Happy half birthday, Sasha bear!

Before I begin, I have to warn all of my (three: maximum) readers that this post has nothing to do with human food.  Instead, I am specifically dedicating this post to my hyperactive, sneezy, sickly, cuddly, contemplative, and incredibly clever puppy*, Sasha bear.  Actually, she is only by default partially mine since Joe, my partner, has been kind enough to share her with me since he adopted her about three and a half years ago.  Sasha is a brown and white Jack Russell terrier mix with an intense love for fish eggs and an obsession with attacking all living things small and cute (e.g. chipmunks, squirrels, smaller dogs, sparrows), and also things not so small and perhaps not always cute (e.g. possums, raccoons, slightly larger dogs).  Actually, she's gotten better about behaving around other dogs, but all the other parts are true.  She's an incredibly vivacious dog who loves to run and play, but also enjoys cuddling with pretty much any warm body who's willing to give her a head or belly rub.

When we first got Sasha, we noticed that half her medical records stated that she was born in July, while the other half reported a birth date sometime in January.  Not knowing the exact date, we just sort of assumed she was a summer puppy.  Sadly, though, we never got around to celebrating her birthday; it was always a fleeting thought in conversation..."Hey, we should get people together for a party!" or "Maybe we should give sweet Sasha an extra treat for her birthday" were examples of comments floating into conversations around the summer time.

Well this PAST year, I took it upon myself to actually make it happen for her 8th birthday.  Several days in advance, I made all the preparations -- invited five dogs (and their owners), made doggie treat bags for all the guests, prepared a birthday cake for the canine of the hour, decorated the living room with banners and balloons.  Joe even bought Elmo birthday hats and tiaras for everyone.  Now, let's make one thing clear -- we're not crazy dog owners who dress our pups up in ridiculous outfits and put makeup on them and carry them around in large purses (murses).  We just had to make up for the past three years, so we went all out.

The evening was filled with various different activities involving fetch and playing with doggie mental-stimulation toys.  About half-way through the party, I gave Sasha her birthday cake, which had all of her favorite ingredients -- Beggin' Strips, masago (tiny fish eggs), milkbones, peanut butter, and a doggie-safe muffin.  I know...it sounds completely grotesque for us humans, but I can guarantee you it was a hit for all the honored canine guests, who were clearly in doggie heaven at the time (the cake was a bit much for Sasha alone to consume, so I let the others take a stab at it).  (So, see?  Food not only brings HUMANS together, but also doggies.)  All pups ended up being over-stimulated from eating and playing for at least two hours, after which every one of our guests crashed.  It made me wonder whether this was what it was like to experience a sugar crash at a kid's birthday party!

Anyway, in honor of our special little girl, here are a few snaps from the party.  Sticking with the tradition of belated (and forgotten) celebrations, happy half birthday, sweet Sasha.  Sorry we missed the past three years...here's to another 10 years of remembering!

*As many of you know, I could write a whole book on stories of Sasha scheming to accomplish something.  I'll save some of those stories for another post.