So today marks Tinoh’s 3rd birthday, a very Happy Birthday to Tinoh! I must say this is quite a mile stone as not only is Tinoh another year older and wiser but I, as his dog walker, have almost two and half years to look back and reflect on.

Tinoh was my 3rd dog walking client back when I first started out. Tinoh was a fresh-faced puppy of 7 months, still being walked on a harness, right in the middle of his bed ripping & destroying puppy phase. I was fresh out of advertising having watched back to back episodes of ‘The Dog Whisperer’ and volunteering every weekend out at the Doggie Rescue’s shelter when I had decided that working with dogs may just be a ‘calling’ for me. It was me that answered an ad/poster hung up in Balmain looking for a dog walker to walk a puppy on week days. When I met Tinoh and his mum I was quite nervous, Tinoh was FULL of beans, but so little and adorable. I remember thinking how hard can this pup be to walk?

Well Tinoh wasn’t at all a difficult dog but rather an energetic labrador puppy (with a dash of Kelpie in him) that basically taught me so much so quickly, how I’d like to put it, it was a ‘sink or swim’ situation. I think it’s safe to say that I swam and Tinoh was my kickboard!

Tinoh feels like part of the family, over the years Tinoh has not only been a long-term daily/weekly client but often he’ll come and stay with Brad, Shelly & Me when his mum is traveling for work. We’ve been lucky enough to spend his first birthday with him, take him away on holiday’s with us and he’s even been to family and friends houses on many occasions. Shelly is a tough cookie to impress (being that she is little, female and older) but she has grown so fond of Tinoh, and they have a sweet relationship (we call them cousins) that involves Tinoh doing as Shelly says, even letting her have his big bed (see photo below). When Tinoh moved to NZ for 3 months I couldn’t stop crying, I even had to take a day off work, I was so sad to see him go.

To his pack and friends in the park Tinoh is a loveable goof ball that is as fast as lightning and as sweet as pie. At home Tinoh is a massive sook that will often climb onto my lap for hugs.

Still to this day he is puppy like with his playing style and as long as I can remember that’s one of my favourite things about Tinoh, he’s young at heart!

Tinoh’s mum Sandra has written a little something about Tinoh below and included some great puppy photos, and I’ve added some early & fave photos I’ve taken, so take a look…

“I adopted Tinoh at just 10 weeks old from Labrador Rescue. He and his brother and sisters had been rescued from a farm outside Canberra, the details where a bit sketchy but I believe his mum was a black lab who had fallen pregnant to probably a Kelpie. She gave birth to a litter of adorable little black pups but after a few weeks they were just too much work and the farmer wanted to get rid of them. So at just a few weeks old Tinoh was taken away from his mum. He went to a Labrador Rescue foster family and they advertised him as a ‘special needs’ pup as he had massive separation anxiety and freaked out when left alone just for a minute.

For first few weeks in his new house in Balmain Tinoh followed me everywhere. He would fall a asleep somewhere and if I wasn’t in the room when he woke up he would start crying and frantically looking for me. But with a lot of patience the separation anxiety disappeared completely. I love that Tinoh hasn’t got a bad bone in his body, he has never growled in his life, and barks very rarely. He loves other dogs and being quite submissive gets along with pretty much all of them. At home he’s very affectionate but when it’s time to go for a walk he’s only interested in playing with other dogs and running. And run he can. I believe from Lab and Kelpie, he’s got racehorse blood.

Like his mum, Tinoh is a bit of a traveler. In 2010 we moved to New Zealand together and he had a great time living by the beach and rolling in dead possums and seals!

What can I say, to me he’s the best dog in the world. Thanks for being your quirky self, Tinoh and Happy Third Birthday!”

Tinoh’s Like List (straight from Tinoh’s mouth):

• fish (salmon and sardines in particular)
• sleeping on the couch or bed (cause usually I’m not allowed)
• Calley (she an awesome dog walker and she lets me sit on her couch)
• squeaky toys
• my pack
• going to the toilet in the water (odd I know, but I like it)
• swimming
• rolling in the grass (particularly if something smelly is involved)

Oh and in case your wondering, Pinks is one of a billion nicknames I have for Tinoh. Here are a few other nicknames from the long list: Teeny Tiny, Wooga, Teens, Tinohnini, Ton-y, Teen-NO, and the list goes on!