This week was my dog’s fourth birthday. What a relief; he’s survived living with me! Gee, time flies! Soon he’ll be wanting to get his drivers license and go clubbing. 😉 All joking aside, it is amazing how fast those four years have gone by. Owning a dog has been such a great experience. I knew taking care of a puppy was going to be stressful. Very stressful. Especially living alone. And though I had and still have wonderful friends who came with me to pick him up from his farm or watch him occasionally those puppy days were not stress-free!! Driving home from work at lunch every day for the first half year was super stressful and having to throw away shoes and other oh so delicious items that accidentally got between Alfi’s jaws was friggin’ frustrating! OMG, he would steal my underwear!! Ugh! Now that he is all grown up and mature (as far as boy dogs go…) he just shreds tissues – I can totally live with that.

Alfi – Summer 2009 with one of the many stuffed guinea pigs he mauled

But you know what, it’s all been worth it. He is such a joy and coming home to a fluffy bundle of happiness is something I look forward to every day. He does have a fierce underbite and with all that fluffy fur looks really vicious but has never hurt a soul (other than his stuffed toys but I think they’re soul-less). That he is a sweet one and sits, lays down and comes on command is a HUGE relief for me. Trust me, I was rather worried about raising a dog and him or her turning out horribly!! But yes, he’s great. Except for when he peed on my friend who was dog sitting him. That was mortifying (but hilarious to some I hear ;-)). Happy Birthday Alfi-Dog! Lots of love, your human!

Care to share your favorite Alfi-memory in a comment?