Dear Kodi

Guess what, happy little dog! It's your first birthday today! Yay!

You've now been with us for about 9.5 months and what a delight it's been to have you in our lives. You and I have been through hundreds of walks, lots of doggy park time, and tons of cuddles at home. Plus, you've learned a multitude of tricks. In the last few months you have started to learn the names of your toys, so that if I ask you to go and find your monkey, you no longer stare at me like "What the heck is a monkey? Is it food?" You have also learned to walk SLIGHTLY better than you did before obedience class. The first half of our walk always involves me getting a little mad, which I know I shouldn't do. I'm sorry. It's just that you weigh almost 65 lbs and it's really difficult to hold you back when you lunge forward.

You've also become better at balancing toys and treats on your head. I have some good pictures of you doing this that I will upload later on. You do, however, drool like a faucet turned on when a treat is in the works or when your dinner is hitting the bowl or when you think we're eating something delicious. It's kind of funny, but also a little gross.

Kodi, sometimes I don't know what comes over me, but I think about how one day you'll leave us. It makes me incredibly sad and I know I shouldn't dwell on some unknown future day. I should instead think about loving you now, and giving you a good and happy life. I know God created you and part of me hopes that there's a place in some sort of heaven for you so that maybe one day, if you should pass on and I should pass on, we'll see each other again. Sounds ridiculous, I know. I try not to think about it. One night recently I was very sad because I thought about this again and I thought about how I had yelled at you that day for pulling me. The nice thing is that you always forgive and forget when I'm mad. It's part of being a dog, I guess, life just moves on and you live in the present.

Anyway. Daddy and I are very proud of the dog you've become over the last year. You are an incredibly good dog. You rarely chew on anything that isn't yours and you sleep quietly by yourself when we're not home instead of tearing the house apart. You are still scared of the hair dryer and vacuum cleaner and anything that is large and makes loud noises. You don't tear apart all of your toys, and your favourite is still the Christmas toy we got you as a baby. You will eat anything we give you, or at least you'll try it once. Whenever I come home, you run to the door with a toy in your mouth, ready to play, and you greet me like you haven't seen me in years, even if it's only been a few hours. Above all, you always listen to us and I don't think you would talk back even if you could, because you love us too. Thank you for brightening up our lives. I hope in this next year, we are as good to you as you have been to us.