05 | February | 2014 | Bewitching Kitchen

Today Chief turns 15 years old! He was just a tiny, incredibly cute puppy when I got him, but his strong personality was already evident. Whenever I corrected him with a loud and firm “NO!” he would furiously bark back at me, much like a teenager challenging the orders of a parent. To celebrate such an important milestone in the life of our dear four-legged friend, let me share a few pictures.

This is perhaps my favorite shot of Chief ever! Before getting married to Phil, I lived in a small house, my backyard separated from the neighbor’s by a simple wire fence. My neighbor also had a dog, a female Springer Spaniel called Maria. Chief used to squeeze through the holes of that fence very easily to play with her. At some point, I traveled to attend a meeting, and left Chief with a friend. When I came back 10 days later, he had grown so much that passing through the holes was impossible! The photo captured well his expression of frustration faced with a reality he could not quite comprehend. 😉

He loved to eat his treats laying over the lawn. But you can more or less read his thoughts… “Why are you taking my picture? I am not sure I should allow it!“

All those treats gave him strong jaws! As an adult dog, he had no problem to deal with leftovers from a pulled pork. The bone ended up clean as a whistle… And, in case you are wondering about that bulky thing on his collar, it is a gadget he had to wear all the time to prevent him from digging under the solid wood fence in our home in Oklahoma. Quite a digger!

He loved playing with the hose… Still does, but his jumping days are over…

And loved playing in mud almost as much. This particular photo was taken 45 minutes after a bath, and almost caused me to go into cardiac arrest.

Always able to find the best spot in any room…

He loved his buddy Pits, and we know his life has never been quite the same ever since we had to say goodbye to our beloved dalmatian. Pits had the patience of a saint. Seriously.