We like to think we have our own little paradise here at our home. Our very large fenced in yard provides plenty of room for three or more dogs to run, play fetch and tug-o-war, or just explore the smells of the outdoors. With everything going on right now, I decided to keep the dogs’ birthdays low key this year. So even though we decided to stay home and celebrate quietly, we still had to do something! Because of the girls’ arthritis, we’ve been keeping play sessions shorter lately, but to make their birthdays special we decided to throw caution to the wind and give them extra play time.
They love nothing better than when the Momz and Dadz are both out in the yard, even if we’re doing other things. It’s the time of year that we need to clean up the yard, and with our house on the market we needed to do a little extra too. So we were able to multi-task, cleaning up the gardens and yard while playing fetch with the dogs. The pool did sadly have to get put away, but the dogs were pretty happy when Dadz didn’t latch the garden gate properly, and they got to run in there and smell around while we were working.
Normally I don’t let them in there when things are growing, but I’m also concerned that the fence is not very high, and Luke can really jump. The girls were distracted with playing ball anyway, and we tried to keep a closer eye on Luke. He had plenty to smell in the garden area and as long as no wildlife showed up in the yard, he wouldn’t have any reason to jump.
Digging up the last of the carrots was on my list for that day. Remember I said that I might let “Farmer Luke” dig some up just for fun? I was still thinking about it, but as we were distracted doing other things, he took it upon himself to do it anyway! All of the sudden we noticed him romping around gleefully….which means he’s found something special, and then we heard crunching. Sure enough, he had dug up a carrot on his own! I kicked myself for not having my phone in my pocket, so no pictures of that fun.
Along with the garden fun and extra play time which was over the weekend, on their actual birthdays Sheba and Luke each got a new toy, and they got special dinners with canned food added to their regular kibble. I bought a few toys, and let Sheba select one from a box. She chose a stuffed bear.
I wanted Luke to have this pig. He had a blast with it. He can be so mature and is so good at listening, when I asked him to “leave it” and pose for some nice photos, he did! However, pig didn’t live much longer than the Bear did. Can you see the pig smiling in that photo? He wouldn’t have been smiling had he known just what his fate was going to be. But the point was for them to have birthday fun, and they did what they consider fun!
On Sheba’s birthday, I made a batch of cookies, which they’ve been enjoying all week. I made Pumpkin Apple Cinnamon Grain Free treats. This was a new recipe for me, and used coconut flour. The recipe says that flour can be hard to work with, and they were right! I had been out late with the girls the night before and didn’t have the ambition to fight with it, so instead of rolling it out, I made it into balls and flattened them with a fork like my Mom used to do with peanut butter cookies. Trust me, the dogs didn’t care what they look like, and they love them. You can find that recipe from K9 Instinct by clicking here.
Our celebration lasted from the Saturday, the day before Sheba’s birthday, until Luke’s birthday on Tuesday (and they’re still getting cookies!). The good news is that even with all the extra play time, we never saw either of the girls limping! I was worried about them overdoing it but they didn’t. We had thought about switching Cricket’s joint supplement when we weren’t seeing the improvement we wanted, but we decided to give it a full 6 weeks on the stronger dose, and we’re glad we stuck it out. It seems our two 11 year old girls can both pretty much keep up with their now 2 year old brother, who is definitely helping to keep them young at heart!
**PS….Sheba and Luke want to thank everyone who left them wonderful birthday wishes here and on social media!!**
Today we are joining the Thursday Barks & Bytes blog hop. Thank you to our hosts 2 Brown Dawgs blog, and Heart Like a Dog. Please visit other blogs through the links below!
Happy birthday to Sheba and Luke. It looks like they had a great celebration and treats look yummy. Thanks so much for joining the hop.
What a celebration!!
You dogs have it so good! What a bunch of fun we are so jealous! Love Dolly
That looks like a pawsome way to spend a birthday.
Happy belated birthday! Sounds like a fun time 🙂 Maybe Luke is a farmer at heart. He must be pretty smart to know there is a tasty carrot in the ground.
I don’t know how he figured it out! He watches me through the fence when I’m digging them up, but it’s hard to believe he understands what I’m doing. But it’s either that, or he could smell the carrots in the ground….not that you would think carrots really smell very strong!
Looks like a super fun time for everyone with food and play!
The bear and pig look like Cocoa’s stuffed animals when she gets done with them 🙂 Sounds like a great birthday. And those pumpkin cookies sound good. I love coconut flour but it can be tricky to work with.
Thanks for joining the blog hop!! I LOVE the picture with Sheba and the destuffed toy. That picture (to me) screams pure happiness.
I don’t know about you, but the minute I vacuum, someone works at destroying a toy. It’s inevitable. LOL
Oh yes! You should see our house, Jodi. It’s like “dead bodies” everywhere! Every once in a while if the dogs are outside, I’ll throw one away. But they actually really like playing with those, especially Cricket!
I am so glad they had a great time on their birthdays! It is so funny that Luke dug up his own carrot. I believe Pierre would dig up anything that I tried to grow that was edible. Your recipe is the second one this week that requires coconut flour. I am going to have to look at a dfferent store for that. Mine doesn’t carry it and it sounds so good. ☺
If you find the coconut flour, wait until you see how good it smells!! My sister had to find the flour for me right at the King Arthur flour bakery!
I couldn’t believe Luke dug up that carrot on his own. It’s not like he had ever been in the garden before and knew where they were!
Happy birthdays! Looks like everyone had a great time. I love the carrot story too! 😀
I still feel horrible about having missed Luke’s birthday the other day! No excuses. Just glad everyone enjoyed the double celebration!
That first picture of Sheba with the bear made me smile – she looks sooooo much like my Callie! But Callie was always very gentle with her stuffies. She carried them around in her mouth as if they were live babies. She was even gentle with them when she made them squeak or grunt or whatever. ❤️????
Please don’t feel bad, Sue! I am often behind on things and have to leave belated wishes.
Our golden Moses was also very gentle with stuffies. I always felt bad because for a while we didn’t give him many. He would let Sheba steal them from him and then she would destroy them! He was a big gentle dog, just like your Callie.
I like the way you celebrated two super special birthdays :o) and your cookies look like cookies… maybe my momma can come for a cookie-lesson once?
I’m glad to hear there was no limping!!!! Great news!!
PLUS… those cookies? I WANT! lol they shound soooo tasty!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!