ten years ago today...

...a litter of three black and white border collie puppies was born.  At the time I had just started looking for a puppy to surprise Chris with, since Jadzia had turned out so bonded to me even though she was supposed to be his dog.  Little did I know what I was about to find, and the amazing treasure I would decide to bring home.

This is the first picture of Curzon that I have, taken when he was two weeks old.  It's an actual physical print and is one of two that the breeder sent me when I inquired about the puppies when they were about five weeks old.  His eyes aren't even open yet in this photo, we didn't know he existed or that he would be ours when it was taken, and all I can see when I look at this picture is the promise within those fat little puppy legs.  Curzon more than lived up to that promise, and he set a high bar that all dogs we have in the future will have to work hard to meet.

Last weekend was the Auburn tournament, the one where he debuted at 1 year 2 days of age in 2004, and the one where he should have earned his Iron Dog title and award this year.  Several other dogs who debuted with him nine years ago got their titles on Saturday and Sunday, with one more planned for next month.  My friends put the memory pin on their black lab as he ran his retirement and Iron Dog races, so that Curzon got to share that run in some small way, and that was incredibly lovely of them.

Today is Curzon's birthday.  Happy birthday, my beautiful boyo, and I hope you know that I still love you and miss you and I hope that you are happy and free from pain, wherever you are.