Mo Jo: Clifford Gets Into Shape

Distance: 3 miles
Pace: Oh, 11s, with sniff and pee breaks
Mood: Happy

This is Clifford. Clifford is big boned.

Clifford is my 90-pound American Bulldog mix. He is shaped a bit like a sausage. He does not taper from the chest. His round belly protrudes like he is a pregnant lady. He is very, very good at cuddling and couch time. Basically, there is more to love.

He is not an active pup. When the other dogs hear someone outside, perhaps innocently walking their dog, my other two race to the door to bark and then run outside to let that dog know he should GO AWAY. Clifford will raise his head up from the arm of the sofa to assess the situation, conclude the other two have it handled, and then return to his sleepy meditation on doggie issues.

The vet, however, does not use words like "big-boned" and "slow metabolism." She says Clifford is fat. I grow concerned she is looking at me as well. You know what they say, fat dog, fat owner. I feel a sudden need to produce Betty Bamba, my slim and trim dog.

Now, as someone who runs fairly regularly, you would think there would be an obvious solution here. Take Clifford running. But I haven't wanted to for two reasons.

First, running with a dog is not going to produce good running times. Maybe you have trained your dog perfectly to run to your pace on a leash, but I find that I run more slowly, am more focused on making sure the dog is safe and not about to trip me, and take way more breaks. I've been working on my pace this year so it has not been convenient to take a dog along.

Second, Clifford usually has about a mile in him. Then he slows down. Then he falls behind. On one memorable run, he stopped and refused to proceed. Poor guy was Over It. I threatened to leave him, and he said fine, he would find a new home on that block. We had to walk home.

But, I am also worried that my good, sweet, cuddly boy is going to die prematurely because I'm selfish in my running goals and won't help him lose weight, so we've been doing some run walks so that he can get into better shape. It's basically a couch to 5K program. And today he did amazing! Three whole miles--just .1 short of a 5K. I thought he'd flag for sure after two, but he did not fall behind. He seemed to be having a great time.

We:

• Sniffed some street signs
• Got barked at by an angry beagle (one-third the size of Clifford)
• Checked out a pair of gorgeous Golden Retrievers
• Tried to go make friends with some children 
• Loped around the park without a leash

It was actually a really happy run. Did I kill it on pace? Nope. Did I go very far? Nope. But did I have a good time and enjoy my morning with my Very Good Boy? I did. And he is taking an extra long nap right now to celebrate.