Henry's Awesome and Cool Birthday!

Henry is a really cool and lucky small pup.  He had a super cool birthday party and is my guest blogger for the day.

My name is Henry James.  On Monday, June 6th, I finally turned two years old.  Cody has invited me to share my wonderful day with you.  I’m very excited to tell you all about it!

The night before the big day, Grandpa showed up to visit for a few days!  I was so excited that he remembered it was my birthday. We spent the night watching basketball.  It was very exciting.  I had no idea that chasing a ball around a room was a professional sport! It looks more complicated than playing fetch though.

The morning of my birthday, I woke up to find out that one of my persons was leaving to the airport for a weeklong trip to Milwaukee.  This made me very sad.  A few hours later, Grandpa and my other Person sang happy birthday to me.  It was wonderful!   Afterwards, we ate breakfast, played in the backyard and then I took a long nap.

Later in the day, my Person and I logged into FaceBook to let everyone know it was my birthday.  I was thrilled with all the responses and birthday wishes!  I am truly loved.  My other person even texted a video from Milwaukee singing happy birthday and sending virtual kisses.  I watched it five times! 

The evening was spent eating sweets and wearing my birthday outfit.  I wasn’t very thrilled with the outfit.  It made me feel like a puppy.  At two years old, I’ve matured.  I’m still in potty training, but I’m going to school now.  I’ve learned to sit and eat lots of yogurt dog treats.  My Person is also teaching me to walk correctly on a leash.  I still get distracted by birds and other dogs, but I’m motivated to improve.

Before bed, I played with my brother Chester and friend Ally and then fell asleep happy watching TV with Grandpa and my Person.  Life is wonderful. 

The Times, They Are A-Changin'

I’ve been at camp Taurus for the past 10 days while my people were visiting some other dogs who live far away.  I had lot of fun at camp, but I am very, very, very happy that my people are back home.

They brought me a guest blog post from one of the dogs they visited.  His name is Kodi, which is an awesome name that is almost like mine!  He is a big, calm, friendly dog who can run very fast and very, very far.  I think he’s a little crazy, though, because he loves cold weather.  I guess that’s good for him because he lives in a cold place far, far away called “Minnesota”.  My people tell me that it’s even farther away than the Georgetown Dog Park, which is the farthest I’ve ever been from home.  Anyhow, I’ll let Kodi tell his story now.

Kodi

Once upon a time, our pack was just me and my two people.  Life was good.  My people took good care of me, and I took good care of them.  As time passed, they added some new pack members.  Life has changed since then.

The new pack members are very small, friendly, fast-growing people.  I know that they are very important pack members, and I do my best to protect and love them.  Still, sometimes I wish that things were back how they used to be.

I was recently reminded of how things have changed on a pack trip to visit grandma and grandpa.  Back in the old days, I always got to sit anywhere I wanted in the back couch of the motorized dog-sled.  However, on this trip, the little pack members got to have the back couch and I had to sit with all of the supplies!  I was not happy.

Not happy with the situation

At grandma and grandpa’s territory, I had a great time.  I also had a lot of time to think about how to make the best of my situation.  I have heard my people say, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”  I don’t know what that means, but I know that I really, really, really like lemonade!

I knew that it was important for me to watch over and protect the littlest pack members from the cargo area, but I also wanted to enjoy the trip back home more than I enjoyed the first trip.

I thought…and thought…and thought some more.

Then, I had a great idea!  Lemonade!  On the way home, whenever the big people weren’t looking, I took a sip of the little people’s lemonade.

Loving the lemonade

This might sound like a sneaky, mean idea, but it was really an important part of proper security.  By taking sips of the lemonade, I was making sure that the little people had safe lemonade to drink.  It is just lucky for me that I really, really like lemonade!

So, just remember, when changes happen in your pack, you may not like them at first, but if you can find the lemonade and drink it when nobody is looking, you can be happy again!  (Did I mention how much I like lemonade!)

PS I know it is hard to believe, but the monkey sitting next to me in the picture is NOT a real monkey.  I still feel bad about what I did to the first monkey, but I thought it was real and was taunting the smallest member of the pack.