Obese Cheshire dog gets new home and sheds five stone

Philip the springer spaniel (left) has lost half his body weight

An obese dog at risk of being put to sleep after munching on cakes and biscuits has lost five stone (31.7kg) thanks to a strict new diet.

Philip the springer spaniel's desperate owner could not cope after his weight ballooned to 10 stone 5lbs and he stopped eating and struggled to walk.

Cheshire vet Edward Davies feared Philip may "have reached the end" when he examined the pooch six months ago.

He adopted the dog and now "his tail is always wagging" and he loves to swim.

Mr Davies, who has been a vet for 30 years, said when he first saw the chunky canine he had "never seen a dog as overweight".

Philip was three times as heavy as he should be and could barely walk, he said.

Edward Davies feared it "might be the end of the road" for Philip when he examined the dog

"It was amazing his legs could hold him up at all, and he was so big it was hard to even examine him," Mr Davies, from Cheshire Pet in Holmes Chapel, said.

"Ironically he had actually stopped eating and it was thought he might have reached the end of the road."

However, after the vet replaced cakes and biscuit treats with a specially tailored canine diet the nine-year-old pooch shed half his body weight.

Mr Davies's daughter has documented his slimming journey on social media by creating Philip's own Instagram account with weekly weigh-ins.

Philip (left) loves swimming and catching balls with Mr Davies's two other springer spaniels

Mr Davies said Philip now "absolutely loves swimming" in a local reservoir and chasing balls with his two other springers.

He said the dog should be down to the ideal weight before the end of the year.

"He's such a friendly dog and you just didn't see that before," he added.

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