Happy Birthday Denali!

Happy 6th Birthday "Munkey"

Since Denali was very little, Moe has called her Munkey. She's always been more fun than a barrel of 'em! From day one, we knew this girl was a little character. She's beautiful, smart, funny, fearless...everything that a spunky Cardigan Welsh Corgi girl should be!

Today, on her 6th Birthday, we take a stroll back through the years and take a moment to again thank Carolyn for bringing this beautiful girl into our lives, at a time when we least expected to take a puppy, but most needed one!

These first pictures are some of my all-time favorites. On their First Birthday three of the SUV-Truck Litter siblings got together to celebrate. From the left, Max, Denali and Dakota.

Denali, washing Max's ear after a long day full of play!

Jumping ahead to her 6th Birthday - today! Now Denali has a new little brother, Sage. Here, he's washing her face so she looks pretty on her birthday!

Denali is one of the most beautiful girls!

From the beginning Carolyn suspected that Denali was a fluffy...got that right! As it happens, we weren't concerned with "show quality," and absolutely love her fluff coat. It just enhances her beauty!

This girl has always loved her toys. She can never have too many.

Denali is always happy, often smiling.

And even more often, making funny faces!

A common sight during the mid-morning nap time!

One thing about this litter...they all have tongues that don't really fit in their mouths...so they just let them hang out! She does this all the time when she sleeps.

Denali often goes out with her Dad on adventures. (She is his favorite - and she knows it!) Sometimes those adventures (muddy park) mean that she comes home really needing a bath!

Sharing the house with our Pembroke Princess, Elbee.  Elbee has become Denali's BFF, as well as a member of her "pack." From the time she was a teenager, Denali wanted Alpha status. That didn't happen with Bart (a true Alpha) around. But Elbee allowed Denali to adopt her anyway.

 

OK, so sometimes she has to put up with silly things her people do!

Another birthday, another toy!

As she got older, she did take on the role of female pack leader. She keeps an eye on things for us.

Funny dog pictures with her dad.

Denali owes just about everything she knows to the lessons learned from Bart. With incredible tolerance he raised her from a puppy.  She looked up to him, modeled him and respected him. She was fortunate to have had such a wonderful pack leader.

Another birthday, another toy!

Now we're seeing Denali in her younger years! She was 4 months old here.

When they were little, Denali and Dakota, her litter brother, had a play date. Thanks to Dakota's mom, Traci, we have some great photos!

We thought that we might be able to leave Denali (age 14 weeks) in a covered x-pen on our deck for a few hours. We got her a big chunk of sod to use as a toilet. Silly people...sod is for chewing! Needless to say, it was a failed experiment. Never one to miss out on anything, Denali refused to stop barking when confined in the pen. To this day, that's still the case. She HAS to be where the action is!

Moe took this series of photos of our new puppy when she was 14 weeks old. They're some of our favorites.

She was a gorgeous puppy!

Age 12 weeks. 

This was the day we went to Oregon to pick up our new girl. 

Here she is in Carolyn's backyard. As you can see, it was time to tape her ears. She went home wearing her Princess Crown!

Out of the six puppies, this was the one that had to have the Kong toy. She was also the puppy that ran underneath the deck, leading all of her siblings to a place where we couldn't get them. We thought we were ready to leave...not until Denali was ready to come out from her new deck/cave!

At 12 weeks of age Denali fit nicely in my two hands. She was such a cute little fur ball, but full of it even then! Carolyn gave the puppies all a plastic bottle to play with. Needless to say, they were thrilled. At a point the bottle was thrown into the air. Denali caught it and raced off with four of her littermates in hot pursuit. The fifth one, 'Kota, happily stayed behind to catch the paper label that had fluttered off of the bottle and wafted to the ground. He grabbed the label in delight and started to munch on it. Even then, their personalities were already apparent!

Today, we celebrate the sixth anniversary of the birth of the "SUV and Truck" litter! Happy Birthday to all six of you! Thank you Baha and Trooper...you did Good!

You're a wonderful girl Denali. 

We love you very much!