I must have been a beautiful baby...

Next week my Mommy and I will celebrate our fifth anniversary—it was just 5 years ago that she sprung me from the pet shop.  I was 4 1/2 months old and weighed 8 pounds. All the rest of the puppies were little tiny fluffballs, so I was too big to be in the window.

Mommy said when she first saw me, there were puppies yapping away in all the cages, and I was in the center, just chilling out, taking it all in. She decided I looked like a "Petey" and that was my name—before she was even 100% sure she was going to take me home!

She went home to "think about it overnight" and decided that with two senior cats in a one-bedroom apartment, plus a busy job, that it wouldn't be fair to adopt a puppy.  But the next morning, when she woke up, she thought "I can do this!"

When she came back to see me, there was a young college girl holding me. Mommy sent thought waves her way — "Put down my dog!" And she did! So Mommy scooped me up and we waited for Jeannie (Scout and Harlan's mom) to come meet us at the pet store. There was another young woman who wanted to see me, but Mommy said, "No, I'm taking him." I let out a big sigh of relief.
Mommy doesn't like to talk about it in front of me, but since I was almost 5 months old, I was reduced in price. She calls me her Sample Sale dog. But we both know that we were just waiting to find each other. 

Mommy said from the very beginning, I walked on a leash like a pro. I was even very polite to both the cats, Mica and our dearly departed Maui. They kind of just ignored me. The second weekend I was home, Mommy had to go away so I had a pet-sitter who took me up to Rhinebeck for the weekend. I got to play with sticks and swim in a pool! (Okay, so I had to wear an Outward Hound lifejacket!) 

I settled into a routine quickly. During the week, my pet nanny Barbara would take me for nice long walks while Mommy was at work. She taught me to sit and behave like a gentleman. 

I always liked playing with my toys better than Mommy's toys. Although she did leave a pink alligator pump on the bedroom floor one day and I couldn't resist a little taste. (She wasn't happy, but fortunately, the shoe was repaired and is good as new!)

All in all, it's been a pretty terrific five years. We're going to celebrate this year (like every anniversary) with a big fireworks display all across the nation. This year, we've scheduled them for Friday night. Hope you'll enjoy them and think of how lucky we all are that we were adopted. And let's say a prayer that all the dogs and kitties in the world get forever homes as nice as ours as soon as possible!