Happy Birthday Mal, one year old today

My dog. My friend. My companion. Mal. What a rock star this chap is and today is his first birthday. In the few months he has been with me he has won me over time and time again with his loving nature, fun spirit and his mischievous streak.

Puppies can be challenging. This one is no different. But lots and lots of smiles to go with it. My office chair lost some wheels. My neighbour’s Mum lost some slippers (he actually did a super stealth ninja move one morning into their house, sneaking in and stealing them from right under their noses…impressive) I had to buy my house keeper a new pair of shoes… and just this morning the roll of dustbin bags where far to neat and tidy for Mal… he had them the whole lot undone and blowing around the yard in pieces… oh joy.

So I wanted to treat this special animal today for being such an awesome chap. He got to chill out in bed this morning and have some fun there. Always super fun doing something you usually not supposed to 🙂 The blankets got tossed, the springs tested for bounciness and he generally ensured the bed had to made again from scratch.

For breakfast this morning he got a great big lamb bone from the roast to chew on today. Things where off to a good start as far Mr Mal was concerned!

Later we headed off for a nice long walk. There was almost nobody around so he got to spend most of the time off-lead and had an absolute ball. As I write this now he is passed out sleeping. Might raise his head for supper but then I think he’ll be back to sleep till tomorrow. He ran and ran and played and ran some more. What a jol he had. We then met Mum for a late lunch and we now chilling at home. Below pics from Mal’s day today followed by some from the past six months.

Here is my post I wrote when when he arrived after his trip from the Drakensberg.

So I won’t repeat that, I’ve just noted some highlights and funny moments of the past few months that made me smile when I went through my pics.

Such a special chap, you got to meet him to really appreciate his kind nature and joy for life.

We had to set some boundaries early on… seems the bed and couch where quite comfy and he took a liking to these early on!

Mal did not like the water one bit when he first got here and the sea was especially weird for him. He wanted nothing to do with it all… But he came round! Above a pic of Mal’s first swim in the sea 🙂 What an awesome surprise that was!

What I should have realised then was that once he’d tried it he loved it! And would not be kept out of the sea from that day onwards. A lesson hard learnt… One morning this past summer a group of us where doing our morning exercise routine. We’d finished up and where going for a swim after in the sea to cool down. Mal had been naughty! So as punishment he was to “stay” with the bag while we had a swim. So I tied him to my bag, my bag with my phone in it… mmm not so bright in hindsight. I ran off to join the chaps for a swim. Not a few seconds later Kian and Benj are roaring with laughter pointing behind me… I look back and to my horror (and the continued delight of my “friends”…) Mal is bounding down the sand dune at full tilt with my backpack bouncing along behind him! I start frantically trying to get to Mal before I gets to the water…. all to the still continuing delight of my dear friends… But alas!! It was not to be. Mal won the race. He and my phone went for their swim! Glad to say the phone survived so in the end all good and a story both Benj and Kian delight in telling… 😉

One of the truly special things about this dog is how much he loves kids. Well I think he loves attention and they give it to him in heaps so he laps it up and can’t get enough of them. There been some really special moments and a few of them I managed to snap a few pics of.

So finally here just a few more snaps from the past few months. Thanks for being such a cool dog Mal. Super star.