Harry Turns 2!

Although his level of maturity is still that of a 7 month old, on February 18th Harry turned two years old!  Being a Tuesday I felt like a bad mom for having to work all day on Harry's birthday.  The bad feeling magnified when Harry poked me in the eye with his nail first thing in the morning.  And then tripled in size when I threw my back out that afternoon.  Harry had to go without a special birthday walk, but his cooperation was rewarded when it was time to do presents and "cake".

You see, Harry knows exactly when his birthday is and what it entails.  He wagged like crazy in the morning (his favorite time of day) and by night he was snuggling soundly on the couch anxiously awaiting Dad's arrival.  When Daddy came home, birthday fun began!

Since Harry's been on allergy trials, I couldn't make him pup-cakes like I did last year.  Instead, I found the most luxurious food on his allergy testing list and saved it for birthday week.  What's more luxurious than chicken?  Than beef?  Than salmon?  Lamb.

And so lamb it was, but it couldn't be just any lamb.  For Harry's birthday it had to be special, and it had to have a candle in it.  Using about a pound of lamb, I divvied it up amongst a muffin tin, using about 1/4 cup of lamb per muffin well (side note, what do you call one muffin spot on the muffin tin?).  I pre-heated the oven to 350 degrees and baked them for about 30 minutes which was enough time to get the internal temperature to 160 degrees.

After letting them cool, I popped out one lamb-cake for Harry and made it birthday special with a candle.  His Dad and I sang to Harry in his birthday attire (which he loved) and Harry waited eagerly.

The lamb cakes were a hit, and Harry quickly swallowed a second before we began presents.  Thankfully, we killed two birds with one stone (allergy trial and birthday cake) without Harry being unsatisfied.

Harry received a bag of presents and a card from his Dad and I.  The card doubles as a bone and it was the first thing Harry completely destroyed, eating it within two hours.  In case you can't see, it says "World's Best Mutt" because that's what Harry is.

While Harry read and ate his card, I helped him open the rest of his gifts in enthusiastic fashion - ooohing and ahhhing over every item in the mysterious brown bag.  Harry sniffed each item with wide eyes.

We spoil him.  Harry was overwhelmed with his toys and quickly ate one of them (his tire) in one evening.  One of his favorites (aka my favorite) was his neon running vest which he begged to try on as soon as he got it (still me).  Now when we go running together at night time, Harry is a professional!

I'm professional!

Toyssssssss

For a weeknight Harry definitely had a special birthday with his family.  He spent the rest of the night in toy heaven, comfortably perched on his bed surrounded by his new acquisitions.  In human years, Harry is 14 - so it'll be on his third birthday that we really throw him a rager.  He grows up so fast!

Harry Hors D'oeuvres: Resolution Cookies

It's the most wonderful time of the year when everyone lists their goals for the new year!  For many people, getting healthy and working out are top priorities.  Sometimes the preface for this lifestyle change is a juice cleanse.  Since a full cleanse was not something my body (mainly my mind) could handle I have been having a juice a day for about six months now.  Juicing every day leaves you with a ton of juice pulp.  I feel very guilty disposing of it, so I've researched all the different ways I could use it from carrot cakes, muffins, mixing it into pasta sauces, and even composting.  That left me with a massive amount of baked goods that were too tempting and led me to turning them into healthy treats for Harry!

To make these super healthy treats all you need is juice pulp and a food dehydrator.  I use a produce bag inside the bin of my juicer to collect pulp and keep it in the refrigerator until it's time to make treats.  Any juice pulp can be used to make treats so long as it's not on the doggy do not eat list (no grapes).  The first round I made was carrots, apples, and celery.


Here's my mega bag of pulp saved after just 5 days of juicing.  You can imagine how much I end up with - such a waste!

Pulp is pretty moist (sorry, I'll try to never use that word again).  You really don't need any binding ingredient to hold these together through the dehydration process.  This is what makes utilizing your juice pulp fabulous for allergy prone dogs.  Harry's cousin Jager was allergic to wheat and eggs, but these treats were safe.  

Get your hands dirty by grabbing a palm full of pulp and shape them into bite size balls.  I made mine slightly smaller than a golf ball.  Layer them on the trays of your food dehydrator, and if need be, press them down or re-shape into smaller balls.

