Monday, December 10, 2012

Koira's Birthday Day (and a Giveaway!)

I think Koira enjoyed her birthday today. For breakfast, she got some greek yogurt, and then a Jack toy filled with crumbled cookies in her crate.

Canon 9318


After I got home from work, the real fun started. Short of going to the beach (and not getting there until an hour before dark), I thought Koira would have the most fun just going to the park. Before leaving, the dogs had a meal of venison, their first venison this year. Then, we headed off to the park to play. First, we set up and did her birthday "pupcake" at one of the picnic tables though.

Canon 9299


I made the pupcakes this weekend. They are a blend of peanut butter, pumpkin, eggs, garabanzo bean flour, and a little cinnamon. Both dogs are crazy about them, and even Martha stole one and ate the entire thing while I had them sitting out to cool. You know something must be good if even the cat likes it!

Canon 9310


Once the pupcakes were gone (don't worry, Pallo got one too), we went on our walk. Koira was all full of jazz and perhaps a little too bonkers. There was one woman who Koira body slammed three times, and I kept trying to say that we would walk faster and go ahead of her, but the woman wouldn't let us go! I did finally manage to get on ahead so that Koira would go play instead of fixating on the person's chuck-it.

Canon 9433


We ended up finding a bunch of other friendly, playful dogs to romp with. Koira also did some serious stick chewing, of course. And Jason did some tug-of-war with her.

Canon 9353


Canon 9421


Koira did get a bit impatient about the stick being thrown a few times. She sure can be demanding sometimes. I'm just glad she is so mellow at home. I don't really care how loud and demanding she is at the park.

Canon 9338


And even Pallo agreed to wear a birthday hat to help celebrate Koira's fifth birthday. I don't normally go all over the top for birthdays, and focus a lot more on Gotcha Days, but for some reason, 5 seems like a landmark of some kind, like she just turned 21 and can have her first drink or something.

Canon 9324


Now for the fun part for all of you! Giveaway time.

Do you see those festive collars Pallo and Koira are wearing in the pictures from today? I don't really call them Christmas collars, because they can pretty much work all winter long. They are more of a holiday/winter collar. And one of you will get to win one! The particular designs worn by my dogs are just the ones I chose for them. I have a small selection of already made collars that the winner can choose from, or else a selection of partly completed collars that can be made to more custom collar lengths.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post and fill out the entries in the Rafflecopter below. (Sorry, only open to US and Canada due to shipping costs.) The winner will be contacted on Saturday the 15th and will have 24 hours to reply. If they do not reply within this time frame, a new winner will be selected. Collars are also available to purchase if you don't want to take your chances on winning one! Just email for more information.

a Rafflecopter giveaway



36 comments:

  1. Very Pawsome!

    My mommy would like to look at the designs you have to purchase!

    Mason

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awww! Happy 5th Birthday Koira! It looks like you had a very special day! We got your Christmas card today and we just love it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Happy Birthday Koira!

    I celebrate Trophy's Birthday as I know his exact birthday. We Celebrate Pan's Birthday because the shelter assigned her a birthday that happened to be the same as my mom's and since she was a foster failure we didn't know exactly what to pinpoint as her gotcha day (day I brought her home as a foster? Day we decided we were keeping her? Day we signed the adoption paperwork?)

    The rest of my dogs I celebrate Gotcha Days (most of the time I also just make that their birthday as well, lol).

    I also definitely dress them up for the holidays. They all have Christmas collars (except Demo as he wasn't here last Christmas and I haven't made him one yet) and they have Winter bow ties that we took Christmas photos in.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy birthday!! We celebrate every year for all of our fur-kids. It's become a tradition and something I look forward to for each and every one. A special trip to the park and an ice cream cone for the birthday dog. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very Happy Birthday! Looks like it was a great day!

    We would love to have a chance to win a wonderful collar!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy Birthday, Koira! And many more!


    We do celebrate Elka's birthday, in a minor way. I get her a new toy, and a treat that she wouldn't normally have (this year it was beef trachea), and I make her wear a birthday hat for long enough to get a picture. At other holidays, it tends to just be "wear a hat or something until I can get a picture".

