It’s 7:30 AM and Willow is ready to walk! The three-year Golden Retriever takes a sip of water, then patiently waits by the door for Jeff LaPalme, her caretaker, to grab her leash and head out to walk with the neighborhood dog clan.
A mellow girl, Willow has lived with Jeff and his family in Peabody, Massachusetts since she was a puppy. Originally, Willow was meant to be Jeff’s daughter’s dog, but spends so much time with Jeff working from home, that Willow is now a daddy’s dog, constantly at his feet.
“My daughter was lobbying in the house to get a dog for many, many years and I guess I was weak one day and I said ´Okay, we can have a dog.’”
Walking Willow with ORORO
“Willow enjoys her walks,” says Jeff, who is originally from France. “I like to walk in the woods and Willow likes it too!” Jeff walks Willow two to three times a day for 20 minutes each time. “ORORO keeps me warm. It cuts the chill out of the air. It actually makes it a little bit easier to go out when the weather's bad.”
Jeff has been part of the ORORO Squad since 2019 when he first discovered ORORO Heated Apparel. “Now I have a closet full of them. More than I can wear. It’s funny because I end up wearing the same one all the time. It’s an army green fleece jacket. I used to have another one, but my father stole it from me,” Jeff laughs.
“The kids and the wife have some (ORORO) as well. I have three vests and two jackets. I have gloves and socks, too. I have a scarf which I didn’t think I would like. Let me tell you, it (the scarf) is very, very nice! When I tried it for the first time, I said ‘Oh yeah!’ I got one for my mom too and she enjoys it.”
“I actually bought my wife a jacket specifically so she would walk the dog a little bit more often. She walks (Willow) probably even more than I do because she likes to. She uses that as her relaxing time.”
Willow’s Unique Personality
Long-haired Willow sheds her beautiful golden locks all around the family home. “You have the impression that you have many (dogs) because they leave their hair everywhere, on your clothes, and on everything in the house.”
Jeff describes Willow as “calm, friendly, and a food lover.” And if Willow were to run the country, Jeff says, “She would have more food for everyone!” She would also say “Let’s try to like each other, you know, we can play together and be nicer.”
“Goldens are very hard-headed,” Jeff adds. “When they decide they don’t want to walk, they will sit… they will sit and stay and you won’t be able to go anywhere. In the beginning, my daughter was walking Willow a lot, and she would call for my help because the dog would sit down on the sidewalk and not move. It was a running joke of the neighborhood, at first.”
“Many Golden Retrievers like to steal socks and stuff like that.” But, Jeff explains, “she is contrary to this. She will not chew on anything or steal your socks or anything like that.”
Willow’s Furry Friends
The family also cares for Nala, a seven or eight-year-old cat, who, Jeff states, “was not happy when Willow joined the family. But now they get along fine and sleep close to each other. One on one couch, the other on the other couch.”
Willow and her friend Daisy (Jeff’s mother-in-law’s small Maltese) follow each other everywhere when Daisy visits. But Nala doesn’t like Daisy at all.
ORORO - So Hot!
ORORO makes Jeff and his family’s life much easier when taking Willow out on her walks. Jeff adds, “And it’s kind of funny because over the last few years, initially, I was kind of the only one (with ORORO). There were not that many people, but now you see it (ORORO) a lot, like A LOT more, and I say, “Oh, that is kind of cool!”
