Pepper's 1st Birthday

CC: Audrey, Laura, John, Allison, Nathan, Portia
Dogs: Pepper, Willow, Maxie

Today is Pepper's 1st Birthday.  I picked a pet friendly restaurant, La Madeleine's Bakery, for his party, and called ahead so management expected us.  It lasted about 45 minutes, took no prep time, and worked out great.  Our closest circle of peeps came after work, about 5 p.m.  Nathan secured us a lovely table on the porch, and John started snapping pix with my iPhone.   I bought a fruit tart, and onlookers were amazed how the dogs sat and stayed with the tart under their noses while we lit the candle, sang Happy Birthday, divvied it up onto 3 separate plates, and waited for my "Okay" command before eating.  I put this slide show together in Windows Live Photo Gallery, just to see how that works.  Not so well, as I can't put the slides in the order I want.  (Hit the "REFRESH" button if it doesn't show up the first time you open this page.)





Pepper at 8.5 weeks old.

Pepper at 6 months, with huge ears,
a long nose, and not much fur.

It's so hard to believe I brought Pepper home last January. Seems more like last month.  Where has the time gone? 


I never intended to keep the fat little fart with the huge ears and big feet, just sell him to raise money for my agility expenses and increase the Papillon population in our area.  Did I really need a 3rd agility dog?  When exactly did I decide to keep him?  Don't know.  He grew on us gradually, but neither John nor I would give him up for anything now.

Pepper at 1 year, growing into his ears and nose.

From day one, he just fit in.  Everyone accepted him -- dogs, cats, family, friends.  Going from 2 paps to 3 was no great effort.  No extra crates or beds.  He posed no problems, other than an extra vet visit and some puppy chow.  Of course, there will be training expenses.

It's going to be a fun trip learning more and more about our new Birthday Boy, tracking his progress, training, and reaching for another gold ring.

Lucky is almost 4, Maxie is 5.4, Willow is 10, and FoohFooh is almost 13. And I'm about to turn 66.  Time is flying by.  Will I still be training dogs, running Pepper, at 76? Can I do right by this amazing little guy?  I shall try.

Upwards and onward!