Choya Turns 2!

I managed to stop the man from getting stuck to the ridiculous idea of doing a birthday party for the dog. It's not as if we live in a big house with a pool and a garden with a Weber grill, and we could simply term it as a weekend casual dinner. Don't be duhhh. I don't even want to organize birthday parties for kids. What makes you think I want to do it for a dog?!

I'm wistful that I've missed her adorable puppyhood. But I certainly don't miss any of the destructive chewing and mess that come along with puppies. At two years old, Choya is now a young adult. Her last shedding in June and July changed her fur from brown to red; these are her full adult colors. She's a true red Shiba Inu. Her epiphyseal plates should have closed, and I hope that the last four months of quality feeding would have helped with the calcium and minerals needed. We can properly work on strengthening those muscles more to help her with her patella lunation.

I understand her gut flora and her digestive systems. Rotating her proteins have ensured a lack of allergies to food. I can't control environmental allergies, but I can ease the symptoms by being vigilant with antiseptic washes. Especially for her dainty paws. I've crawled out of the dark mopey tunnel of those initial two months. I'm still not sure having a dog ups my happiness index. But yeah, I'm still a slave to the dog, albeit a lot more sanguine.

She's more attentive to our commands now. Daily reinforcement ensures that she gets all her basic commands. 'Sit, Stay, Down, Come Back, Let's go. Stop. No.' She's truly not food-motivated when it comes to training. I train her without treats. I train her by just voice and tone. She lives for our praise and attention. We didn't get her a birthday meatloaf or special edibles. Neither did we upgrade her to sleeping on a mat on our bedroom floor. We can only offer her a lifetime of love and care, good food, clean water, and a forever-home.