Happy Birthday Yogi!

So the big day has finally arrived, Yogi is two years old, that is 14 doggy years, and he surely is a rowdy teenager. As to can see to celebrate the day he is wearing his festive green bandanna. He got various presents, an old electric toothbrush (if you want to entertain your dog, give him one of these), a bone, a cows ear and an inoculation shot. Also, as a special birthday privilege he is allowed look out the upstairs front window and bark at passers by.



Yogi has had an eventful life, he was born in Clonroche, Co. Wexford, to a patterdale terrier, his father is unknown. His mother had the mange and canker which she passed on to her pups. Yogi was the only one of his litter to survive.

At eight weeks of age he was acquired by a man called Spud. He was on the run from the law at the time and his partner had a new baby so poor Yogi was left on his own in a greyhound trailer for a few weeks. Spud has since gone to prison and is now serving a two year stretch, but I'll always love Spud because he found and rescued Yogi. I think this period in the trailer traumatized Yogi. To this day he hates trailers.

Anyway, my friend Sarah saw Yogi in his sorry state, in a trailer on his own suffering from mange and canker and she took him over and nursed him back to health. She gave him his name. Around this time I first met Yogi. I have seen a few puppies in my time but must say none were as bedraggled or as friendly as Yogi.

So time passed and Sarah taught Yogi the basics, like sit, stay and lie down and she looked after him. But he was very rowdy indeed. So when he was six months old he was neutered. Sarah thought this would quieten him down but it didn't. I realized that a lot of the problem was that he wasn't getting out for many walks. Like me Sarah lives in a house in town with only a very small garden.

I started taking Yogi for walks and minding him when Sarah was away. Eventually on 18th May 2008 Sarah asked me if I wanted to take Yogi. I said I would as long as she never asked for him back. So joy of joys, I got my first ever dog!





I used to spoil him rotten, walking him miles, the best of food. He was still rowdy. In a moment of madness I thought getting another dog would quiet him down. Oh dear, that was a mistake, I got Viola who was a lovely bitch puppy. Thing was instead of one rowdy dog I now had two. My house was getting destroyed and my neighbors complained about their barking (even though Viola was relatively quiet). Viola had to go, but I found her a good home.

Anyway, since then Yogi has calmed down a lot, I read a lot about how to care for and train dogs. I take the responsibility of dog ownership very seriously. Yogi is my best friend and I want him to be happy and healthy.

Happy birthday Yogi.