IMG_4472We found her at a shelter — much bigger than we had planned for the family dog.  But her gentle brown eyes caught me and held on.  Then, seeing her gentleness with our kids (ages 1, 3 and 5 at the time), we knew we had found her.  Our three-year-old daughter promptly named her, “Piper,” and even though she may have really meant, “Pepper,” there was no going back.

Our intention for getting a dog was for the kids.  What kid wants to grow up without a furry friend to explore with or curl up with when life seems too much.  And Piper became that for all of us.  But she became much more for me, really by accident.  After we brought her home, we soon realized that she was happiest when she had a lot of exercise.  And since our kids couldn’t yet control her 60 lbs. of excitement (did I mention that my husband isn’t really a dog lover?), it fell to me for her daily walks.

The first few years, you couldn’t really call them walks.  I hadn’t run much since high school, so my stategy was  to hold on tight to the leash and try to stay on my feet as she dragged me along Kent Trails.  Thank heaven she stopped occasionally to sniff other dogs (you know where) and fertilze the weeds.   But soon, our daily walks became longer.  My heavy panting slowed to almost normal.  I found that I enjoyed the minutes of quiet in my busy day almost as much as her.  Sometimes I listen to a book on cd (yes, I own a working portable compact disc player), sometimes I catch up on my prayer list or often I just coast along behind her, working on solutions to problems that often now seem far away as I watch the constant swish of her tail.

Exercise should never be something that adds more guilt to your life.  As busy moms, we already carry way too much guilt around.  So commiting to an fitness regime that will take a lot of time or require me to get up any earlier than I already do to drive to a gym, doesn’t make sense for me right now.  Instead, I try incorporating more fitness into my day with activities I enjoy or our family can do together.

I wear a pedometer now when Piper and I hit the trail, and typically walk 5-6,000 steps in a day (morning and evening combined).  When I began using a pedometer, we only got to 2,600…good, much better than if we hadn’t walked at all. But lately, I find myself going  just a bit further.  Piper certainly doesn’t complain, even though she’s now more than 10 years old.  We walk slower than we used to, but we continue to put one foot (or paw) in front of the other in our effort to stay active…together.