You may end up with chunks of apple or some veggie/fruit flesh that didn't get completely devoured by your juicer blade.  These will dry up just fine.  When you're through with the pulp, turn the dehydrator on medium and leave it for about 8 hours, or until significantly dried out.  The more moisture there is, the less time these will keep.

After they've dried out, pry them out of your dehydrator and bag them up for your pooch.  As they're super nutritious, it's hard to feel guilty treating your pet.  Beta-Carotene in carrots can boost your pet's immunity as well as provide anti-oxidant and eye health benefits -- plus they taste sweet!

Harry has yet to try a "Resolution Cookie" as he's still in allergy testing mode, but his cousins sure enjoy them!

Harry Hors D'oeuvres: Birthday Pupcakes

As promised, Harry's cupcakes, or should I say "pupcakes", were served on his actual birthday February 18th.  These treats bring such joy to Harry's eyes it's ridiculous.  Anytime I get one out he sits, he lays down, goes back to sit, lays down again, as if he's attempting to do any command I might ask of him in the fastest way possibly so as to speed the process of cupcakes to mouth.  Unfortunately this hasn't brought about new tricks that I wish Harry could do...like talking, giving me his paw, or folding my laundry.

I got the recipe for the cake here and modified it so I could make cupcakes instead.  Making them cupcake sized allowed me to keep these treats around for the whole week instead of Harry binge-ing on an entire cake in one sitting.  So here we go...

For the pupcakes, you will need 1 cup of flour (wheat or white), 1 tsp baking soda, 1 egg, 1/4 cup peanut butter, 1 cup shredded or grated carrots, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/3 cup honey, and I used lowfat cottage cheese as frosting.  You'll want to start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.

Dog recipes are so easy peasy, you just put all the ingredients in one big bowl and mix them together.  Oh and by the way, I grated my carrots by chopping them up first and throwing them into my Ninja blender.  It saved a lot of time, but if you don't have a blender or food processor, I suppose you could use a cheese grater!

Once mixed, line a cupcake tray with liners.  You don't need to spray anything - the vegetable oil in the cake prevents the papers from sticking.  I found that I could get about 10 cupcakes out of my mix.

Fill your cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way with cake batter.  These do rise, but not as much as you'd expect a box cake mix to rise.  Put in the oven and bake for about 30-40 minutes.  Mine were done in 35.

While the pupcakes cooled, Harry helped me clean up by licking the bowl.  He wouldn't do it in front of me even though I said it was ok.  It was only when I walked away that Harry was brave enough to indulge in cake batter.

The coast is clear!

I topped Harry's birthday cupcake with the lowfat cottage cheese pictured earlier.  Although it sounds really gross to me, he found it tantalizing.  With a few blobs of purple human frosting and the touch of a birthday candle, Harry's pupcake was complete!

We indulged Harry with the birthday song which he thoroughly enjoyed.  His face was mesmerized by the presentation of fancy treat accompanied by fire and song.  The birthday tradition probably looks insane to first-timers, but it didn't go unappreciated.



With my help, Harry blew out his candle and dug into his deserved pupcake.  Tentative at first, Harry began by licking the frosting off his cake first.  Then full on cake swallowing ensued.  He literally barely chewed, and the remaining two cupcakes he ate that night had to be broken up first because we were afraid he'd choke.  Yea...I let Harry have three cupcakes on his birthday.

All in all it turned out to be a pretty good first birthday for Harry.  And if you're wondering what the cakes tasted like, they were almost a peanut butter flavored carrot cake.  Pretty good for dog standards I'd say.  Harry has been having a cupcake for breakfast every day this week before we leave for work.  I'm pretty sure he's not going to want to stop celebrating.

Nom NOM nom Nom

Harry Hors D'oeuvres: Lovebugs

With busy season in full swing for the boo and me starting a new job, things have been pretty crazy at our house.  It's apparent that Harry's feeling a bit ignored, and with Valentine's Day being tomorrow, I had to do something to show him that I still cared.  What I really wanted to do was take Harry with me to the Puppy Love Valentine's Day Party at the 23rd Street Armory.  Proceeds benefited the PSPCA, and at only $40 a ticket you could bring your pooch, have some drinks, eat great food, and socialize with other pups.  They even had a photo booth!  Alas, I worked a little late and didn't have a human date to go with me.  So I decided to bake Harry treats instead!

I got the recipe for what I'm deeming "Lovebugs" at AllRecipes.com.  You'll need 2 and 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour (always can sub regular), 1/2 cup pureed (canned) pumpkin, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 eggs, and 2 tablespoons of peanut butter.  First step, as always is to preheat the oven.  In this case you'll need to go to 350.

