Walking with Porky

Two fateful years ago, I hugged our golden retriever Baby T and noticed that his lymph glands were enlarged. Unfortunately, it turned out to be lymphoma. We immediately started chemotherapy, but that only bought him a few months. His death was inevitable but still devastating. After the fact, I learned that golden retrievers have a 60% cancer rate and an extremely high genetic predisposition to lymphoma. Sad statistics.

If you’ve ever owned a golden retriever, you know how special they are. Our fuzzy buddy loved everyone (adored children) and every dog. He even loved cats, but they weren’t too fond of him. I rarely ever had him on the leash, and he never strayed too far. It was also a bonus that he would only poop in the woods.

I knew we would eventually adopt another dog, but the grief was strong in our family. Beyond that, it was nice to not have all of the responsibility involved with owning a dog. After a year, my wife and son started pushing to adopt another dog. We ended up at our local humane society, and they had a litter of puppies that looked like beagle mixes. One of them was chubby and clumsy. When I picked him up, he just melted in my arms. He was the one.

My wife named him Frankie, but he’s Porky to me. Porky was 10 lbs when we adopted him. We guessed he’d end up between 25 and 30 lbs. Well, he’s 6 months old now and weighs 47 lbs. Our vet is guessing he’ll top out between 65 and 70 lbs as an adult. That sounds about right because he’ll have to grow into those long legs and massive paws.

Porky is an athlete and demands exercise. When he’s ready to go for a walk, he barks at me nonstop. Not walking Porky is NOT an option. He could go for a long distance, but I’m following the 5-minute rule, which is 5 minutes of walking for every month of age and two walks per day. The 5-minute rule protects his joints and growing bones. I’m looking forward to the longer walks because north Georgia nature is simply amazing.

I didn’t know that I personally needed an athletic dog, but I definitely do. Walking at a brisk pace with Porky is cathartic. Even when I don’t feel like going, that changes after ten minutes into our trek. I also feel much better about myself physically. My heart rate and blood pressure are lower, plus I’ve lost 20+ lbs, which is 10 lbs shy of my 195 lb target. I was steady at that weight for 20 years but got sloppy over the past 10 and was eating too much food. I really didn’t feel as though it were possible to get back into shape, but it’s happening quickly. Porky is a healthy addition for our family.