How My Dog Transformed My Health
I don’t take care of him, he takes care of me.
It started with a simple idea. Get a dog, and get moving again.
The impetus for change came from my deteriorating health. On the cusp of turning 40 three years ago, my body felt much older than its chronological age. I was in the worst shape of my life. I had put on a lot of weight, around 30 pounds in three years. Low back pain, knee pain, and migraines were recurring with greater frequency. According to my body fat percentage, I was officially obese. My doctor told me to do something about my cholesterol and blood pressure levels. It was nothing but bad news on the health front.
That summer, I got a dog. Then came a series of changes that changed my health — and life — permanently.
CHANGE 1: THE DOG WALKED ME, A LOT
It seemed like a straight-forward plan. The puppy needed exercise; so did I. I would walk him a couple of times a day, perhaps for 20 minutes each time. He needed to be trained to go to the toilet outside anyway. Besides, at only three months old, how much could he walk anyway?
I did not realize that I had gotten myself a perpetual motion puppy. He would get up at the crack of dawn, all ready for the day ahead. He wanted to explore everything during…
