bear day

Bear turned 8 years old a few days ago.  Eight.  I don’t know why, but eight seems a lot older than seven to me, and I’m trying not to freak out about the idea of my boy getting old.  It’s probably not helping that he’s getting a little stiff and is likely going to have to start arthritis meds soon.  I keep telling him that he’s not allowed to get old on me.

I have a tradition with the dogs for their birthdays (well, technically not Birdie since she hasn’t had a birthday yet – but it will continue with her).  I don’t do anything over the top or too too crazy.  I just make one day all about the birthday pup… solo outing, special treat, etc.  For Bear’s birthday this year, I took him out on a little adventure – just me and him.  We went hiking, and as usual, I brought my camera along.  [See the most recent Belle Day here.]

When I know there’s nobody else around, I’ll drop the leash a bit so he can explore and I can get some shots of him.  He’ll trot off a bit….

realize he no longer hears my footsteps behind him…

and come trotting right back to me.

It means that I get a lot of butt shots of my boy when we’re out and about.  Oh well – at least it’s a cute butt.  He can and will begrudgingly hold a stay (for a little while, at least), but since it was his day, I didn’t make him.

More Bear butt.

Then we came home and took a glamour/mug shot. Bear can look so… bored? in photos, but while he is on the more serious side (he takes his job as protector very seriously), he’s really a sweet, friendly, happy boy with occasional goofy moments.  You can most often find him curled up on the sofa, with this head resting against my leg, or sighly deeply over the Birdie’s ridiculous puppy antics.

After his glamour/mug shot, we moved out to the front porch, where Bear did what he does. Hanging out, but keeping a watchful eye.

He has the best doggy lips…

even if they do sometimes get caught a bit.

Then he dozed a bit when he figured out the coast is clear and I had no treats on me.

Usually on Bear Day, he gets a special treat from Lucky Dog or the like, but since everybody in the house over 40 pounds is on a diet this year, we opted for a new antler.  First he had to check on Belle watching from the door, and then to survey the rest of the neighborhood…

Before settling down to pose with his new treat.

Of course, Birdie has since stolen the antler.  Oh well – if it keeps her occupied, it’s probably an even more precious gift to him.  Happy birthday to (my) world’s greatest dog!