Happy 2nd Gotcha Day, Kona!

This past week was full of celebration! It was not only my birthday, but more importantly, it was also Kona’s Gotcha Day on January 17 – the day we adopted her from Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA. It was a long weekend too, so we were grateful for the extra day to spend together celebrating two years of Kona in our lives. Time flies by!

I personally love that we get this opportunity to celebrate my birthday and the anniversary of Kona coming into our lives at the same time. It’s a reminder that she is the best birthday present that I have ever given myself. I know Kona really loves the double celebration too, since she gets to indulge in the leftovers from my birthday meal all throughout the week.

This year we enjoyed my birthday meal at Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian churrascaria where the staff brought out large cuts of roasted meats to our table and carved out portions by request – think of the 2011 film, Bridesmaids, but without the food poisoning… thankfully. Ryan and I don’t eat that much meat anymore and were not prepared for the hefty amounts that were served, which luckily for Kona meant that we brought home plenty of leftovers for her.

Coincidentally, the series of atmospheric rivers that had flooded the Bay Area for the past couple of weeks decided to take a break starting this long weekend. It’s like Mother Nature wanted to celebrate Kona’s Gotcha Day with us! We couldn’t have asked for a better Gotcha present for Kona. She was clearly starting to develop signs of cabin fever from being stuck indoors due to the nonstop rain. I was too. So the rest of our long weekend consisted of exploring dog-friendly parks in San Jose that Kona had never visited before like Santa Teresa County Park and Saratoga Creek Park. It was therapeutic to finally spend some quality time outdoors again – even if it involved lots of mud and wet socks. We’ll definitely remember to stick to paved trails for the few weeks after the next storm system passes by.

In the middle of the week on Kona’s actual Gotcha Day itself, we surprised her with a big post-dinner plate of lamb, beef, pumpkin puree, and oranges. Kona’s been really obsessed with oranges lately so I thought adding them would bring a nice touch of sweetness.

Family celebrating dog's gotcha day adoption anniversary

I’m feeling especially sentimental right now, so I think the best way to end this post is to share our favorite memories with Kona from the past year – her second year as part of our pack:

A Year of Many Firsts for Kona:

First time at a self-service pet wash – Let’s just say that after experiencing a public pet wash for the first time next to a howling husky and it’s frustrated pawrent, we came away extremely appreciative of how easygoing Kona is when it comes to us washing her.
First experience with snow – Given how Kona is a drama queen about getting wet (outside of a bath), we thought she wouldn’t enjoy the snow at all. But she LOVED it and wouldn’t stop digging at all the snow when we visited Mammoth Lakes in June.
First time sitting in a wagon – This past summer was extra hot, so whenever Kona needed a potty break, we chauffeured her from the house to the grass in a wagon to protect her paws from the hot concrete. We got some looks from our neighbors… but we’ll do anything to keep her comfortable and healthy!
First time meeting horses – She did fine! Which was a surprise for us since she’s generally reactive towards mammals (squirrels, cats, etc.), but weirdly not towards birds and reptiles.
First time living with foster puppies – We fostered two 8-week old shepherd puppies through the Humane Society Silicon Valley in October. This was our first time fostering! I thought it would be a great way to continue improving Kona’s socialization skills with other dogs. She wasn’t a fan of all the teething, pawing and jumping, but we’re really proud of how tolerant Kona was of the puppy behavior. She put in a request to only foster older puppies and adult dogs from now on!
First time wearing a Halloween costume in public – I ordered Kona a hula costume for Halloween last year, but due to a delivery delay, we had to wait another 364 days until she could wear it out in public on Halloween this year. She rocked it during our day trip to Half Moon Bay visiting pumpkin patches!
Her first rain jacket – Grandma surprised Kona with a very patriotic rain jacket, just in time for all the atmospheric rivers and bomb cyclones that took place over the past few weeks.
First holiday lights drive-thru experience – This was our first time attending the Fantasy of Lights Drive-Thru in Los Gatos. Kona was captivated by the sparkling lights – half her body was out the window for the entire drive.
First time visiting sand dunes – Kona was itching to chase after the ATVs zooming around the Imperial Sand Dunes during our day trip to the Salton Sea area in SoCal. They looked pretty small from the parking lot, so I have a feeling she thought they were just extra loud and extra fast squirrels… so you’re telling me there’s a chance?

Dog in Halloween hula costume at pumpkin patch

Dog out of car window holiday lights drive-through

Valuable Lessons Kona Learned This Year:

Open my mind and try new foods – We’re so proud that Kona has opened up her palate to new foods outside of meat, bones and kibble. She used to be so hesitant to eat new foods – even basic fruits like apples, oranges and bananas – and would immediately spit them out. Now she’ll give any new food a quick taste. But most importantly, she discovered her new love: oranges.
My food is stored in the fridge – After watching us prepare her meals countless times, Kona now has the understanding that the fridge = food. If Kona’s not upstairs sleeping in bed or sunbathing in the backyard, then she’s in the kitchen staring at the fridge.
Water is not all that bad – While Kona still goes out of her way to avoid getting sprayed by sprinklers or stepping in puddles during walks, she has recently warmed up to the idea of actively going into bodies of water on her own. Since our trip to Mammoth Lakes in June, Kona has a newfound joy for digging large rocks out of lakes and streams.
My pawrents always come back home even if they say goodbye and leave me alone – Kona has separation anxiety and rightfully so. Before she came into our lives, she was surrendered by her original owner, returned to the shelter by her first adopter after only one month, and eventually became a long-term resident at the shelter. During Kona’s first year with us, she would either panic run out the door or pancake on the ground trembling whenever we started to get ready to leave. And once alone, she would never settle down but instead constantly pace around the house. But in the past year, Kona has significantly improved – she no longer follows us out the door and can calmly lie down in bed until we return.
My pawrents leaving for vacation means a vacation for me too – We have taken several trips this year without Kona: Denver, Tahoe, Oahu and Kauai. We are fortunate to have Kona’s grandpawrents look after her while we’re out of town. They love her company and enjoy taking her on many adventures such as day trips to Napa and Half Moon Bay, as well as long walks around Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve. Kona especially loves how generous the grandpawrents are when it comes to treats and bones!
Look at the camera and be rewarded with treats – Self-explanatory.