It’s been entirely too long since I updated the blog, and I think a lot of that was a function of Shadow doing so well I didn’t want to jinx it.  I have a large update to make though, and I’m actually going to do it in parts because I want to keep the happy stuff untouched by the not so happy stuff we’ve experienced this week.

So after the addition of the Phenobarbital in August and the spay in September, Shadow had been doing amazingly well.  We’ve hit all kinds of milestones and experienced a bunch of “firsts” for her.  In late September she got to go on her first hike, and she adored it.  She did super well too.  We’ve now had several dog park trips, and she’s a hoot to watch at the park.  She mostly follows Ghost around like a true little sibling.  We can just imagine her saying “hey guys, wait for me!” as she tries to keep up with a pack of older dogs 😛  She’s also come to school with me several times to help reduce my students’ anxiety on test days.  She loves hanging out around with the mids, she’s such a little social butterfly.

So amongst all the milestones and whatnot, we hit one this past weekend that we were afraid we’d never see.  Shadow turned one on March 1st, and we threw one hell of a doggy birthday party.  Yes, I threw a birthday party for my dog.  Feel free to judge, I don’t care 😉  We had a crazy group of dogs and people, including several of Shadow’s litter mates, her mom, her foster mom who is the reason she is alive, and several of the vets and vet techs who have worked so hard to keep her healthy over the past several months.  She even had a little friend come down from New York City who also turned one on the first.  It was a lot of fun, and Shadow loved all the goodies she was spoiled with.  Our house is now a sea of stuffed toys in all different states of evisceration 😛