One year ago, Simba graced the planet with his arrival. At this time, he looked more like a little munchkin but who aren’t at their best at a few weeks? Ten weeks on, he immediately shot through our defences (so the song goes…) and melted our hearts as we arrived at the breeders. On the long ride home, he impressed us by being able to hold onto his urges until we arrived home. He has been the quickest to house train.

His temperament has been nothing but instrumental. Traits like playful, witty, cheeky, inquisitive, gentle, stubborn, approachable, adorable, intelligent, goose, open, lovely, stud, and nurturing have all been used to describe him. Some people have indicated that all of these qualities were inherited and passed down the lead from his master… Ok in this case “some” = “me” but I’ll continue to hold onto that thought thank you.

On his first night with us, he discovered our clean stash of rolled up socks and to this day, he will venture over there, pull out one and leave it next to my bed to indicate that it is walk time. While we could still lift him up and with a name like his, we obviously “had to” present him to the pride in a similar way as found in the Lion King.

He is definitely a retriever and at most opportunities will be found with something completely unassuming in his mouth, such examples like sticks, balls, toys, sandles, branches, rope, thorn bushes, bricks, pots, parts of the wall from the hall, garden dividers. If you could take only one thing from this post, I’d suggest to minimise their intake of stringy things like rope cause it eventually makes its way to the other end and string being string, they may need some assistance when that happens. Simba loves ropes, me not so much.

From the earliest, he has changed our behaviours. No matter how bad your day has been, he lifts up your mood and always with joyful wagging, sloppy kisses, playful tugs and constant reminders to get get out and walk. And weather is no barrier, the cold negative temperatures, the darkness of night, or the amount of drenching, he’ll still get you to go. And you do, you do it for him cause it’s worth it.

Here’s a short summary of his achievements:

House trained at around 13 weeks.

Sorry ladies, he has been neutered at 6 months.

Swam for the first time at Point Hut Crossing at around 7 months.

Befriended many but best of all a German Shepherd named Kaddie at obedience trainning.

Attained beginner’s obedience at 8 months (first go).

Scared us with a swollen right eye which healed up and has been ok since.

Encountered and chased after his first kangaroo around Simpsons Hill on 27 July. He ignored his surroundings and focused wholly on the strange bouncing animal, despite all the yelling I made. So yes I lost him but found him coming back at the top of the hill short of breath.

Attained intermediate obedience on 28 July – close to 12 months (first go, technically we didn’t attempt the exam at 10 months. Kaddie’s owner Sue decided to stay in the same class as Simba despite them advancing upwards!)

So to celebrate his first year, we got him a mega big bone and gave it to him bright eyes and all. Lucky for us, the butchers cut it in half so he wouldn’t break any of his teeth getting to the marrow. I wonder if he’ll still be munching on it when I get home tonight.

Thanks for the first twelve months – looking forward to a long lasting friendship.