Celebrating Annie's 1st birthday with 25 darling black and white vintage dog photos

This past Wednesday, the 15th, marked Annie, our darling American Bullador’s first birthday. Small enough to sleep on our chests and be cradled in our hands when we first brought her home at the age of eight weeks, she's been with us now for ten of the twelve months of her young life and has impacted ours in countless ways over that time.

Incredibly smart, unendingly energetic, extremely destructive, as kindhearted as any animal who has ever lived, an amazing watchdog, and strong willed as the day is long, Annie is both a big handful and an incredible angel. Though she is very much still a puppy in certain ways, we're starting to see her mature more in recent weeks and hope that by this time next year, she'll be much closer to reaching her adult temperament and way of behaving (guided, of course, by our ongoing training, lots of exercise and affection).

Annie was the first dog either my husband or myself, whether in our years together or before we meet, ever had as an adult and raising her has certainly been an incredibly eye-opening experience. We've learned an encyclopedic amount about dog rearing and training over that the past ten months and while we didn't always get things 100% right (off the bat at least) with Annie, few new parents (be they of pets or human babies) can say that they did the first time around. Just as Annie has grown and matured, so too have we and though there have been moments since we brought Annie home when she frazzled my nerves to the point of tears, there have been countless more where she nearly made me cry from happiness, love and pride.

She is an awesome, inspiring, sweetheart of a dog and I feel honoured and blessed that we get to share our lives with her. In celebration of her first birthday (for which she was showered with an abundance of her favourite dog treats and a Kong filled with peanut butter, one of her all time favourite foods, as well as a gorgeous new pink leash that we bought her at the Home Hardware in Osoyoss last month), Annie and I have rounded up an endearingly sweet array of 25 black and white vintage real world photos of precious puppies and darling dogs, all of which are so cute and easy to relate to that they more than speak - or would that be bark - for themselves. :)

{To learn more about a specific image, please click on it to be taken to its respective source.}

Gilda Radner once said, "I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive", a sentiment which Annie has brought to light in my life every day that we've had her.

Yes, she may be a handful and a half sometimes, but she is also inspiringly upbeat, happy-go-lucky, and caring (she has an uncanny ability to sense, if we're out in public around other people, and then make a beeline for anyone who has mental, emotional or physical special needs, or seems to really be in need of some companionship, and to then shower them with kisses and affection - it's humblingly beautiful to see, especially since we've never trained her to do so, it's simply something she's inherently knows to do on her own.

Annie is 60+ pounds of pure love wrapped in a silken black and white coat, always ready to bestow an unending amount of her time and affection on you. She derives joy for the littlest things, forgives and forgets in mere minutes, never sweats the small stuff, and is powerful reminder of how we should each strive to exist as often as possible. She is our baby, our dearest canine friend, and a truly phenomenal one year old dog that we love every bit as much as she adores us.