Obviously I had noticed. At first I'd blame it on his long fur. "He's getting groomed next week," I'd say. "That'll make him look thinner again."

Then someone at work said, "Jack's looking a little fat!"

Then my mother-in-law came to visit from Illinois. She hadn't seen Jack for close to six months. "Is it just me or is Jack putting on some weight?" she inquired.

My sister's statement: "Wow! Jack is looking a little...um...round" was the final straw.

Jack is a miniature schnauzer. Except, he isn't quite so miniature. He's always been taller, longer, and broader than other minis we'd encounter. For a long time, my husband has been convinced that he's actually a standard, not a mini. Whatever his exact breed, it was time we faced the fact that Jack was overweight. Now we had to figure out why so we could do something about it.

As I mentioned in last week's blog post, ever since Jack's human baby brother, Henry, has arrived, Jack's walks have gone from daily to every-once-in-a-while. The decrease in exercise is obviously a problem, and is something we've been working to improve. I thought I had been doing well with his food, feeding him only the best-of-the-best grain-free, organic foods, carefully measuring each serving so as not to overfeed. Maybe it's the treats. Yeah, he does get quite a few treats. That could be it...

Then it hit me. It isn't only the food, the treats, the lack of exercise. It's all of that combined with the fact that we have a toddler. A toddler who likes to carry his snacks around the house, while a certain not-so-mini schnauzer follows close behind, gobbling up any morsel that doesn't make it into my son's mouth. Goldfish crackers, fruit snacks, you name it. Over the weekend I was making grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch when Henry asked for a piece of cheese. I gave him one, and minutes later he came running into the kitchen asking for more.

"No, your lunch is almost ready." I told him.

"But Jack likes cheese, Mommy!" he shouted.

Yeah, this is definitely a problem. So, we've decided to limit Henry's unsupervised snacking, and to try to teach him that we don't feed Jack human food. This new change will be quite disappointing to Jack, but hopefully good for his health in the long run.

Do you have kids and pets? How do you keep one from eating the other's food?