Good morning!

Some weeks we talk about medicine; others we don’t. 

Let’s cut to the chase. Recently I’ve been getting a lot of slack at our local Walk with a Doc now that our oldest dog, Phoebe, has a Galaxy S24. Our little guy, Henry, does not. He’s only 3 years old – that would be ridiculous.

I hear your comments. 

“Must be nice to be a cardiologist, so comfortable that you’re buying your dog a Galaxy S24.”

I don’t feel I need to defend our decision, but enough people have pointed and laughed at my dog that I feel it’s time we air this out.

The Top Seven Reasons My Oldest Dog has a Galaxy S24

1. More cat apps than Apple. For some reason, the Galaxy platform has always been more amenable to feline-oriented apps. She loves cats.
2. Phoebe’s 63 in people years. Most kids nowadays have phones by the time they’re 12. There have been times, between you and me, that I’ve felt guilty that it’s taken us this long.
3. Built-in GPS tracker. There are many lost dogs every day. Problem solved.
4. Our whole family has Apple, so it would’ve been easier (and a heck of a lot cheaper) to have her on the family plan. We found the iPhone 15 screen was too small. If you’ve ever seen a standard poodle’s paws, you understand exactly how difficult swiping would be. The Galaxy S24’s screen gives her the room she needs and, honestly, she just never could adjust to the flip phone.
5. If Krissy and I are running late on the trail, we might call ahead and tell her to go ahead and eat. I’m overstating the obvious here, but a dog’s going to have no idea how to answer a landline, plus she might be outside playing when we call. There’s no other way for us to get a hold of her (granted this would work on the iPhone)
6. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. She loves the app Run Keeper and Galaxy supports the 7.2 version (for users with four legs). The iPhone had this bug where it would double count and throw off her estimated calorie burn. This makes it much harder for her to budget her food intake.
7. She’s an active dog (must be genetic) and always seems to be moving causing her phone to fall a lot. She does have the advantage that it’s only dropping 4-6 inches to the ground but falling several times a day, occasionally at fast speeds, we needed a very strong protective case. Otter Box’s Canine Cozee (compatible only with Galaxy) made our decision an easy one.

Happy Friday!

david

Disclaimer: this newsletter is a work of fiction.