While I don’t mean that literally, there is something to that advice. First of all let me say that you should only get a dog if you know the responsibilities of being a dog owner and you are ready to provide a good home for the new pooch.

Also, I wouldn’t suggest that if you are the type of person who is rigorous about regular health club workouts you should quit your health club and substitute your workouts by walking a dog.

I would suggest that if you are like many people who have good intentions about doing some exercise, but you find you never quite get to a health club to work out. You may experience what I experienced when we adopted our black lab Max (short for Maximum Energy) from Orphans of The Storm, a local animal shelter.

Max was six months old when we saw him in a kennel at Orphans. Poor Max! We were told that for some reason his original owners had turned him into the local animal control in a nearby city, and in turn Orphans of The Storm which is a non kill shelter took him in. Max appeared dazed, bewildered and full of energy. When we took him to one of the fenced in areas at Orphans to become better acquainted Max ran and ran and ran.

Max was adorable, he did have a modicum of training, we were told he was house broken, but he was HIGH ENERGY! If we decided to adopt Max we knew we would have to make a commitment to walk him at least two times a day in to reduce his rowdy,boisterous and mischievous behavior in the house.

“If I walk Max twice a day I won’t have time to go to work and to the health club,” I said.

My wife smiled and asked sweetly, “How often are working out at the health club.”

“A lot,” I said.

“Every day, six days a week… five, four, three, two, one……… day a week?” She asked.

She had me, “About” once a week I replied.

It was two years ago this month when we adopted Max. I quit the health club and walk Max twice a day, about 30 minutes to one hour each time we walk. Now that Max is trained much of the walk for Max consists of chasing a ball I throw, while I walk one or two miles. I might get a more vigorous work out at the Health Club, but knowing me I would never go more than once or twice a week.

I like the early morning walks the best. It is especially enjoyable in the winter because Max and I and our friends are the only one’s out facing the elements. We are fortunate because there is a park just two blocks from our home and adjacent to the park is a large Middle School Athletic field.

As I began to walk Max two things became readily apparent. There were other people out walking their dogs early in the morning, and I could also train Max in short durations at twice a day frequency. He enjoyed the training (spelled treat time).

The other people who I found regularly walking their dogs ranged from young moms or dads to silvery haired people like me. Now we are a loosely formed neighborhood group of six or seven people who despite the differences in gender, age, and life experiences have a common bond, our dogs.

Our pooches like the group also. The newest and youngest member is a female Yellow Lab named Lola who is four months, others include Remi (short for Remington) a mixed breed, Sammy a Poodle/Golden Retriever, Trey a very large and friendly 4 year old Yellow Lab, Cody, and Hershey.

We are fortunate, because of the large size of the park our dogs can cavort safely and enjoy socializing, sniffing, running with each other. They are all well behaved. I think this is because owners who make a commitment to walk their dogs regularly also make sure their dogs are trained to be good not to be pests. I believe this is especially true if the dogs are medium-large and bigger.

So I have to thank Max for getting me out of the health club and into the fresh air. There he taught me how to find and make friends, and to exercise twice a day. Because of Max my neighborhood socialization skills are broader; I now know more people of varying ages rather than just other older people like me. Max has also taught me to give him treats when he sits, heels, does down, gives me his paw, finds things on command, stops on command, fetches the ball, and a host of other things. He also will come to hand signals and when searching for things Max will follow commands (he prefers to call them requests not commands).

Some people ask, “How did you find time to train your dog?”

I smile and say, “We take walks every day.” Then I add, “Since we are walking together we just as well do something because we are out walking anyway. “So Max has decided to teach me, an old dog, new tricks.”

Walking with Max is a simple thing. However, who would have ever dreamed right here in suburbia there are foxes and coyotes and snapping turtles and skunks, and raccoons as well as squirrels and rabbits and hawks and kingfishers? It is amazing what one can see when he takes his dog for a walk. Thank you Max for getting me to exercise regularly, make friends and enjoy life!