Joy and Happy: mini service dogs

01/01/2026

~ A letter to Happy ~

My dear sweet forever-puppy,

Today is your 15th birthday. Wow. Just let that sink in (I know I have to): you are 15 years old!
Most of the time it doesn’t look or feel like that at all. You can still run, jump and play like a young dog, even though your energy does run out quicker and you tend to sleep more and deeper now. But we’ve been so lucky: you don’t show many symptoms of aging yet, both physically and mentally.

I have been in your life for the majority of those 15 years. We’ve learned to enjoy each other’s company to the fullest, we’ve gotten to know each other’s preferences and mannerisms, we’ve overcome so many obstacles together.
And I think that is what makes it so weird that I can’t be with you on this birthday. Unfortunately the hospital isn’t a place for retired service dogs, no matter how cute and well-behaved they may be, and the hospital is the place where I have to be now.
You are staying with your grandpawrents, who are the absolute best and sent me all these amazing photos of you, so I still get to enjoy a little bit of your life.
I am so proud whenever I hear them tell about the cute or funny things you do and about how sweet you are to everyone you meet!

My dear girlie, I’m sending you all the kisses I can today, and I promise to be with you for your next birthday 💪
I love you to the moon and beyond ❤️

20/05/2025

🎉 Two Year Anniversary 🎉

Hello everyone, Joy here!
I can’t believe it’s already been two whole years since I met my Baasje and Happy. And it’s even more unbelievable how much both the two of them and I have grown in those two years.
Happy has become a bit older and somewhat more grey - she is 14,5 years old after all, so that makes sense. She’s been so good in taking her retirement seriously! She leaves more and more service dog tasks to me, watching me from the foot of the bed to make sure I’m doing it right. And when I do, she puts her little head back down and lets out a big sigh of contentment.
Baasje is learning to depend on me more and more, especially when it comes to dystonia attack signaling. They’ve deeply learned to trust that I signal every single attack, and that I do so way before it happens. They also let me do more and more mobility tasks, especially retrieving things (both at home and in the shops), which happens to be my favorite!

And me? I went from the shy, timid little girl you see in the last picture, to a confident, fully grown service dog, who loves her Happy and her Baasje a little more each day. I’m fiercely protective over both of them, especially when it comes to chasing away cats or any dog they (or I ) don’t like 💪

So I guess we’re all ready for many more years just like these two 🤩

09/03/2025

08/03/2025

🎉 Today we celebrated Joy’s birthday! 🎉
It’s so great to have you in our lives, dear girlie. You enrich every day with your constantly happy tail, your little dances, your smiley faces, and the pure love you radiate. Love for your sister Happy, for our Rish, for me as your pawrent, for treats, for attention, for working as a service dog, and for life itself. You teach me daily to look at the little things and to approach everything with an open attitude.
Thank you for being my girlie. Here’s to many many more birthdays! 🥂

31/12/2024

🎉 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HAPPY 🎉

Dear little girlie,
It’s hard to imagine that you’re only turning 14 years old today. In my imagination you’ve been around forever. Like, I literally can hardly imagine a life without you in it.
Well, that may mainly be because of how insanely important you are to me. There are no words to describe the value you have in my life. So I won’t use too many words. I’ll just use a song:

Sometimes I think that you must be an angel passing through
‘Cause there was never anyone as beautiful as you
Somehow I know that you must be an angel passing through
Oh, there was never anyone as beautiful as you

Seasons come and seasons go
But you will always be
More than beautiful to me
You’re more than beautiful to me

“Beautiful” - Brian Kennedy & Secret Garden