What do pets have to do with date nights?
Who isn’t really connected with their pet? Dog, cat, bird, iguana, fish (really?), spider (????), hamster, guinea pig, chicken (I LOVE chickens! they purr!), and everything I have left out, who doesn’t love their pet -and who wouldn’t go a long way to be sure their pets’ lives are full of love, fun, joy and comfort? And what does this have to do with sizzle not fizzle and romance? Good question!
Today as I am writing this, it is our darling puppy’s first birthday! Lovely (yes, that is her name, and we can fill you in on the story another time) just turned one; that is seven in dog years!! So how can we combine a celebration of her birthday and the chance to spend some rea quality time with just me and Kevin? Well, here’s what we did! It might sound kinda corny, but that’s ok.
Today I didn’t JUMP out of bed at 6:30 to take Lovely for a walk for two very good reasons.
It is a whopping -23C (-3F) with a light breeze and snowing lightly BRRRRR
Our darling girl showed absolutely no sign of wanting me to jump out of bed and take her for her morning walk. How rude. So instead, I leaned over, gave her a scratch, wished her a happy birthday and covered her up with my down blanket as it was remarkably cool in the trailer. She snuggled right in!
This change of routine meant some cuddle time for us (we were both awake but warm and cozy in bed) while Lovely enjoyed a sleep in too.
Remember to take advantage of a surprise opportunity!
When we finally —and reluctantly— got out of our personal cozy haven, we found the windows were still frozen on the inside. I am sensing a theme here. So did I do anything about it? Of course I did! I delegated to Kevin! He almost volunteered on his own accord, but needed a little nudge to take care of the inside maintenance while I did finally take her out for a birthday morning walk. It was still so cold that very soon after we got outside Lovely was lifting her paws out of the snow (I translate that to “Mama I don’t like this, my feet are cold!”), so we went back home to the trailer.
Treats for pets on their birthdays or other important dates don't have to always translate into food. While I’m sure that would have been welcomed (and don’t worry, she still got PLENTY of treats), once we warmed up a bit later in the afternoon I put Lovely in her snowshoes and a warm coat and we went on a long snowshoe. This translated as “WOW Mama, this is SO much fun!”.
Have you ever noticed a dog experiencing true and pure JOY - running, smiling, bounding along- just loving their life? It’s contagious! We smiled the whole time and gave her encouraging scruffles when she bounded back to us to say what a great time she was having! As it turned out, her good time was contagious! Afterwards we turned back and migrated back to our little hobbit trailer to warm up again.
As the afternoon slid into the early evening, we went to visit our friends in the Crystal Palace, a magical snow formation that was built out of love, snow, and maybe a few dancing fairylights! A lovely visit, but as the temperature dropped, so did our motiviation to linger outside. Time to go back for more cuddles for Lovely for us in our cozy trailer, followed by an amazing dinner and early to bed!
So, for Lovely, she spent her birthday, all day, with us. Normally she spends a few hours alone as we go skiing in the mornings. But for her birthday, Kevin and I hung out with her and each other, which made it a special day for us too!!