross it so he doesn't know it's not working now.

He will occasionally play with me and the grandkids inside the house like romping and play biting but he won't do that outside. If any of us go outside, he wants out too so he can roam around the fence ling barking..I guess thinking he is protecting us from whatever might be out there.

Anyway, my point is that other than the things stated, he gets no other exercise. He has always been big (145-150 lbs). He eats about 5 cups a day of grain free dry food and drinks at least 2 gallons of water a day. I'm concerned about him not getting enough exercise but he is very content as he is. I think he is about 10 lbs overweight because I can't feel his ribs. But he seems as happy as he can be. He doesn't like chew toys of any kind other than his huge rawhide bone that I keep him supplied with. Should I be worried or not?