89iversary X 4!

We recently celebrated our 89iversary, i.e., the anniversary of when 89 became a part of our family. Some people call it an adoptiversary, or "gotcha day;" we use 89iversary BECAUSE WE CAN.

 

Our celebration consisted of the usual fare. First, cookies!

 

 

From For the Love of Dog Biscuits, I made the summertime blueberry pumpkin biscuits. You can read more about the cookbook on Vegansaurus.

 

89 also had plenty of her other favorite foods, including watermelon. Video here for full chomping effect.

 

Next up: fun!
Because it's summer, we're hot, and we have a lifetime pool membership...we swam.

Ok, she mostly floated and posed, but there's actual swimming footage on IG.

And, finally: presents!

 

Who wouldn't want a box of poop? Come on, they're cute and you know it. Poop emoji toys for days. No, literally: days. 89 eviscerates her toys.

And, some more outfits to add to her collection of duds. That little white dog from The Secret Life of Pets makes very similar facial expressions to 89.

 No one is more deserving of a celebration than 89; I hope she enjoyed as much as I did.

89iversary #3!

This week we celebrated our third 89iversary!

 

We've been having a ton of summer fun of late, so the universe threw us a curveball with a dreary day full of clouds and intermittent rain. Since we couldn't go swimming or even for a walk without getting soggy and necessitating a bath, we decided to chillax at home and make the best of it.

Chloe's Kitchen has a great recipe for peanut butter dog treats that I've been meaning to make. It was so easy; I don't know why it took me so long.

 

In between eating tons of cookies, 89 made time for other important things.
Paper towel rolls.

Naps.

Even old toys (this is Puffy #2 #3).

Then she received a slew of new ones to terrorize (HK already lost an ear and stripy dog has a hole in his abdomen; the unicorn is just soggy).

There was also a delivery of treats! Wagatha's is great because they make a lot of vegan options and always put a snack in the box for impatient nerds.

 It was a good day to be 89.

And a great day to be me.

Highlights from 89's Birthday!

Just some scenes from 89's 3rd (long) birthday (weekend) last week!

I locked her in a (large) closet the night before so I could wrap her presents.

We started the day with a new poncho and a long walk.

In hindsight, it was maybe a little too windy.

Then we threw some Hello Kitty and festive birthday wear into the mix.

The grandhumans came over and a fight broke out between 89 and a trio of balloons.

Eventually everyone calmed down.

 

VM is a pro-wrapper from way back.

This is the kind of love that hurts.

Sorry, Hedgie.

You'd think this was an inedible cupcake.

You'd be wrong.

When the mail comes you can usually expect it's for 89. This time: from Wagatha's.

A ginormous bag of vegan dog treats.

She seemed to think it was a trick at first.

But then stuck her fat face in and stole two at once.

A birthday bow and a new bandana from V-dog.

A little relaxation.

And then a conk-out.

It's going to be a very good year for 89!

Homemade Vegan Dog Cookies!

I joked in the Christmas cookie post that even though the cookies were explicitly gifted to myself and 89, "dogs can't eat cookies"!  Well, fear not; 89 did get her own special cookies, and so did some of her friends.

Last year, a friend of a friend was talking about her intended homemade gifts and it sounded like such a lovely idea that I filed it away so that this year I'd be ready.

I chose this recipe for vegan peanut butter carrot puppy biscuits from VegWeb and gathered the ingredients (and, by default, 89).

 

I stole borrowed VM's rolling pin even though I'm allergic, and got to work.  89's mouth is already covered with carrot juice here, from the prep.

She makes a great sous chef, pre-rinsing all the silverware before it heads to the dishwasher.

I cooked the treats in batches while I continued to roll the dough and cut it into bones, stars, cats, and fire hydrants.  Repeat infinity.

 

The recipe worked great as stated, but I would recommend finely chopping the shredded carrot, as my rough chops made for a bit of a whimsical look of escaping carrot.

Also note that I halved the recipe, and- with my mini cookie cutters, still wound up with about 70 cookies.

 

I let them cool for as long as I could hold 89 off...but was horrified when, at first, it seemed like she didn't like them: rolling the pieces around but not eating them.

However, once she started she couldn't stop; she enjoyed every morsel of the soft cookies (I also tried a piece and it was pretty good!).

Then it was time to wrap 'em up.  A little personalization:

 

Vegans love ingredient labels:

And, voila:

A few more off the assembly line:

With plenty left over for a certain numbered dog.

Because 89 liked the cookies so much, I was able to get her to wear this in exchange for a few.

Also, more of this.

I highly recommend this recipe and the idea of useful, homemade gifts.  I hope everyone who received them enjoyed as much as 89 did.  Happy new year!