Sunday, April 28, 2013

The Emperor's New Collar (Rilley's 12th Birthday)

Happy 12th Birthday Rilley!

Rilley and all his Birthday spoils!
"Keep your paws off!  They're mine!", he says.

Today marks Rilley's 12th Birthday; another monumental occasion given the incredible second chance he has been given. Well, as I've said before it's really the anniversary date of the day we brought him home from the doggie adoption agency.  That was 10 years ago when he was just two years old.  As usual, we took him out to one of the many pet stores and let him pick out something special, and as tradition dictates around our house, it would be a new collar.  He has received new collars for such things as birthdays, Christmas, trips that we've been on including one from the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games and most befitting, one from the University of Minnesota.

A selection of collar's past, including from the University of Minnesota and the
2010 Olympic Winter Games.

The store we chose this time was Petsmart on Argentia Road in Mississauga.  While we were shopping, the staff checked if there was anything we needed help in finding.  Sara had wanted to find him a collar that said something like "Happy Birthday" on it...while I knew the chances of finding that were slim to none...Sara insisted that we ask, after all we did get him a Christmas collar!  Of course, there were no birthday-specific collars to be found, but this tipped off the staff to his special day.  A little later, while I was still shopping, the staff member who we had spoken with came up with two toys and asked Rilley to pick one.  When he seemed to settle on the one in the picture above, she removed the tags, said "Happy Birthday" and gave it to him.  That was very nice and when I thanked her, she said it wasn't everyday that a pet comes in on their actual birthday!

Unfortunately, I was not paying enough attention to get the lady's name, I really would have liked to thank her properly here on the blog, or even have mentioned to their corporate office that they have some wonderful employees.

When we checked out, the cashier saw the toy and asked "Is this the Birthday Boy?"  It sure was.  He really is a very lucky dog.  Oh, and yes, he did get a new collar!

Happy Birthday Rilley!