Mav's and Chester's Birthday Celebration

Sebastian and Rummy, meeting for the first time. Rummy just stood still so that Sebastian could figure out if he could carry Rummy up.

We were invited to Maverick and Chester's joint birthday celebration in Bothell on Halloween Saturday. It was really great fun, because we had a private party of around 20 dogs and their owners. The humans made dog birthday cakes and treats for us to eat. We had a lot of fun, affection, and games.

Isabella with Rummy

She wore a very interesting hat and her baby brother Sebastian liked Rummy so much, he wanted to carry him like a baby, but Rummy was already too big to be carried like a baby. Isabella did manage to carry Rummy like a baby and he was being so good. He wasn't afraid of her in the odd hat, and he wasn't overwhelmed by all the giant grown up dogs.

Debbie and Isabella giving affection to Rummy since he was calm and well behaved. What a cute little puppy, everyone said.

Karla and Megen, giving love to Chester the birthday boy (in the red jacket) and Monty, Barley and me on the left.

Megen giving love to Rummy. And Rummy not jumping up at her.

We are hard at work with training Rummy not to jump up to people to get love and affection. So far, we've been quite consistent with it, but he still tends to jump up at strangers in Petco or Home Depot and we are still working on Rummy not to jump.

In a sea of adult dogs

Me on the left in a pretty purplish scarf, and Rummy wearing a blue scarf.

Rummy doing a very obvious play bow to Mavy, the other birthday boy. Mavy just turned 1. Rummy was the youngest puppy at the party, and he was naturally drawn to Mavy because he could probably smell that Mavy was closest to his age. The two of them played chase, ball chasing, tag and were just running around like two silly puppies.

Chester the big birthday boy eating his slush from a bowl, and Maggie looking over. Every dog gave Chester his space and respected him because he was one of the oldest dogs there. We were all very glad and honored to be invited to his birthday party. Chester is a very special Airedale. He is so calm, wise and well behaved, he sets a really good role model for us younger dogs to follow.

Rummy being silly and pulling on my scarf, while Gromit sniffs my behind. This behavior is typical of Rummy, he just gets himself into mischievous acts and gets naughty, but I just let him be. After a while, he loses interest and goes off to find himself in more trouble.

Rummy watches and learns, as Gromit and I make our friendly introductions in our canine "meet and greet". Notice how Gromit's body is perpendicular to mine and how our eyes are not head-on staring into each other. We give a sideways glance and do not stare into each other's eyes in a confrontational meeting gesture. Our sideways approach to saying hi is polite and good doggie manners.

Gromit and I do know each other already, but this is just how two adult Airedales meet. And Rummy learns by watching.

Gromit and Rummy help Chester finish off his gooey food which he couldn't finish.

"Ha Ha Ha" says Rummy to Gromit. "You're not getting this..." and he carries the bowl away.

A sea of canine bodies.

Canine bodies mixed with human bodies. So many dogs...

Megen and Rummy, sharing a moment of love and laughter, as Rummy tries to swallow his share of dog birthday cake.

I look on as my baby brother tries to finish his birthday cake

Is that my share of the dog birthday cake?

Later on, Sebastian and Rummy were playing with the balloons together.

That's me in the right hand side corner of the photo.

I'm not keen on balloons because they burst and I hate that. I was keeping a close eye on Rummy, and making sure he doesn't get hurt by those balloons, but my baby brother doesn't seem to share my fear of balloons. He is one brave boy. We got to take the balloons home with us.

Rummy was very happy to have the balloons to play with when we got home. Mum was also glad he could get socialized and exposed to this new thing - balloons.

That's me and the dreaded balloons. Mum said I had to face my fears, so I did.

Rummy dragged and carried the balloons all around the house. He seemed to really enjoy himself and was having a ball of a time. When his teeth burst the balloons, he wasn't even scared for a moment, he didn't even flinch. He really is a brave dog.

Even when it came time to eat dinner, he was still carrying his silly balloons with him to the kitchen. He took them with him everywhere he went. But since he had them near the food, I wouldn't go close to eat dinner.

Rummy very pleased with himself and the balloons.

After a hectic day of roaming in Chinatown, and 2 hours of intense doggie party and playtime, we were beat.

Rummy and I, chilling out on the dedicated canine sofa

Mum placed the last remaining balloon right in front of me

I was not allowed to leave my "down" and I stayed there, confronting my big fear of balloons.

As you can probably tell, I didn't really want to have anything to do with it, I looked away, but at the same time, I was looking at it, and dealing with it. The balloon must have been leaking, because it was shrinking right before my eyes.

Rummy came and chewed on the last remaining balloon. It didn't burst. It just got wheezed out of air, and it shrank. This lesson taught me that not all balloons were bad, and the bursting didn't hurt me either. Rummy seemed to be having so much fun with it, perhaps I was missing out on something. I shall try not to be frightened of balloons in future.

Hugs,
Kimi