How to Host a Doodle Birthday Dinner

[Leslie and Halas]

Halas turned 5 yesterday (9/1).  We were going to have his birthday dinner last night, but we were without power for 6 hours, so ordering pizza seemed like a better idea.  His birthday dinner was rescheduled for tonight.  We are dog-sitting my friends' cockapoo, Bubbles, and my mom's maltipoo, Barley, came over, too.  It was a three-doodle party!  The following is my advice on how to have a successful Birthday Dinner / Dinner Party.

Step 1:  Buy some yummy stuff at the store.  I selected wild salmon, asparagus, and a sweet potato:

Step 2: Split the ingredients into doggy and human portions (for seasoning purposes).

Step 3: Make sure the guests have arrived.

Step 4: Notice that the birthday boy is quietly watching you.  He knows...

Step 5: Realize this could be tricky, and poor yourself a glass of wine to cope.  Oh, and get that food on the grill.

Step 6:  While food is grilling, let all 3 guests sit on your lap.  Since I'm the only human here, I couldn't get a picture of all 3 sitting on my lap, so we'll just move on to the next step.

Step 7:  Bring food in from the grill, and deal with this guy right behind you whining, because he somehow knows that he will get some of this food.  I always share salmon, asparagus, and sweet potatoes with him, so I wasn't too surprised.

Step 8: Set the table.  Yes, they ate at the table.  This was a semi-formal affair.  "Formal" because they ate at the table. "Semi" because they were all naked.

Close-up:

Step 9: Get all 3 guests in their chairs, and let the feast begin!  OK, it wasn't really a feast, because the portions weren't that big, but they thought it was pretty good.

Step 10:  Depending on the results of letting 3 dogs eat at your table, pour yourself another glass of wine to celebrate a job well-done, or pour another glass of wine to relieve the stress of the occasion.  Or just pour another glass to celebrate your favorite dood turning one year older.  Oh, yeah, don't forget to eat your own portion of the meal.  You need something in your stomach to soak up that wine!

Barley is spending the night, too, so it looks like I'll have a Three-Dog Night.  I think Halas is just thankful that Barley is here to play with Bubbles.  He's only 8 months old, and Halas keeps calling him a whippersnapper.

Happy Birthday, Halas!!!

[Donna K & Quincy]

The best guests ever for a dinner party, I bet no one complained. :>)

[Carol and Banjo]

Christine This is so darned cute.....you made my day!    I love that the birthday boy and his guests get to dine in style!   You ARE the BEST Doodle Mom ever!   The dinner and wine sounds wonderful!    Happy Birthday Halas!!!!   Doodle hugs from Banjo and Carol.

[Ronna, Murphy & Wilson]

I love this Blog!  Happy Birthday Halas!  What a wonderful Birthday dinner!

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Happy Birthday Halas!  I LOVE this idea, the pictures are awesome and way, way too cute.  I always have birthday parties for my doodles on their special day.  I get a ice cream cake, we put birthday hats on with paw prints and sing happy birthday and then everyone + doodles have ice cream cake we all have fun :)

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HALAS! What a fun party! It's funny because I was just planning out my blog post "how to do a doodle birthday photo shoot" which I was hoping to write up sometime this week. Doodle birthday's are the best.

[Tessa, Ellie and Wheezy]

LOVED THIS BLOG!~!!!!!

[Camilla and Darwin]

LOL, this looks like a lot of fun! Lucky dogs. :-)

[Leslie and Halas]

All 3 dogs were great last night, and they slept very soundly.  Barley went home early this morning, and Bubbles' family should be here pretty soon to pick him up.  They've mostly been sleeping today, too, so I think this 3-day weekend really wore them out.

I was originally just going to give Halas his special meal, but that didn't seem fair to the other 2, so that's where the party idea started.  I had no idea what Bubbles and Barley would do, so I was relieved that they sat pretty calmly and ate their food.  They're all such good pups!

[Leslie and Halas]

Lisa, thanks, but I don't think I should right a book on entertaining.  If I did, it would end up something like My Drunk Kitchen.

Thanks, Nancy, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks, Doris.

Laurie, I'm sure F & V would be perfect dinner guests if you let them eat at the table.  Well, maybe just Fudge.

Jane, it sounds like a lot of our doods like salmon. Who knew!?  That's what I get for feeding him Orijen Fresh Fish.

Kathy, it's like a play on that old saying.  You don't have to be crazy to have a doodle, but it helps!

J, try throwing some yummy veggies in with the salmon, too!

Thanks, Phoebe's Mom, I'm glad your kids and friends enjoyed it!

Jane, I'm sure Guinness would be the perfect gentleman.  But, yeah, Murphy would probably be dancing on the table!

Colleen, I couldn't believe how well they did at the table.  I knew Halas would be fine, but I wasn't sure Bubbles and Barley would stay in their chairs.  But they did great.

Thanks, Gail and Pat!

F, it was the best dinner party I've been to in a while.  Not much goes on here, so I'm surprised it didn't make the paper!  "Crazy Woman Cooks Dinner for Curly Headed Mutts!"

Sandy, I had the same meal, but with seasonings, and it was pretty tasty.  The doods didn't seem to mind that they didn't have any wine.

Thanks Bonnie and Candice.  We really did have a good time.  Well, I did.  I think the doods enjoyed it, too.

Karen, you'd have to drive on the highway to get to my house, so maybe JD and Halas can grill a meal at your house some time.  Isaac had already been through here when our power went out, so I don't know what the deal was.  It had stopped raining by late morning, and the power went out at about 12:45 pm.  All of them had perfect manners.  Barley wasn't sure about putting his feet on the table, so I eventually had to put his on the ground to let him finish.  He could only reach about half of his plate, since he's such a little guy.  He needed a booster seat.

Thanks, Deanna and Leigh.  It's my kind of party, too, especially since I got to have some wine.

[Leigh & Allie]

Now that is my kind of party!!!