Happy Birthday Chester!

Today is Chester’s birthday. According to the information we received when we adopted him, he was born on 1/27.

He is 10 years old today! He will be getting a treat of kong stuffing, which is dog food, peanut butter, cheddar cheese and ham. Oh yes, it is disgusting but not to him.

Ten years old is getting old in dog years. We have had him for about 5 years of his life. When we got him we didn’t know what he would be like. The vet at the kennel said he was a “nice gentleman.” After climbing over the fence the second day we had him we became aware that squirrels were not a commodity to be taken for granted. They were new and unusual to Chester and must be pursued to the ends of the earth.

Picture by the amazing Brittaney. We were both working so she would come over and walk him during the day. He’s so skinny!

We realized that we would have to get to know him, and we’d all have some edges to sand in order to merge as a family.

We learned that he would tear apart boxes, stuffed animals and anything that squeaked. He didn’t eat them, just tore them up. We learned to watch that he didn’t eat the squeaker.

Did I do that??

We learned that he loves to eat. Period.

Please drop something!

We learned that he will go into an active period right before bed, going in and outside in the eternal quest for treats, until he finally crashes.

We learned that we can trust him completely with our grandkids. He loves kids in general.

We learned that while he gets along with most dogs, his mortal enemy is Enzo. Even Enzo lookalikes get the hackles raised. He’s also afraid of some dogs and will want to go the other direction. On the other hand, he wants to go by Zoe’s house every day just to catch a glimpse of her. Cue the music… “on the street where you live…..”

Chester and his friend, Buckley

His excitement for the day is his walk and protecting us from the Amazon, UPS and mail carriers.

I know I heard one of those evil trucks.

In the spring he revels in the mud, and in the winter, the snow.

Always on the lookout for raccoons or cats, he is a sentinel monitoring our backyard.

Keeping the interlopers out of our backyard.

A bunny sends him into a fit of tail wagging and jumping in circles until we let him out (very noisily to let the bunny get away!)

You let me have this blue bunny…but not the brown ones???

Now he is in a routine, just like we are. He sleeps on the couch more but so do I! Chester is such a good dog. We are lucky to have him. I tell him so every day.

We love this old boy and he loves us. He’s funny, quirky, expressive, and smart. I’m so grateful he is still going strong. We are appreciative of each day with our walking partner. Nice gentleman indeed! Happy birthday, sweet buddy.