Cultivating the Path: Story 52: Princess Party

As yesterday progressed, I remembered that Elaina and I once had a party for Laika and Heisa. I found a lot of photos of the event, but couldn't remember some of the specific details. It's funny how the mind works, though. I just took another look and things started coming back to me, like the why and when. Maybe this festive story would have been more fitting for my birthday yesterday, but better late than never!

Laika, as you may already have guessed, was the Queen of the house. She was not completely spoiled, but from day one reigned in comfort (despite the crate training). Her domain at the apartment was full of toys, treats, comfy places to sleep and lots of love and attention from myself and my roommate. From her humble beginnings of abandonment on the street, I thought this would be a fitting way to make sure she was able to enjoy the "good life" when I started taking care of her.

After about a year or so of being the lone dog, Heisa and Elaina moved in. I thought this might cause some sort of disruption to Laika's royal airs, but it didn't at all. Even with Heisa around the house, Laika continued to assert her role as Queen and things continued as normal. Heisa was pretty easy-going and the pups got along famously, so this made the transition extremely smooth. It helped that Elaina loved Laika and would comply to the Queen's decrees of attention and treats. Laika readily reciprocated the love with her wiggly charm and wagging tail. All dogs and people were happy to be living together. It was great!

A one point, after a few months, one of Elaina's coworkers brought some extra princess party hats to work. While not exactly the crown that Laika deserved, these conical, pink hats were adorned with hearts, a drawing of a tiara and the word "princess" in large writing. I think they were leftovers from a child's birthday party, but I am not sure of their origin. (It would make sense, but I don't want to spread false assertions in this blog!) Regardless, since both Laika and Heisa were behaving so well together (aside from the normal outburst of mischief), Elaina and I decided to give them a party fitting for...well...two princess pups!

This party didn't really differ too much from the normal evening routine, in which we would give the dogs lots of attention and treats. However, this time, we had a crucial extra element: party hats! There were enough for all four of us to wear the hats while we sat around in the kitchen and dining room. Laika actually didn't mind wearing the hat, despite her (nominal) demotion from Queen to Princess. Although, I think being Queen for a lifetime and Princess for a day is something both my conscience and Laika were able to live with! She wiggled around so happily that the hat was constantlymoving around on her head; luckily, the thin chin-strap kept it more or less in place. She spend the entire duration of the "party" moving from my lap to Elaina's lap, giving us kisses and sort of posing with her new accessory! Heisa was a bit less excited with the hat, but managed to keep it on while she and Laika "mingled" with us, the commoners at the exclusive Princess Party!

Many treats were eaten (by the dogs) and many photos were taken to mark this ordinary, yet really fun event. The fact that Laika seemed to thrive on the attention and hat-wearing made it even more enjoyable for us. The entire time, she had a gleam in her eye and an extra wag in her tail. I think she knew that it was a special, goofy evening and she just wanted to take it all in with her normal excitement, which seemed magnified by the extra props. All in all, it was a great way for Elaina and I to give love and appreciation to our "royal" companions. Thanks to some extra princess hats, a normal evening at home became a memorable event for the ages!