Pet Birthdays: Celebrating our Best Friends

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© Carrie Boyko
Tanner's 4th Birthday Celebration

Tanner had a 5th birthday a couple of weeks ago and I found myself in a conundrum of ambiguous thoughts about our celebrations of our pets birthdays. When we stopped by our local dog park to have a romp with furry friends, everyone wanted to know how we would celebrate. I contemplated last year's photo where Tanner donned a silly fun hat and posed with Toni. It is cute, but I'm sure he would have rather been fetching it in the pool than wearing it for a photo.


Of course, Tanner does a lot of posing for product reviews and most everything I write for the blog. It's sort of his job--him and Oliver. I never ask him to do anything that frightens or disturbs him. We're just talking about playing and posing. Oh, and of course--eating! There's never any concerns over doing that activity. It even ranks above swimming and fetching.


The rest of Tanner's birthday was spent doing all of his favorite things--swimming, fetching, walking, biking, playing, and eating. I have to admit tough, this year there was not a special "birthday" cake, treat or cookie. I have a houseful of treats from various suppliers that provide them for reviews. Thank goodness for the freezer and the help of our Treat Review Team! So new and delicious goodies are abundant right now.


 It was a pleasant Sunday, spent bonding with Tanner. We even took a short nap together, with Oliver joining in. I think, from Tanner's perspective, we probably did all the things that are meaningful to him. Even with no party hats, gifts or invited guests, Tanner got what he seeks out of any day--exercise, time with me, playtime with friends at the park, and good things to eat. 


So what are we really celebrating when we have a "Party" for our dog? I think we're probably applying human life expectations to our dogs. Not that this is bad, of course....just not necessarily what they need. Yet when we do it, they get more time with us and probably enjoy the experience immensely. So either way we choose to celebrate our pets' birthdays, it works for them. They just want more of us--along with the yummies for their tummies. 


Now that I've thought this all through, I think I'll create an assorted platter of our treats and we'll call that Oliver's birthday smorgasbord. Talk about a highly-aroused nose! I have a couple of months to think that through. Any thoughts?  







Today's post is part of the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop hosted by Life with Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume. Feel free to enjoy visiting different sites. Rules to link up follow, as copied from Life with Dog's site on 8/10/11:


Link up your pet blog name and URL using the Linky Tool below. You only need to add your link once to be seen on all the Saturday Pet Blogger Blog Hop Linky Tools for that week. Note that if your blog is not pet related your link will be removed. Also note that only one post per blog is acceptable, and links promoting giveaways that are unrelated to the pet blogger hop will be removed. This is a community building exercise and not a promotional vehicle – please treat it as such.
Grab the “Saturday Pet Blogger Blog Hop” button on the right hand side of this site and include it in your Saturday Blog hop post so that your readers will know what is going on. *Note – posting is optional. Feel free to just link and follow.
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