That is the countenance of a dog who worries about very little; I’m so grateful.

That position isn’t remotely uncommon for Cloud to find himself in. He loves corners, he loves being upside down, and he is awfully silly.

I adore him.

March 19th is Cloud’s faux birthday. We don’t know when he was born or exactly how old he is, only that he was estimated to be two years old when we adopted him back in 2014. I’ve written about the experience before, but, suffice to say, adopting him was one of the best decisions we ever made.

In years since, I’ve written about the changes I’ve seen in him. I feel privileged to witness his evolution firsthand. I can still remember his impersonal “name” from the shelter: animal #A1304716. I remember how terribly skinny he was and how it broke my heart that he was abandoned and had pretty clearly been abused. I remember the rain pouring down and the look of misery on his face in that kennel at the shelter, and I remember promising him out loud: “I’m going to get you out of there.”

It took him over a year to wag his tail.

Now, every time he wags his tail and bursts into that infectious husky grin, I can’t help but smile right back at him.

It took him a year to want to be in the bedroom and now he will sleep (albeit for short periods seemingly due to heat) on the bed with us. He was never much of a snuggler before, but now he seems to go through periods where snuggles are on his mind; I’m more than happy to oblige.

One of the most amusing changes started just after the new year: his obsession with the bathtub.

I had a dog before who would seek refuge in the tub during fireworks or thunderstorms. Cloud has started spending hours at a time in there. Seriously, he will loaf around in there for ages. Napping, stretching, just hanging out. I will periodically go check on him and he will look up at me, then flop right back down.

(No joke, as I am writing this, he just climbed into the tub! I can hear his little dog talons clicking around in there while he gets comfortable. What a delightful weirdo.)

HE TUBDOG

He’s always been quiet (he’s only ever borked at one person, and that was a solitary bork), and I’ve yet to hear him howl. But, over the past year or so, he will super occasionally “talk,” but it’s always at strange times. He seems to screw up his nerve to orate when we are on our regular walks. He will see someone walking towards us and belt out his deep and strange AWWWOOORRRWWW and it melts me every time. He has probably done that a total of six times that I can recall. The latest being when he stopped at a busy street corner, looked up at me, then, into the intersection, AWWWOOORRRWWWed at the fray. When he was done, he looked back at me, gave me the grin, and off we went down the sidewalk.

I love all dogs, but I most especially love this dog. Thinking about him turning 6 makes me almost sad; I know the average lifespan for a husky is around 12 years and, as much as I wish I didn’t think about it, I ache knowing roughly half his life is behind him. To combat this sadness, I often whisper to him to please stay as healthy as possible so he can live a long and happy life. Then I whisper how much I love him.

And I really, really love him.

I could gush about him all day; instead, I’m going to offer up a parade of photos of him over the past calendar year.

Happy faux birthday, Cloud. You’re a beautiful and magical creature, and the sweetest pup I could have hoped for. Here’s to a long, happy, and healthy life.

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He sleeps like this all the time. He loves corners. And his smooshy pink eraser tongue sticking out just makes me smile.

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No joke, he farted all night long that night. It was so intense we had to open the windows and even then it didn’t help much. But just look at that expression. Poor dude.

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Face smoosh.

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He loves putting his face in things, sheets being first and foremost.

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This doesn’t look remotely comfortable but he does it almost every day.

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That intense expression comes from him looking at my partner. When he is in the room, Cloud is locked on.

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Cloud always gets wet at the dog park, but occasionally he likes to lay down in the water area itself. It must feel nice.

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I see this expression a lot.

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I reiterate: he really loves putting his face in sheets.

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Yet another image of his unusual sleeping positions. This one, however, spawned some seriously silly Photoshop images after I posted it on Facebook:

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This is never not funny to me.

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SUPERDOG

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I can’t even handle how amused this makes me. Someone put him on my freaking shoulder. I love it.

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Sheeeeeeeeet.

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In addition to getting wet at the dog park, he loves to get dirty, too. We never mind, and he seems to enjoy himself.

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Sometimes when I’m writing, Cloud offers moral support. It’s always appreciated.

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He looks so freaked out here but it was important for me to remind him: no one made him lay like that. He got there all by himself.

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Sass face.

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I caught him mid-yawn and his expression looks so funny.

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He praises the sun.

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One of his many bathtub visits.

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This picture makes me feel gooshy. We bought that duvet cover with him in mind. Not only is it covered with clouds, but it is maybe the most aggressively adorable print I’ve ever had. Clouds on Cloud on clouds.

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Happy 6th birthday, Cloud. I love you dearly.