Happy Birthday Scupper!

Today is Scupper's 1st Birthday! According to the shelter, he was born on March 12, and we rescued him on Mother's Day last year, so on May 12, we will have had the cutie pie one whole year.... and at that point in his short life, the next year will be vastly different, to say the least. However, while Speedy is still contained, we celebrate our first big baby... while I wouldn't say that I'd like to go through puppyhood anytime soon again (although I know newborn babyhood is coming near), it really has been a joy to watch him grow up. Rescuing a dog has been one of the great things we feel like we've done, and he's added infinite joy to our life over the past year, even if a little frustration and heartache as well.

He was a little over 10 pounds and 8 weeks old when we picked him up and now he's almost 50 pounds and still full of boundless energy. Last night he ripped off the fuzzy covers and chewed through two tennis balls in excitement. If I only had his intent with tennis balls for my dissertation... He likes apples, broccoli, carrots and cauliflower, but doesn't like green beans or lettuce. He LOVES peanut butter and the occasional dropped potato chip. He knows sit, down, stay, come, paw (on both sides!), touch, and look (two agility commands), but he doesn't come when called at the dog park. He is the best greeter when you come home from a long day, and prefers his nightly bowl of dog food with an Omega-3 fish oil capsule squirted on it. (it makes his coat really shiny and helps with dry skin). He gets the occasional stuffed animal from the thrift store, and we take bets on how long until he finds a way into the stuffing and rips its face off. his best time is 6 minutes. ;)

I have to say, we've been pretty lucky - and although I know that puppies have no problem being adopted at shelters, we'd like to think that we were a pretty good family for him to get. It was all about those big brown eyes. They pierced us to the core and we couldn't say no.