Zen Turns ONE

I can’t believe a whole year has gone by since our puppy was born. She is now officially a teenager… and a really really great one at that. I’ve been really absent the last 5 months in terms of doing actual posts with content. Mostly i’ve been posting pictures and saving the updates for friends. But I can’t tell you how much we have learned about training and dog ownership during this time. I want to save this discussion for a later post because I find the subject of dog training really fascinating and also controversial. One thing is for sure: what works for one doesn’t always work for another but you can put money down that everyone and their brother has an opinion about how to do it! I also want to talk more about the controversy about pure-bred dogs vs mixed dogs.. as it’s really been a hot topic in the media lately.

But for now, I will post photos of her birthday party. It was a small family affair. I baked a dog cake for it; it’s a peanut butter carrot cake with yogurt frosting. I got the recipe from HERE. The kids really got into her party and could stop talking about it for days beforehand. They had fun wrapping kibble up as presents, and Papa and I got her a fresh bone from the butcher.

She also got another present.. one that is not so nice. The vet called and let us know that some tests came back and she has Giardiasis. But between the probiatic and the wormer we I picked up today.. we are all set.

I made a peanut butter carrot cake with yogurt frosting. And natural milk bones for decoration.

Maiwenn was really excited to make Zen a party hat.

It didn't stand up by itself, so Maiwenn had to hold it up. Zen was a really good sport about the whole thing.

We had to help her blow out the candle.

we weren't sure how the human food would be in her tummy, so we played it safe.

Not too sweet. I used honey for the cake and the frosting was just plain yogurt.

These were the presents. The wrapped ones were from the kids and had kibble. The fresh meat bone from the butcher was from Papa and I.

Zen REALLY wanted that bone.

She waited for the release command before attacking it.

She's such a good girl. We are so lucky to have her.