PUPPY PAW-TY

Wow... I have not posted in awhile! Sorry all! Been busy with many things... including fulfilling Jack's bucket list. One of his wishes ( well alright what I assume he would wish for if he could talk) is to have a Puppy Paw-ty. 

We had it today and it was a delightful time! There was tons of treats for the pups and beer/food for the humans.

I made all of the treats from scratch and made doggy bags for my guests to take some treats home. 

DOG BUCKET-LIST

This post is bittersweet. Amy recently found out one of her five dogs has a terminal cancer. So she made this bucket list for her dog Jack!

This is a great idea to make for someone when they have received bad news like this to turn it positive You can also make some natural sweet potato dog chews, or some homemade peanut butter treats to go along with it!

- Jerica-

Updated 4/24/2014

Check out his adventures (not in the exact order as his bucket list):

1. LEARN TO SWIM  

 2. GO TO THE BEACH

3. EAT ICECREAM 

4. CHASE A PUPPY - I tried to fit in as much as I can in a day for him, so I invited Snoop to the beach with us! Jack is a big dog but adores chasing puppies, I had to find one who was super playful and bold enough to be Jack's chew toy. 

5. HAVE A PAW-TY

 6. HAVE A BEER 

7. EAT A BURGER 

8. HAVE A LOBSTER DINNER -- I switched this to Rib Dinner 

 

9.  TAKE A FAMILY PHOTO - This was the closest thing we could get to a family photo. Trying to get 5 dogs to sit together in one spot is tough! 

10. HAVE A CUDDLE PARTY - We actually did this all the time!

11. MAKE TREATS - We made tons for Jack's Paw-ty. Well, I made tons and he just taste tested them.  We made sweet potato treats, carob dipped peanut butter treats, peanut butter & pumpkin pupcakes, puppy donuts, apple bacon and cheddar biscuits, and a carob & carrot cake! 

12. HAVE A MEAL OF ALL TREATS

13. EAT A JAR OF PEANUT BUTTER - we brought a jar of peanut butter with us to the vet for his last treat. He pretty much ate the whole thing. I am so grateful to have gotten to have him in my life and spend the last few months spoiling him rotten. He was the most gentle dog I have ever known - especially for how huge he was!

14. DONATE TO AN ANIMAL SHELTER - Jerica and I walked the Furry Scurry in honor of Jack to help raise money for homeless dogs! I also donated to Fred's Fight Against Cancer, a fundraiser for a foster dog with cancer. And what amazed me so so much - was how great all of my friends and family were! Two angel like friends donated to shelters in honor of Jack as well. Thank you Sandi and Maria! 

- Amy -

DIY SWEET POTATO DOG TREATS

 

This homemade dog treat requires two things, sweet potato and an oven! You'll want to cut the sweet potato into slices around a quarter-inch thick; if they are too thin they will be more crispy and less of a chew, if it is too thick the heat of the oven wont be able to penetrate very deep. So a quarter inch turned out perfect for me. I even eat them myself sometimes. Amy and I are both obsessed with our dogs and will try to do some more dog-oriented recipes. No Cats Allowed here EVER. If you like this and want another homemade dog treat recipe, check out these peanut butter treats Amy made!

DIRECTIONS

Place all your slices on a baking sheet and set your oven as low as it will go. Mine went to 200 F. By keeping it as low as possible you do more of a dehydration instead of an actual bake.  I checked mine out and flipped them all over about halfway in between and all together they probably sat in the oven for 4 hours but pull one out every once in a while and check out the consistency.

To store I took an old jar and printed out a label to glue on, then put some mod-podge over to seal. I finished by spray painting the lid.

-Jerica-

HOMEMADE PEANUT BUTTER DOG TREATS

I got this recipe from a dog food cook book a few years back that is super simple and quick. It is peanut butter dog biscuits! 

INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 Teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 Cup of Peanut Butter

1/2 Cup of hot water

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and mix all of your ingredients in a bowl.  Once everything is mixed together roll it out and use a cookie cutter ( I used a jar top) to cut out the shapes that you want. Then bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown! Make sure to let it cool on a cooling rack before giving it to your pups! 

I made these the other day for a friend and his adorable dogs. For the jar I used a old salsa jar and glued on a plastic dog to the top and spray painted it black. I cut a strip from a brown paper bag to make the label which I then glued to the jar. For the gift tag I used an old map (I chose a map of Detroit because that is their hometown!) and cut it into a gift tag shape with trimming from the same brown bag I used for the label. 

This is such a quick gift to put together. With the baking and all, it took me about an hour to finish! 

-Amy-