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Weather and time permitting, I let my dog, The Mighty Shmooie, choose the route we walk every morning. We have five basic routes and, with the exception of going into people’s yards, he gets to choose. His favorites are usually a mile to a mile and a half although, at age twelve and a half, I’ve noticed he tends to prefer the shorter walks more than he used to. There’s a two mile route but we rarely take that one anymore.

Even though Shmoo doesn’t have as much energy for longer walks at his age doesn’t mean he’s lost his sense of adventure. He used to run wildly through town loo...