This recipe couldn't be simpler.  You just combine all ingredients at once and mix them together.

The result should be pretty dry, but if you need a little bit more moisture to shape your dough, add a teaspoon of water at a time.  A little goes a long way.

I decided to make little Mama Lucia meatball sized "bugs" for Harry, but you can always roll the dough out to 1/2 an inch thick and cut into shapes.  Since I don't have a heart shaped cookie cutter on hand, I took the path of bugs.  After all, if anything Harry is the world's biggest love bug.  Spread out whatever you decide to shape your treats into on a greased pan about an inch apart.

Bake your lovebugs for approximately 40 minutes at 350.  You might need to vary the time depending on your oven, but the result you want is a hard little bug.

Harry observed the entire process seriously and helped me clean off my hands after handling the dough.  He even helped me clean the dishes afterwards as I loaded the dishwasher, which I believe was his Valentine's present to me.  The treats were actually quite tasty...I had a few...yea.  I'm the mom who eats her kid's cookies.  But given that they weren't liver or chicken flavored, it was a safe risk. 

Having Harry means I'll never be lonely on Valentine's Day.  It's one of the many good reasons to adopt a pup - so if you're thinking about it, there are plenty of adoptables that need homes! 

Harry Hors D'oeuvres: K9 Carrot Cookies

Tis the season to go crazy for cookies.  Dog cookies that is.  Making your own dog treats, especially this time of year, is seasonally fulfilling and guilt free.  I found a recipe for K9 Carrot Cookies at Bullwrinkle.com - which is an awesome name for a bulldog.  Carrots are a super-food for dogs and they're a long lasting root vegetable that can stay in the fridge until you remember they're there.  According to petMD carrots can encourage a healthy coat and skin, bone development, eye health, and cancer prevention.  I was eager to relay the health benefits of carrots to Harry in the way a loving mother does...by hiding it in the form of a treat.

To make K9 Carrot Cookies, you'll need 1 cup quick cooking oats, 2 cups unbleached flour or whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup wheat germ (you can find this in the cereal aisle, or in the organic aisle by Bob's Red Mill), 2 eggs, 2 cloves of garlic, and 4-6 carrots (enough for 2 cups pureed).  Garlic is an ingredient that can be fed to dogs but sparingly.  Unlike onions, which contain sulfides and disulphides that can cause damage to a dog's bloodstream, garlic is ok when used in small batches.

To start, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Fill a saucepan with about 6 cups of water and set it on high heat.  As you chop your carrots, toss them into the pot.  Once all the carrots are chopped and in the pot, bring the water to a boil and leave it boiling for 10 minutes, or until carrots are softened.

While the carrots are cooking, mince two cloves of garlic.  This shouldn't take too long, so maybe take some time to have a carrot-dog photo shoot.  

Ehhh what's up Doc?

After the carrots have softened, drain them and put them in a food process or blender.  Pulse until pureed.

In a large bowl, combine carrot puree, eggs, and garlic and mix together with a fork. 

Gradually add dry ingredients (oats, flour, wheat germ) and mix until combined. 

Spread dough over a well-floured surface and press until 1/4 inch thick.  Use a cookie cutter or a knife to cut into desired shapes.  Or just roll into balls - they're your cookies.  I got my bone cookie cutter from AC Moore on a whim, and it came in handy.

Spread cookies apart evenly on a greased baking sheet.  Place in 350 degree oven and bake for 30 to 45 minutes depending on desired crunchiness.  I did mine for 30 minutes and got a chewier treat. 

While your cookies are baking, maybe your fur-baby can lick the bowl, just like my boo likes to do when I make human brownies - that's brownies made for humans, not from humans.  Harry usually helps me do the dishes, aka he licks the dirty ones that are in the dishwasher while I rinse.  When I put the bowl in front of him, he was more confused than excited.  You really shouldn't give your dog raw eggs, but I found the concept of bowl licking incredibly cute and possibly helpful.

Once my cookies were baked, I let them cool for an impatient 10 minutes before I gave Harry a taste.  He loves them.  I've never seen him take such care in eating a treat before.  He laid down with his cookie, licked and nibbled at it until it was all gone.  We'll have to test out another recipe soon, because I can't imagine these treats will last very long.

Nom Nom Nom