    ReplyDelete
  7. These pictures are AMAZING! I love the ones with the party hats and cakes!

    Happy birthday to Koira! It looks like she had an amazing day!

    As much as I would LOVE to win this giveaway, I want someone else to receive one of your fabulous collars since Athena is so lucky already own one!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Woof! Woof! What a FUN Birthday photo. Especially LOVE your photo eating your birthday cupcake. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

    ReplyDelete
  9. Happy Birthday!! Looks like everyone had a fun time!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Happy birthday! yes I celebrate my dogs birthdays and I also let them wear clothes, they even got their picture with santa

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love your ritual of the special pupcake. Now I really wonder if our pups are missing out.
    PS. Your photos are always so beautiful and colorful. Can I ask what types of lenses you're using?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Amazing photos! My pup hasn't yet turned 1, but you can bet I'll be celebrating his birthday! He'll be 1 on April 15th.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Happy Birthday Koira! I celebrate my Holly's Gotcha Day as her Birthday since I don't know when she was born (she's a rescue dog). I make a pumpkin and apple cake for her Gotcha Day each year and she loves the extra special attention she gets :)

    I love your beautiful collars!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Awww, so incredibly cute. Happy birthday.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Happy Barkday Koira! Those pupcskes looked delish. What a great mama you have!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Funny, I was going to comment on those collars! Looks like she had the best birthday any doggie could ever ask for!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I LOVEEEE your photos! They are fabulous. And happy birthday, Koira!!! <3

    ReplyDelete
  18. We celebrate their birthdays. But no costumes :)

    *Nicole

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hey Koira, Hey Pallo, Jet here.

    So nice to visit again.

    Happy, Happy Bday, Koira. What an amazing celebration... pupcakes, playdate at the park, hats, whoo hoo!

    May your upcoming year be filled with joyful flyball activities, endless lovies, and yummy treats.

    P.S. Please share with Mom that we absolutely LOVE her photography. :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Looks like Koira had the most fabulous birthday celebration ever! I think she and Wrigs would be great pals--they have some common interests (cookies and sticks!). He can be quite demanding too. :-) Love the collars! Very cute!

    Susan and Wrigs

    ReplyDelete
  21. Happy Birthday, Koira! Love the pictures with the birthday hat.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Happy birthday, Koira!
    Yes I do!
    Nola's Mom

    ReplyDelete
  23. Happy birthday, Koira! I am digging the hat! We do celebrate but in a minimal way. I try to at least take her to her favourite dog park and maybe get her a special treat. I'd love to get her in a party hat but she is not so good about things on her head. When it's a birthday, I try to not ask her to tolerate my silliness. :-P

    Thanks for the awesome giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Happy birthday to Koira! It looks like it was an awesome and fun day for her!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Great pictures! I especially love the toothless Koira.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Sounds like it was a great birthday

    Stop on by for a visit
    Kari
    http://dogisgodinreverse.com/

    ReplyDelete
  27. Gizmo got all decked out for Chanukah this year...It's his twitter avi and his blog post today...Birthdays usually mean extra treats but no party hats

    ReplyDelete
  28. Wow - what a pawesome birthday! Venison and pupcakes! I want a birthday like that!

    By the way, my person wants to know what big-black-eye (apparently she means camera and lens?) you used to get those action shots of you guys playing in the park. She says they're spectacular and she's a little jealous. I am too, because my "action" shots, while pawesome and athletic, don't show me off nearly as well!

    Wonderful photos!

    Licks,
    Cobi (+ person)

    ReplyDelete
  29. I did do a HUGE Giveaway event for Davinia's Birthday our first year blogging. But we don't do much really maybe a special treat or a new stuffed animal to cuddle with.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I don't do a big celebration but they always get a special treat for their birthdays. My daughter is always dressing the dogs up and I think they enjoy it.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Great photos! Looks like you guys had fun!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Happy Wagging Birthday! It looks like you had an paw-tastic day!
    Maggie

    ReplyDelete
  33. Happy Belated Birthday Koira! I hope you'll share that pupcake recipe :0)

    ReplyDelete