For the last two months, I’ve been carrying my dog up and down the stairs. We have tall stairs, and a lot of them. Maeby has arthritis and an aggressive slipped disc. So about thirty times a day, when I want to go down to the kitchen for a cup of tea, or when I need to follow Juno up the stairs, or when Hudson forgets his shoes, I heft my 30 pound dog up and down, up and down, so her separation anxiety doesn’t compel her to bound up the stairs on her own and slip that disc even more.