Day 8, Reason 8: It's Good For the $10,000 Mutt

My dog got skunked this morning, which is why this post is so late.  I just spent the entire day deodorizing my house. I also took her in for a $50 de-skunking.

Of course, that's a drop in the Kona bucket, because this dog has not been nicknamed the $10,000 mutt for nothing.  Four surgeries, two of them cruciate ligament repairs on her knees - yes both of them - have easily pushed her into 5 figures on the cost of ownership scale.  She's one lucky dog to have landed with us, that's for sure.

But she also does a lot of good for us. She's been a best friend to me through some of the hardest, loneliest times of my life, through infertility and finally through the early years of motherhood.  It was Kona who got up with me and lay at my feet while I pumped for Nolan, several times a night every night for months.  And she does other good for me as well.

I've gotten into the habit of walking her every morning after the kids get on the bus.  I've missed that all summer, and so has she.  We walk about 2 miles each morning.  Sometimes I chat with my mom on the phone, sometimes I just enjoy the early morning quiet on the trail behind our house.  And she has never been in better shape - at least not since puppyhood.

Those walks have not only done me physical good, but they have also done her good.  Her knees are strong now and she walks easily, even runs and jumps.  She has lost weight - and she really, really needed to.  She's healthier and she will be with me a long time because of it, I hope.

So sticking to that exercise habit, of walking each day, is good for that crazy, expensive, stinky mutt I adore.  And that's a pretty good reason to do it.

Day 8, Reason 8: A healthy, happy dog.

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