Happy Birthday Sweet Finn

Last Thursday we celebrated beautiful Finn's 9th birthday.

We had a wonderful celebration filled with cake, presents, laughter, bubbles and so much love.

Our Finn is a different kind a girl, she's nothing like Harley was and with that some people think we don't treat Finn as fair. When you are a owner of a large breed dog, especially an excessive shedding large dog...you tend learn pretty quickly when and where your dog fits in the family. You see with Harley I had 2 small children who I was very busy with, and I will never forget our breeder saying to us.."Always remember he is a dog, keep him independent when away from the family". Basically her advice was to crate train him, and be sure to have moments throughout the day when he is alone and can have quiet time away from the craziness of busy family life.

She said its important for them to have time to themselves and it teaches them independence, it also gives the owners some time to unwind, regroup and recharge your energy so you don't become overwhelmed and frustrated possibly taking it out on your dog.

So, with that we did take her advice and Harley was introduced to a crate and absolutely loved it. He at times would go in there by himself, he eventually started to remove himself from the family. Even though he'd leave the room and maybe sleep in a different one, he'd always come in the living room and check on us. He'd pop in, look around take count of everyone and then go back to his crate. Now that wasn't ALL the time, he did love to lie on the floor and let the kids tackle him, or use him as a pillow while they watched TV.

Absolutely best dog ever, in his own Harley way. When we got Finn, our kids were a bit older and so was Harley. With the kids being older there wasn't as much need to have Finn take some quiet time away from the family. She did follow Harley's lead initially, but as she got older her own identity formed.

We learned our mistake over the course of a few years and by then it was too late to incorporate new rules for Finn, not to mention we had Oliver..and that changed the game plan for all dogs that will/did follow him.

So, we did start to notice over some time that Finn became a very "needy, attached" kind of dog. We never taught her to take time to herself, we always allowed her free roam of the house no rules kinda girl. Mostly because out of all the dogs we've owned she is by far the smartest and most emotional one we've had.

She is incredibly sensitive, and seems to have terrible fear of separation. This has caused the biggest problem...especially after Harley passed away.

Basically when owning a large dog, in a busy house there should be a time and place for your dog to be present and Finn doesn't have that ability. It's not her fault, its ours....she is spoiled. Never learning to be alone, or away from the family. We are forever telling her to go in your bed Finn, go to the front of the house (especially when we have company). Its not that we don't want her around all the time, its just there is a time and place for her. Don't get me wrong, Finn and Harley are very important members of our family and we treat them all the same. But big dogs don't need to be stuck to you every hour of the day and it is very important that they learn that.

Harley would be put in his cage when the kids were little and we'd have play dates, eventually we'd let him out and he could visit with family and friends. We didn't do that with Finn and we are paying the price today. She is a whiner, crier,suck and complainer..lol...but we love her to death, and we know she is her own something sort of special.

So on her birthday we celebrated her and all her quirkiness, she's a lover, protector and oh so smart. She is also the most emotional, bitchy at times, opinionated dog we've ever owned. I am serious when I say that, she fights you to the death with the strongest sense of entitlement we've ever witnessed. It scares me sometimes~

Even though it may not seem like Finn gets the same treatment as the little ones, I am here to inform you Finn is just as much a 6 pound Yorkie as Ella or Ollie. I am not exaggerating when I tell you this. When Miss Finn is pushing her way through demanding our attention,  its not that we don't want her there.  It truly is because she hasn't left our side all day...and we need our space, even just for a little while.  There is no shame in that,  its actually healthy for her, us and whoever is visiting.

                      (Puppies opening up the Barkbox)

 

To be honest its not just her we wish we'd have taught to be independent its the little ones too. I really wish I could do a few things over with, and I would have taught the little ones how to be independent and not so reliant on us. We have ALOT of love going on over here in the Martz house, I'm just here to tell you Finn certainly isn't missing out on it either.

        (Finn gets first pick from the Barkbox)

Ella opening up her little gift~

Finn catching bubbles~

 

Ella bean being cute, playing with Kailey and the bubbles~

I always go all out for Finn's birthday cake, its the one thing I have always done for her and just for her~

Here's the birthday girl in all her glory, she is just the prettiest girl in the world~

Finn and Ella checking out the cake and candles, the cake is suppose to be a wood barrel filled with water and bubbles with little ducks (candles) swimming in the water.

Finn got some pretty awesome gifts, lots of pool toys that float. I can't even begin to explain how obsessed she is over the pool and swimming. Its her thing....she lives, breaths and loves to swim...hence the name "Finn"~

Enjoying her cake~

The other two savages snuggling in with Finn's new teddy bear, just happens to look just like her~

 

Well my lovelies, I could go on and on about Finn and how wonderful she is. She is so loved, so spoiled and so funny. We love her to bits, she has brought a lot of love into this house. Finn is famous for loving each of us equally, but each of us have a role in her life. She is by far the smartest dog we've had. She is getting old..in her tenth year. We are seeing her age and it can be sad. She is aging much faster than Harley and we do believe its because she had a fuller life, she came to us at a time when we had more time for her. We walked her more, she swam a lot and we did beach days more with her than any other pup we've had. Although she can be some annoying, she understands our demands and eventually backs off to give us our space. We love her, Happy birthday sweet Finn~