Lessons from Ginger, my canine friend

Ginger, my faithful companion, who is sleeping now on the dog bed next to my desk, turned 11 last month.

Despite her old age, she bolted out the back door yesterday, sure that this would finally be her lucky day and she would catch a squirrel.

“She’s still frisky,” Dr. Allison Merrill, our veterinarian, told me when Ginger had her annual “senior” examination later in the morning.

In fact, Ginger’s health is “impressive,” Dr. Merrill concluded.

What has kept her so healthy? It’s simple, the veterinarian explained.

Ginger is slim. She weighed 29 pounds today—actually two pounds fewer than she weighed last year.

She gets lots of exercise when she accompanies me on a two-mile morning walk. And, even though she gives me a nasty look, she puts up with getting her teeth brushed every morning.

I’m going to remember Ginger’s health advice: Keep slim. Exercise. Take good care of your teeth and the rest of yourself!
–Joy