I am a data person. I track my sleep, my steps, my coffee intake. So when Cooper started slowing down on walks — nothing dramatic, just a little less enthusiasm, a little more sniffing — I decided to track our walks for about three months and see what the data said.
I used a simple spreadsheet. Well, "simple" is generous. It was a mess. I kept changing teh columns because I could not decide what to track. First it was distance and time. Then I added weather. Then mood. Then I added a column for "squirrels seen" because Cooper gets distracted by them. Then I deleted that column because it was stupid. Then I added it back because it was not stupid, it was actually kind of interesting. Well, simple is maybe teh wrong word. It had 12 columns and I kept adding more because I am obsessive about data. Luna is not obsessive about anything except food. Date, distance, time, average pace, weather, and a subjective "Cooper mood" score from 1-5. I also noted anything unusual: did he stop to rest? Did he seem stiff getting up? Did he refuse a walk?
I did not expect much. I thought I would confirm what I already knew: Cooper is getting older, walks are getting shorter, end of story. The data had other plans.
Actually, before I start, I should mention that I am not great at keeping habits. I have tried tracking my sleep, my diet, my mood — everything fizzles after about two weeks. So the fact that I stuck with this for three months is basically a miracle. My therapist would be proud. If I had a therapist. I probably should get one.
The Baseline
Cooper is a Labrador, 8 years old. According to our calculator, that puts him at about 62 in human years. The vet calls him "senior but active." He gets two walks a day: a morning loop around the neighborhood (~1.5km) and an evening walk to the park (~2km). Total: about 3.5km daily.
Before the tracking period, I would have guessed his average pace was about 4.5 km/h. That is a comfortable walking pace for a Lab. Not rushed, not dawdling.
The First Few Weeks
The first couple weeks, Cooper was on his best behavior. Maybe he knew something was up. His average pace was 4.8 km/h — faster than I expected. Mood scores averaged 4.2. He only stopped to rest once, and that was because he found a particularly interesting smell near the oak tree on Maple Street.
I started thinking maybe I was imagining the slowdown. Maybe Cooper was fine and I was just being paranoid. The data said: relax, your dog is fine.
The Pattern Emerges
Then the pattern started. Cooper's pace dropped to 4.2 km/h in week 3, then 4.0 in week 4. By week 6, he was averaging 3.8 km/h. That is a significant drop from 4.8 — about 20% slower.
But here is the weird part: his mood scores stayed high. He was averaging 4.0, occasionally hitting 5. He was not dragging. He was not unhappy. He was just... slower. He sniffed more. He stopped to watch squirrels. He investigated every fire hydrant with the thoroughness of a detective.
I realized something: Cooper was not getting tired. He was getting more interested in the world. At 8, maybe he had finally figured out that walks are not just about exercise. They are about experiencing things. Smelling things. Watching things. Being present.
Or maybe I was anthropomorphizing and he just had arthritis. I asked the vet. She checked his joints and said: "Mild stiffness in the hips, nothing serious. Keep him moving." So we kept walking.
The Weather Factor
Portland in September is unpredictable. We had heat waves, cold snaps, and solid rain. The data showed something I did not expect: Cooper's pace and mood were strongly correlated with temperature, not with his own aging.
On hot days over 25°C, his pace dropped to 3.2 km/h and his mood score hit 2.5. He was miserable. On cool days around 15-20°C, he averaged 4.5 km/h and mood scores of 4.5. He was a different dog.
I had been blaming his slowdown on age, but the data said: blame the weather. On hot days, even young dogs slow down. On cool days, even old dogs perk up. The correlation was so strong that I started planning our walks around the temperature forecast.
The Final Count
By the end of the three months, Cooper had walked about 312km total. That is roughly 3.5km per day, which matched my pre-tracking estimate. But the distribution was different than I expected:
Morning walks averaged 1.2km (shorter than I thought). Evening walks averaged 2.3km (longer than I thought). He refused 4 walks total — all on hot days. His fastest pace was 5.2 km/h (chasing a squirrel). His slowest pace was 2.8 km/h (investigating a dead leaf for 10 minutes).
What I Learned
The biggest surprise was that Cooper's "slowdown" was mostly environmental, not biological. Yes, he is 8 and his hips are a little stiff. But the dramatic pace changes were driven by temperature, not age. On cool days, he walks like he is 5. On hot days, he walks like he is 15.
I also learned that "mood" and "pace" are not the same thing. Cooper can be slow and happy. He can be fast and distracted. The numbers do not tell the whole story — but they tell a story I would have missed without tracking.
Will I keep tracking? Probably not daily. It was a fun experiment, but I do not need a spreadsheet to tell me my dog is happy. I can see that. But I am glad I did it. The data corrected my assumptions, and that is always valuable.
Luna, my other dog (4 years old, mutt, endless energy), refused to participate in teh tracking. She just runs in circles until I give up. Some dogs are not data-compatible. I am okay with that. Actually, I am more than okay with it. I am kind of jealous. She does not care about spreadsheets or aging curves or any of this. She just wants to run and eat and sleep. That sounds nice. She just runs in circles until I give up. Some dogs are not data-compatible. I am okay with that.
Anyway, I am going to take Cooper for a walk now. It is cool outside, which means he will actually enjoy it. I will leave teh spreadsheet at home. Some things are better without data.
Luna just knocked over my water bottle while I was writing this. She is not even supposed to be in the office. She snuck in. Now there is water everywhere and she is licking it up like she is doing me a favor. I have to go deal with this. Dogs, man.