Dear Readers,

First, I want to wish a Happy National Dog Day to all my fellow doggos! NDD was established twenty years ago to celebrate all the love and joy we bring to our human companions. Cheers!

Also, I want to tell you that I am celebrating my tenth birthday tomorrow! Here I am in my pretty-in-pink outfit sitting on a rock in our back yard. Cheers!

I know that some of you are amazed that I’m still standing. And although I have to admit that I’ve learned to “appreciate” Momma, it has sometimes been a wild and embarrassing ride. As proof, I’m going to share with you a tail that I have heretofore not been allowed to tell.

One time when I was very young, Momma took me to the vet in Florida because she thought I had accidentally swallowed part of a bully stick. Her evidence? My bully stick was missing and I had a bump on my butt. She had surmised, in typical Momma fashion, that the bully stick was now lodged in my butt and that’s why I hadn’t gone poop in a day or so. The vet, incredulous, explained that the bump was my tailbone. Whoops. That time we didn’t even make it to the exam room. “Well, at least we saved some money,” Momma said fake-cheerfully as she placed me in my car-seat.

All I can woof is, I will forgive Momma for everything if she will just book me a ticket on BARKAir for my birthday. And as a bonus to her, I promise to pick her as my human companion. And I won’t even make her sit under the seat. I’ve already put a bug in CoCoa’s ear (figuratively woofing, of course) that we should go together and she can bring her momma, Rachel, for a companion. All I can woof is Bone Voyage!

Lina, Living my best life!

WOOFDA!

Outtake: Exhausted from my tenth birthday photo shoot. You can see three or four of my remaining teeth.