More: I turned the corner at the adoption event and this scared little guy stared up at me with-straight-from-a-Disney-movie puppy dog eyes and I couldn’t ignore him. He had tiny little legs, a long wiener body and fluffy doodle fur -- and, yet, he was somehow perfect. That evening, I started wondering what I had gotten myself into. How is this guy going to keep up with all of the things I love doing? All the hiking and traveling. There’s no way he’s going to be able to handle it all. The very next day, I took him to my favorite nature preserve just to see how he would do and he literally came alive - just like I do when I’m enjoying the outdoors. “Okay,” I said to myself. "We’re going to be just fine.” Fast forward five years and despite his size, we have traveled coast to coast, hiked the highest peaks in our home state, gone camping, kayaking, canoeing, skijoring and even survived a two week road trip around the Great Lakes.