While celebrating a dog’s birthday is quite common, that date isn’t so clear for a rescue pup. Personally, the “birth date” listed on my dog’s adoption papers is simply the day she was brought to the shelter.
I choose to celebrate my pup’s “adoptiversary,” or the anniversary of the day she joined her furever home. Celebrating an adoptiversary is an awesome way to reminisce on the day you completely changed an animal’s life for the better. You also have an excuse to spoil spoil spoil your baby.
I recently celebrated my dog Ridley’s one year adoptiversary. It wasn’t super elaborate and I didn’t plan ahead, but she definitely got special treatment and we had a lot of fun! Here are some guidelines on how you can celebrate your furbaby’s special day!
Give your dog ALL OF THE LOVE
Make sure to hug them and tell them you love them every 5 minutes while simultaneously telling them Happy Adoptiversary! Tell them how awesome they are and list the positive effects they have had on your life in the past year. Throw toys. Give treats. Lay on the floor with them. If they are not annoyed with you or if they’re not refusing your hugs, then you’re doing it wrong.
Make a yummy, dog-safe adoptiversary treat
You can go all out with a bone-shaped cake covered in special dog-friendly frosting…or you can do like I did and use common ingredients to make simple pupcakes. Smear on some peanut butter, top it with a treat, and you’re all set!
Let your dog lick the spoon…or if you’re my dog, try to eat it.
Annoy them with an adoptiversary photoshoot
First, get them camera-ready! Maybe you bought an actual birthday outfit…maybe they have a fancy collar or a signature bandana…or maybe they want to go au natural. Either way they’re your baby and they look perfect no matter what.
Give them an early taste of their special treat. Unless you already did because the guilt of making them wait is too strong.
Just remember to breathe
Gracefully maneuver your obviously well-behaved dog into the perfect position for photos. Then, fix them because they’ve already moved. Once they are set, be ready to take 76 photos of your dog looking adorable.
This will probably go more like: “NO NOT YET”, “NO DON’T LICK THE CAMERA”, “JUST SIT AND STARE AT THAT TREAT FOR 5 SECONDS…PLEASE”, “AWWWW YOU’RE SO CUTE”, “…SHIT. I MISSED IT”.
At some point, you’ll notice a missing pupcake that probably disappeared when you turned away for 5 seconds. Trust me, it will happen.
Eventually, you’ll give up on getting that perfect adoptiversary picture and let your dog go nuts. It’s okay because it’s their day.
and…MORE LOVE
Lastly, give your dog even more love to thank them for positively changing your life 1 year (or more!) ago. Hugs and kisses and leftover pupcakes are a good start to this.
Remember, this is the anniversary of the day their life changed forever. Whether it’s been one year or five, you have made all the difference in your dog’s life. An adoptiversary marks love. It marks hope. It marks a second chance (or a third or even a fifth).
You both deserve to celebrate
For me, this one year adoptiversary of my dog Ridley marks progress. Sometimes I think she’s made a bigger impact on my life than I have on hers. Since she’s been by my side, the strength of my dear friend “anxiety” has weakened. I have more to laugh at and more reasons to smile. She has stolen my heart and I still can’t believe how lucky I am to have found her a year ago.
☆☆︎︎☆☆︎☆☆︎☆☆︎☆☆︎☆☆