Gabi dances around, reaching up to paw at the table where her cake with 11 pink candles sits. She waits with a smile on her face for a slice and quickly nibbles when passed her portion of the treat.
But this isn’t a typical birthday celebration. This party marks the decade Gabi has spent living at the Humane Society of Northwest Georgia shelter in Dalton.
The miniature pinscher mix was surrendered in February 2010, and guesses are she was born in mid-September 2009, said Jonathan Shatz, the shelter’s executive director. But every year, the shelter and its volunteers celebrate her in January at a monthly volunteer meeting.
“She really needs somebody to bond with her,” said volunteer Karen Zanfardino.
Gabi is a one-person dog, Zanfardino said. She takes her out on walks in the park and sometimes to the mountains on vacations so she has a change of environment. Gabi’s a bit territorial, Zanfardino admitted, but that’s because she bonds quickly and gets jealous. In her time with the shelter, Gabi’s been known to growl and bite but has never broken skin.