Birthday Message to my Dog

Today my sweet little dog, Eco, turns 5 years old. I just can't believe how quickly the time has gone by.

Eco at 7 weeks

Eco at 3 months old

I'm sure my family would remind me that the first two years seemed long since she was still in training. And the first year took a while - especially with all those sharp pointy baby teeth. But she has blossomed into the sweetest companion and friend.

Eco at two years old

The most common words I hear people say to describe her is  "sweet" and "puppy". Many can't believe that she is five years old. Actually I can't believe she's 5 either - where did the last 3 years go? Besides daily walks and play sessions, a few trips to the vet, several swims in the summer time, monthly baths and a multitude of tricks.

Eco can: sit up and beg, wave, roll over, play day, bark, whisper, spin, twirl, walk backwards, cross her legs. She knows the names of her toys and can retrieve them on command placing them in my hand. She can follow hand signals from a distance and can do a series of tricks before getting her reward. She doesn't bark when someone knocks on the door and she doesn't steal food in the kitchen.

In fact, the other day a piece of bread was sitting on a plastic cutting board which was sitting on top of the toaster. The cutting board slipped off the toaster landing on the counter but the piece of bread rocketed to the floor. Eco walked in the room and discovered it first but sat down and looked at it until someone came in the room and told her she could eat it. Granted there was small puddle of drool by her feet, but she did not gobble up the bread. I wish she'd do the same for cat poop outside - but she can't - which makes her almost perfect, but not quite. Just the way a dog should be, otherwise they wouldn't be able to give us our daily chuckle.

Thanks for being so sweet and so soft and for making me laugh everyday Eco. And Happy Birthday to you!
(and now the voice of my husband is in my head, mocking me, saying "she can't read!")\

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Wanna know about her name? Back in 2009, my dog Jazz had  just died after a 5 month battle with cancer. Our funds were depleted from the cost of cancer treatment. I wasn't sure  how long it would be before I could get another dog. And then we received a rebate for our Toyota Yaris - an Eco/Environmental Levy because it was an efficient vehicle. The cost of the cheque was the exact amount we needed for our puppy! And that's how Eco came to be a part of our daily life.