The Old Dog Still Has It In Him

One of the favorite parts of Spike's day is his walk. When he was younger, we used to walk daily for over an hour. We could cover 4 miles in just a touch over that hour. The objective of the walk was to wear Spike out. Usually that didn't work. By the time we got home, he was still pulling me, and I was exhausted. He was still ready to play! Spike is 11 now. That's pretty old for a dog of his size. (Think about it, in human years, he's around 77.) Even though I try to take him for a walk everyday, we don't always make it. Sometimes, Spike needs a day or two off at a time. His old bones just don't want to walk that far any more. We have even taken our first walk to the corner and back. He was appreciative of that, but he was content with it, too. I try to gauge our walks by the way he starts out. We still do take that 2 mile walk once or twice a week. Most of the time, we walk a mile. Many days, that's challenging for Spike. He walks like an old man. He's slow, and just let him walk ahead so that he thinks he's pulling me. Then there are those days like today, and the day Spike tried to outrun that Jeep, when Spike forgets he's old and runs like the puppy that's in his heart. Today, I jogged 5 blocks with Spike pulling me all the way. I finally had to make him slow down, like in his puppy days, because I was gasping for air as I ran. Today was a good day. I only wish I could get those good days on camera because I would love to show you what Spike looks like when he goes into a gallop. You can see the smile on his face as he runs with the wind. We almost walked two miles today, but the rest we ran. Spike enjoyed his walk so much today. He's finally tired. I love the days when I remember Spike as a puppy.