Bear is 30 pounds overweight, and when the vet² examined the dog, he felt an extra layer of jiggle where he should have felt ribs³. Meanwhile, Neiland wants to drop 50 pounds.

"I tried Weight Watchers, I was doing some online thing and was able to stick to it for about two weeks and then just kind of fell off the wagon," Neiland said.

They're not the only pet and pet owner who have edged into a heavy zone.

Over 60 percent of adult Americans are now overweight or obese⁴, and an estimated 60 million cats and dogs in the U.S. are overweight or obese. That is 50 percent of the pet population.

To try to combat the trend, the Wellness Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and Hill's Pet Nutrition have teamed up for a new research study, a 12-month weight management program for people and their pets. The nutrition and exercise program aimed at satisfying pet owners, their heavy hounds, and their chunky cats will be run in the Chicago area, and is called People and Pets Exercising Together (PPET).

Under the program, people and their pets eat together, exercise together, and weight in together, based on the theory that the buddy⁵ system will help pets and their owners lose weight. It calls for counting calories, and having pets and their owners exercise together for 30 minutes daily.

Now Neiland and Bear will work on achieving their weight loss goals as a pair.

"It will be something to entice⁶ me to get out and walk with him, and it's good for both him and myself," Neiland said.