Pampering our Pooch on Her 14th Birthday

At the end of July, we celebrate the birthdays of two members of our family: my husband and Holly, our 14-year-old bichon. Our dogs are our kids, and we celebrate not only their birthdays but their "gotcha day." 

"Gotcha day" is the day the dogs come to live with us. Dogs are here with us for such a short time that we try to make each day special for them, so maybe the birthday and "gotcha day" celebrations are more for us.

Celebrating a birthday or a "gotcha day" for one of our three bichons usually means a trip to our favorite pet store for treats or a toy, one-on-one walks and a special meal. Holly was born on July 31, 1997, and we adopted her in October 1997.

She is quiet and shy, except when we have food she thinks we should share with her. Holly is snuggly on her own terms, and she is very independent. She likes to sleep under the bed part of the night, and when she wants up on the bed in the wee hours of the morning, she taps my husband on the shoulder and he lifts her onto the bed.

She is sweetly tolerant of her younger sister Scarlett’s antics, and she seems most comfortable with her older sister, Trixie. Holly almost died in December 2001 when a husky attacked her while my husband was walking her in our neighborhood, so each birthday is indeed a blessing.

Even at the age of 14, Holly is still able and determined to jump into our cars and onto our couches. We have a ramp for the dogs to use to get onto the bed, as it is too tall for them to jump. Holly sleeps at the foot of our bed, and we recently lost her in the middle of the night. 

I know this sounds unusual. How can someone lose a dog at 3 a.m.? We could hear her cries and scratching noises, but we could not locate her under the bed or in the bathroom.

Then we found her wedged between the foot board and the mattress. She poked her head out of the metal railings of the foot board and gave us a look that said, “Hey, can you get me out of here?”

Our first concern was that she might be injured or be having difficulty breathing from falling or being stuck. We lifted her out and carefully set her on the floor. She shook her hair out, ran over and took a drink of water and then ran up the ramp onto the bed – happy to be set free. All’s well that ends well. Now, we place pillows between the mattress and the foot board to ensure Holly doesn’t fall off the end of the bed again.
 
Do you celebrate your pet’s birthday or gotcha day? What do you do to make your pet feel special? Do you have a multi-pet household? Please share your pet stories in the comments.