Happy (Weekly) Birthday!

You know that your dog is old when you throw a little party every week, just because he made it another week.  Time to refill the pill dispenser!  "Operation Spoil the Shit Out of Andy" has gone into extra innings.  We did have to increase his dose of kitten food, though.  Small price to pay for this fuzzy muppet.

Treated With Love

For the holidays, "Grandma" sent a big box to our home.  There were loads of toys for the dogs and cats, presents for my Sweetpea and me, and a plethora of homemade goodies.  Included was a note aimed specifically at some mischievous pups:

If you remember from the year before, said pups helped themselves to the people treats, then assaulted us with bodily functions for several days.

Now, "Grandma" is extremely generous to us and the furkids, and even admitted that she would have made treats for them, but ran out of time.  To reward them for not eating the people treats this holiday season, I decided to make them some homemade treats of their own.  Afterall, doesn't everyone want to be popular in their own home?  A little effort goes a long way with these dogs.  My Sweetpea totally brought me back down to earth when he reminded me that our babies don't exactly have a refined palate.

Whatever.  They liked the treats.  I'll take that as a compliment to the chef.

Well-Trained Guardians

Operation Spoil-the-Shit-Out-of-Andy is fully underway.  He is in maintenance mode and we do whatever we can to make him comfortable.  He has a ramp out the back door (even though he proceeds to go up the stairs to the deck in front to be let back in).  He gets twice the treats that the other dogs get.  We even carry him up the steps to the front door if he is too tired after a walk.

The one thing that is getting ridiculous is his feeding routine, though.  He gets a medley of essential oils, anti-inflammatories, and pills for joint health, with a topping of canned kitten food.  We're pretty sure that the kitten food has done as much good for him as all of the other junk combined.  He went from being hand-fed one kernel at a time, to doing a happy dance while we prepare his feast.  His Papa spoils him so much, that he insists on letting him sniff the cat food lid to make sure that it is to his liking.  He really gets excited when you tap the fork on the side of the bowl to signal that it is ready.  I think he has us trained.