He twists suddenly and I’m a step behind. Swiftly, he leaps to the right, off the trail and toward the buck. Muscles surge as he does what he was bred to do: Close in, go for the throat, and bring it down. Somehow, my voice breaks through. He pauses in mid-stride, trying to decide.

Sadiq loves to run trails right after I finish my Lucky Charms. He stares intently at me from across the sun-lit room, brown eyes calm, but ears perked forward in expectation, waiting for the last magic marshmallow to disappear. As I reach for my pungent New Balance jacket, the deal is sealed and he knows it. We dive off the porch together, plunging into the Palisades, footsteps from our home.

He’s one hundred and fifteen pounds of muscle and bone. A Rhodesian Ridgeback moving in fluid shades of Chai tea and silver, Sadiq was bred to hunt lions in east Africa. The dog books say he is “aloof,” but not to his family. We interviewed, provided three references, showed photos of our back yard - paid more than I had for my first blue Chevy truck – for the honor of taking him home.