Blame it on the dog...

One thing that got me out moving, even before I was trying to lose weight was our dog, Indy.


Two years ago, Lee told my son that he could have a dog for his birthday if he improved his penmanship. Now, how are you going to tell a second grader that he didn’t improve in something? So I knew then we were getting a dog. Well, after a false start with a dog someone was rescuing, we ended up at the pound. They had a nice, two year old, crate trained, calm dog. We decided to think about it while we went to get a haircut. We came back, with Lee’s dad in tow now as well, and someone was sitting outside with our dog!

Needless to say, emotions started running high. The next thing I know, we get stuck in the kitten and puppy room. I’m allergic to cats and constantly feel the guilt of depriving my family of a cat (well, not that guilty they could get an outside cat if they really wanted one!). There is this cute, small, docile puppy in a cage by itself. I try to suggest that maybe it is alone because it is unsociable, but no one listens. The next thing I know, they are all taking turns holding the little puppy with the one broken ear. It starts nuzzling up to them and I know that it is all over and done with.

48 hours later, the sedatives that they had the dog on to make it appear adoptable have worn off and we have a bundle energy on our hands. As Indy grew, her favorite thing became sleeping all day so she could drive us nuts with tennis balls all night. She retrieves them, she puts them under the chairs so we have to get them, she holds one in her mouth and plays soccer with the other one.

In an effort to regain some relaxation at night, we started walking her more and more. It didn’t really slow her down, but it did get us moving and started on our journey to a healthier lifestyle. We finally solved the problem of her not being tired at night. We got another dog. So they play all day and then we all rest at night.