nd so a few days later, I
drove up to the Humane
Society Silicon Valley insecond. He’s a real sweet dog once he
knows you.”
That didn’t sound like the happy
golden retriever I’d had in mind.
Casaundra stepped out of the room,
and I took a deep breath. My heart
was pounding. Then I heard footsteps
approaching. Dog nails on concrete.
The handle on the door turned. The
door cracked open. A black nose tried
to push its way in, and then the door
opened all the way. There he was: a
large black-and-white dog with a big
round body, shuffling into the room
with his head hung low. He looked up
at me and then dropped his head with
a clear look of disappointment. Like,
Really? This loser?
I suppose I looked at him the same
way.
“He’s a border collie and Australian
shepherd mix, to the best of our knowl-
edge,” Casaundra said. “As you can see,
he’s middle-aged and overweight, andevery meal, just make sure that at least
half your plate is full of fruits and veg-
etables and the rest is beans and rice
or any other food that is not from an
animal. If you do that, you’ll start feel-
ing better. And with exercise, I think
you’ll be really surprised how quickly
things can change.”
She suggested I start with 20 min-
utes of light exercise twice a day.
“Something you can enjoy, like taking
a walk,” she said. “And I recommend
that you go to a shelter and adopt a
dog.”
“Exercise?” I said. “A dog?”
“A dog is a good companion,” she
said. “Plus, you live in an apart-
ment, which means the dog has to be
walked. So you walk your dog twice a
day, and that will be your exercise.”
“I’ve never owned a dog. What
about a cat?” I asked.
“Have you ever seen anyone walk
a cat?”O’Grey at 340 pounds, the day before the
plane trip that ultimately led him to Peetyrd.com 113al
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