Right Boy, Right Time w/ Porochista Khakpour

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A Special Dog Helping A Writer Navigate A Serious Sickness

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About The Episode

Porochista Khakpour grew up without having dogs around. After finishing grad school, Porochista was completing a fellowship year in Baltimore. It was there that she decided it was as good a time as ever to take in a dog. In particular, she was interested in senior greyhounds who were retired racer dogs, who often had trouble finding homes.

The first dog she met from the local Baltimore greyhound rescue chapter was King, who she fell in love with immediately and adopted. It was a special relationship, and a dog she grew a bond with fast. But she didn’t realize how connected they were, as King had a disease that Porochista would soon be suffering from herself.

For a while after, she kept fostering and rescuing – including with other breeds, like Saluki’s. However, eventually, Porochista found herself very ill. She was knocking on death’s door with an undiagnosed case of late-stage Lyme Disease – a scary process that included daily medical treatment. When she would be waiting in the facility around appointments, there was a black moyen poodle who would come in and whom she was captivated by. There was an old lady who would sit by Porochista, and she saw how much joy and excitement the dog would bring her every time they came in. The lady mentioned she should get a dog, but Porochista was unsure with her current state and condition. However, her doctor came in and said that actually, it would be a great idea and even be beneficial to her health.

It worked. Cosmo, her current dog of the same breed, came into her life. Porochista had never had a puppy before, so she and this black moyen poodle went off to puppy school together. They also went on hikes together in Santa Fe, where she was getting her treatment. As Porochista focused on him, exercised together, and received Cosmo’s unconditional love – her health improved.

Eventually, she was well enough to back to regular life. They drove cross country to New York City, which Cosmo fully embraced as his new home. Through all this time, 8 years later, they’ve remained inseparable. Even during the pandemic, their relationship has only improved and has prevented Porochista from feeling alone in such an isolating time. She even calls him “a boy in a dog suit” where, aside from poodle dimensions being similar to humans, she can tell his mood and exact feelings at all times. They know each other like the back of their hands (or paws), and her life as a result of her furry soulmate will never be forgotten.

About The Guest - Porochista Khakpour

Porochista Khakpour is a writer whose work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Village Voice, The Paris Review, and more. Her debut novel Sons and Other Flammable Objects (2007) was a New York Times “Editor’s Choice.” Her first memoir SICK (2018) was “a memoir of chronic illness, misdiagnosis, addiction, and the myth of full recovery, chronicling the long, arduous discovery of her late-stage Lyme Disease.” And recently in 2020, she published her first collection of essays, Brown Album: Essays on Exile and Identity. She currently lives in Queens, New York, with her dog, Cosmo.

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