I n April 2022, four months after my wife and I brought our puppy home, I took the most expensive walk of my life.
Early spring thaws had begun to melt the snow that blanketed my small town in southern Ontario, allowing all the detritus of winter to slowly come free. Jace—a cross between standard poodle and Australian Shepherd—was excited by the new sights, new smells. But especially by the garbage. Entranced by all the paper and plastic and indeterminate mounds that typically emerge from former snow banks, he seemed to have decided early on that each of the items was a toy carefully set aside for his enjoyment.
