Shred & Fed?

[a.k.a. Rodney]

I am curious....been looking at several great pix of different doodles celebrating their birthdays. Many are enjoying elaborate bday meals...I'm sure these foods are not an ordinary occurrence ....Do they ever get ill from all the seemingly rich/different foods introduced on their bdays? I have a few months to plan for DerbyDoodle's big day so I am wondering. It would be fun to plan a special meal. So far, I have decided lots of different types of paper will be the "theme". She will be able to shred all day if she wants.

[a.k.a. Rodney]

Oh, sorry about the strep... hope all is back to normal....and L' Shana Tova
i had pneumonia a few wks ago...I really felt badly about DerbyDoodle b/c DH was gone also...no walks etc. she survived but b/c she is still a puppy I am Always concerned to get enough exercise & training in. All good now

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

During our last B-day bash, Monty had a "cake" made out of thawed Stella & Chewy's raw lamb patties with a layer or baked squash. No problems afterwards (and he even ate Auggie's cake).

[a.k.a. Rodney]

That is just too cute & a very clever idea!! Thanks for sharing!! What's acting as the candles? They look good also

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The only thing about this "cake" that concerns me are those candles, lol. The S & C's patties are fine and not new to your dogs, I know. And baked squash is fat free and no different from giving pumpkin, really. But what are those "candles"? 

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

The candles were one tiny Vienna sausage split in three. You could replace them with baby carrots. ;-)

[a.k.a. Rodney]

Baby carrots are really very good for them, right? I would like to introduce something else healthy in her diet besides a few blueberries each day that she gets already. I don't want anything that would interfere with her digestion or expectations..(.I would only use less frequently than the berries) I don't want her to get hooked on other than her normal food routine...unless its not disruptive in any way

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Baby carrots are fine for them, but really don't provide much of anything other than fiber. They can't digest raw carrots at all. (We don't do a very good job of it ourselves; carrots need to be cooked so that the cell walls are broken down, which makes the nutrients available to us.)

In terms of something "healthy", her food is providing pretty much everything she needs for good health. Some plain non-fat unflavored yogurt is beneficial in terms of something "healthy", due to the good bacteria it contains. Good bacteria=probiotics, which are helpful for digestion and GI health. Egg yolks can be beneficial due to their high vitamin and mineral content. Foods that contain certain Omega 3 fatty acids (mostly fish) can be beneficial for their coats and skin. But there are really very, very few vegetables or fruits that are going to provide much of a health benefit, since all of the vitamins and minerals they require are in their food, if you are using a commercial formula which is AAFCO certified, which you are.

Sometimes humans refer to a food as being "healthy" when what they really mean is that it doesn't hurt you or cause you to gain weight, lol. I'm not sure if that's what you mean, but if so, there's nothing wrong with it, but again, it isn't necessary. And of course, if we don't take vitamin & mineral supplements, we need to get those things from our food. But dogs who are on commercial diets don't. 

 

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Or you can use cooked green beans as candles as well. Fiber.

[Camilla and Darwin]

I don't know if you could call Darwin's "elborate" but we do like to do something for his birthday. Like Karen said, he doesn't know it's his birthday and wouldn't care if we didn't do a thing. But I like to... mostly for the photo-op and also because it's fun. :-) 

I would not give him any food that he is not used to, you wouldn't want to make him sick. For Darwin we give him plain grilled sirloins, and this last year we put it on a plain hamburger bun. Here is a photo

And here is a photo from 2 years ago

We of course, took the candles out before letting him eat anything. Darwin is used to this type of food on occasion so I wasn't worried that he would get sick from it.

[a.k.a. Rodney]

I agree...the celebration would be for us, the family & the photo memories created. Yours are so adorable! These dogs are so terrific any time we can celebrate that...Why Not??!!
I'm going to think about introducing a veggie maybe...but she gets NO treats now except for COME & she is highly food motivated...so, I don't want to start something I will regret Quickly!!

[Camilla and Darwin]

Maybe the squeaky birthday cake that someone mentioned earlier would be a good idea, or a new toy? Darwin is very food motivated as well, and he does okay with treats. We also make it a training centered thing though (including in the photos above).

[a.k.a. Rodney]

P.S. Darwin is a beauty!!