Valentine's Day.

February 14.  Valentine’s Day.  The day for hearts and flowers and candy and dog treats.  Not necessarily in that order.

The origin of Valentine’s Day is said to go back to the time of Emperor Claudius II.  He must have been a cranky guy – he didn’t want men to marry during wartime.  At the time, Bishop Valentine secretly performed marriage ceremonies – and he was caught.  While he was awaiting execution, he supposedly fell in love with the jailor’s daughter and wrote her a note and signed it “from your Valentine.”  And so it began…

In 1537, King Henry II of England declared February 14 to be the “official” Valentine’s Day.  In the late 1800’s Richard Cadbury made the first box of Valentine’s chocolates. Today more than 35 million heart-shaped boxes will be sold.

Today over 1 billion Valentine cards are exchanged.  It’s probably one of Hallmark’s happiest days. Apparently teachers receive the most Valentine cards.  I wonder if "teachers" includes dog trainers?

73% of people who buy flowers for Valentine’s Day are men.  And 15% of women send flowers to themselves. That explains those roses that arrived yesterday.  JUST kidding. Our human didn't send them to herself.  We did.

I found this shocking - only 3% of pets receive Valentine gifts.  Come ON humans.  Don’t forget about all the unconditional LOVE we provide.  Now I KNOW the dogs in THIS house will be among the 3%.  Just don’t bother with flowers, though.

And in keeping with my Valentine tradition, I’ve written a poem for my human.  So here goes:

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

We three dogs are

So happy we picked you.

You groom us and feed us,

And take us on walks,

One of us steals things,

The other one talks.

You walk us in the morning,

You walk us at night,

When it happens to be raining

We may put up a fight.

We like to chase birds

And sometimes the bunny,

When we run off in the woods

You don’t think it’s funny.

 Having three dogs

May not be economical

But our antics entertain you

We REALLY are comical.

We may be unruly

And sometimes just plain BAD,

But we really DO love you,

And hate if you’re sad.

We wait by the door

From the moment you leave,

And when we hear your car

A HUGE sigh we heave.

And when you return

No matter how long you’ve been gone

We break out in tail wags

And bark out our song.

Oh human, OUR human

You’re our Valentine sweet.

We love you and adore you.

Now give us a treat.

From Paxton, Frodo and Cocoa

Happy Valentines Day everyone!!!!! And don’t forget to be in that 3%!!!

©  Linda Wozniak