Furkid turns 5

Today is The Furkid's birthday. It is an easy- o remember date for a dog's birthday (9th Sept), given that in Hokkien/Teochew, 'dog' and the number 'nine' sounds the same.

In human age, The Furkid has officially surpassed us. It is apparent that she has mellowed with age. Friends who have known her since she was a puppy all pointed out that she has become less jumpy and hyper in the recent one year. Oh, that and also she has become fatter over the years. But some things about her remain the same - she is as affectionate, as sweet nature, and as greedy as we have always known her to be. While we are set on the stance that pets and children can co-exist together (as opposed to giving the dog away after we go in the family way), we are also relieved that we have unwittingly gotten a hardy and sweet-tempered breed. Now that Anya is an active, inquisitive toddler, there are occasional manhandling situations that we could not prevent in time. Never has The Furkid ever bite back nor snared at Anya. The most she did was to yelp and run away from The Tod. This, in time, gives us plenty of opportunities to inculcate gentleness in Anya when it comes to handling animals. 

From the time when Anya first arrived in our house till date, The Furkid has grown from mere disdain towards this little intruder to being affectionate and protective  towards her. How do we tell? She licks Anya's face when they are playing, she reciprocates when Anya throws a toy for her to catch, she brings a toy as a gesture of greeting to Anya when the latter wakes up, and (this one warms my hearts especially) she would lie down outside Anya's room when she is playing inside as if guarding over her. You know how I wrote about love only multiplies two entries ago? This is what I meant. If anything, The Husband and I feel all the more blessed to have The Furkid around with our children. 

Anyway, celebration for her birthday took place yesterday evening instead as  we are having a Mooncake Festival celebration with some church friends tonight. As per tradition, a doggy cake was bought. We invited The In-laws over where we had some pizzas and mooncakes. All in all, we had a jolly good time and I think we made The Furkid a very happy dog.