Aki has collapsed on her pillow. Her nose hangs down like it always does when she sleeps. It’s a good way for her to spend her birthday afternoon. This morning the little dog followed her two humans as they skied through spruce woods and across several meadows. She must have worn herself out punching deep paw prints in the soft, new snow.

After an hour, when golf-ball sized chunks of snow clung to her undercarriage and legs, we stopped. She waited with patience as the unwanted decorations were removed. The little dog turns 9 today. For a normal size dog, she’d be the equivalent age of a 63-year-old human. But little poodle dogs live much longer than their standard-size cousins. She will be submitting to snow ball removal for quite a few more winters.