He's lucky. Literally. That's his name and it describes him well. Luckiest guy in the family. My fourth child. Our dog.
While just a generation ago a dog's place was outside in the doghouse (as my father-in-law constantly reminds me), today dogs are not only accepted inside the house but are treated as part of the family. More than a pet, they are humanised.
Endowing animals with human properties is nothing new. It has a fancy name - anthropomorphism, the attribution of uniquely human characteristics and qualities to non-human beings.
The boastful hare and sly fox in Aesop's Fables. The Frog Prince and the big bad wolf in Grimm's fairy tales. A rushing OCD rabbit and a hookah-smoking caterpillar in Lewis Carroll's Alice. AA Milne's depressed donkey Eeyore and the ADHD Tigger. Where would Disney be without talking animals - The Lion King, The Jungle Book and Bambi?
But that is literary symbolism. Art. In the real literal world, are we taking anthroporphism too far?
It is one thing to welcome pets as part of the family. But it is another to immerse them in our human lifestyle trends and anxieties.
Not happy to obsess alone whether the lentil salad we ate lunch was paleo or not, we are transferring these anxieties on to our pets. Particularly dogs, the most commonly human-like pet, given cats - intelligently - don't want a bar of us.
Michele Hunter reports today that local butchers are struggling to meet customers' demand for healthy pet food including rice stew. The dog-food market is capitalising on our global obsession with gluten free and organic by offering the same to our four-legged friends, and possibly four times the price of good old Pal.
Despite our fascination with superfoods, smoothies, kale and kimchi, paleo and pilates, we are not getting any thinner and now, thanks to us, neither are our dogs.
New Zealand's obesity problem is a growing concern - almost a third of adults are obese, and we are the third-fattest country in the OECD behind the United States and Mexico.
Latest figures show 100,000 more New Zealanders are predicted to become severely obese over the next decade.
Shocking new figures show countries around the globe inching towards a fatter future with nearly half of the world's population expected to be overweight by 2025, NZME reported.
This has led the World Obesity Federation to urge governments to take action over the "unsustainable" health epidemic. It is calling for restrictions on advertising food to children and the introduction of taxes on sugar-laden food and drink.
It seems our love of Richie McCaw-sized chocolate brownies and L&P is being transferred on to our pets, with all the associated negative effects of being overweight.
As Hunter reports, overweight dogs are just as at risk for life-threatening diseases as humans are, with pets being treated for obesity and related issues such as diabetes.
Tauranga vet clinics say up to a third of their patients are obese, leading to shorter life expectancies, lower quality of life and diseases such as arthritis and diabetes.
Tauranga's Holistic Vets owner, Dr Liza Schneider, said New Zealand's pet population was being over-fed and under-nourished, setting animals up for diseases such as obesity, diabetes and skin conditions.
Plus, we are humanising our pets so much that we are even plaguing them with our associations with food and emotions.
Just as it is a bad idea when you are feeling sad to nosedive into a tub of cookies and cream icecream, it is a bad idea to reward your dog with similar "treats," say animal specialists in our story.
Better to give them pats and runs.
For the record, my Lucky dog is not fat - it is all fur. He gets exercise jumping on and off the sofa. And walks - when it is not raining, as that would mess up his hairdo. He gets a lot of pats and pampering.
Not to the extent of the jetsetting dogs lucky enough to pass through New York's JFK airport, which is building a new terminal to cater for animals - which the UK's Daily Telegraph reported to be "the last word in luxury, including flat-screen televisions, splashing pools and massage therapy". An overnight stay at a top-end dog suite will cost about US$100 ($153) a night, more than the cost of a motel room in many parts of the United States said the report.
Across the ditch from us, NZME reported the Palazzo Versace on the Gold Coast has a "Palazzo Pooch Package", including Versace crystal food and water bowls and pet-friendly futon bedding, as well as room service and gift menu specifically designed for pups.
It is most definitely a dog's life. Let's make sure it is a long one for our dogs.