Last week we celebrated Pierre's very first Birthday!  YES, I went over the top, YES, we donated a bunch of really cool things to the Midwest Small Breed Rescue, YES, it was featured in the county newspaper (how HILARIOUS is that?) and YES, we all had so much fun!

I found these super sweet "doggie" bags and made assorted size biscuits with colorful frosting.  The frosting is a white candy coating (no chocolate) I colored with food coloring and assorted sprinkles.  I made a variety of biscuit sizes appropriate for different sized dogs and stuffed the baggies for "big" dogs or "little" dogs! 

I used colorful felt, pompoms, ribbon and boas to create party hats for the dogs.  Again, I made a variety of sixes and left the elastic chin strap a bit longer, so they could be a customized fit simply by knotting the elastic.

Along with the Birthday cake, I also created a platter just for dogs of bacon, ham wedges and muffins.  The Birthday cake was frosted with peanut butter and decorated with candy dog bones!  The candy dog bones were also featured on the "People" foods;

For our people guests, I did a Raspberry Vanilla Cupcake with a lemon buttercream frosting!  A cheese plate and beverages rounded out the treats!

Our Pierre has plenty of everything a dog needs, so guests were asked to donate to the Midwest Small Breed Rescue in lieu of a gift.  WOW!  All of our friends are so generous!  The MSBR was so excited to have great goodies for needy dogs!  I love these types of rescue organizations as they are fostering dogs in homes versus a shelter! 

We had 17 dogs attend and about 25 people!  I think it was so much fun for all of us (we could have done without the rain) especially the dogs!
Each dog went home with a doggie bag full of biscuits and I picked up a bunch of rope, balls and squeaky toys as party favors.  I didn't get a photo of it, but I put all of those in a large wooden bowl for the dogs to choose from.
It was amazing that all the dogs got along great (so did the people) and enjoyed an hour of fun and cake!!!  I hope this inspires you to throw a dog birthday party for a great cause and have fun!

You can find all of the recipes I used on this blog by using the search bar 

Carob Chip Doggie Biscuits

We are puppy training...we are going through LOTS of treats in training.  Our Pierre is incredibly food motivated!  (Thank goodness!) 

This has been an interesting 4 months for our family, owning our first puppy.  There have been some tribulations, especially since the weather in Michigan has been consistently under freezing since Pierre's arrival.  It's hard to housetrain when you are shivering...the dog that is!  Pierre has done well and my carpet has barely survived, and I developed a new carpet cleaning solution that actually works pretty well for accidents, and also accidents that you don't "find" right away!  Recipe at bottom of post!

   We are learning all the stuff that dogs teach their owners...I mean people teach dogs.  I have been reading and following "30 Days to a Well-Mannered Dog" by Tamar Geller.  I absolutely love the book and her methods have proven very successful so far.  I would highly recommend it!  I didn't like the idea that I was supposed to create a "submissive" animal, and this method actually does that, but in a different way.  Pierre wants to please us all the time and does a great job with a few reminders.  We have learned many tricks and are working hard on a few essential commands.  Check it out at  www.tamargeller.com

On to the biscuits!  We do have to be careful that Pierre doesn't turn into a little tubby terrier, so I've been making lots of biscuits that I know are healthy and tasty.  The peanut butter biscuits I posted earlier in January are great, and Pierre LOVES these new carob ones!

CAROB CHIP DOGGIE BISCUITS

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup carob chips
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup hot water
1 tablespoon molasses
1/2 cup oatmeal or wheat germ

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl combine oatmeal and hot water, let soak about 5 minutes if using whole rolled oats.  Add rest of wet ingredients and stir to combine.  Add flour, stirring until smooth and add carob chips.  Roll out on floured surface about 1/3 inch thick and cut to desired shapes.  Bake about 20-25 minutes until golden brown.  Remove from oven and let dry an additional 2 hours.  Store in airtight container for up to 1 week or refrigerate up to 3 weeks, freezes for up to 3 months.

We are practicing on making some recipes with brewers yeast, meat stock and meats.  I will post some of those next week.  We are testing them out as we post....


CARPET CLEANING RECIPE
I fill up an old Lysol spray bottle about 3/4 of the way with water, I add about 2/3 cup of white vinegar, 1/3 cup of carpet cleaning solution and 1/2 teaspoon clorox bleach.  Shake it all together.  I will measure everything and repost exact measurements soon.  
 For a new spot, I soak up the stain, sprinkle the area with baking soda and spray with the solution.  For an old spot, I soak the whole area for about 10 minutes and then blot it up until mostly dry and sprinkle with soda and let dry.