Well, we're approaching a special milestone in our household - Anoki's 3rd Birthday! I know it seems odd, but we celebrate the puppies' birthdays. Both of them get presents on the day (I don't think they'd understand if only one of them got a toy) and generally we do something special with them. They are excellent present openers and indeed think that every present is there for them.

In preparation, this weekend I mainly did puppy baking. There are carob pupcakes, apple puppy muffins and peanut butter bones. For Mick, there are spelt muffins and a quiche for breakfast. Lunches for him are turkey ricepaper rolls with bananas and almonds. Hopefully he'll enjoy them.

He's away this weekend, so the puppies and I have been having a bit of a relax weekend - they've had brushes and a nail trim while I've enjoyed getting a start on some Uni work and catching up on reading. Walking back from the Osteopath on Friday afternoon I happened across this great little pet store - the owner was there along with his beautiful golden retriever. I picked up a couple of treats for the boys (there were home-made salmon dog treats that I knew they would love) and was chatting to the owner when I commented on how well behaved his dog was. It turned out to be the saddest story.

It turned out that she had lost her mate of 6 years (their other dog) that week. It had been unexpected as he'd suddenly gotten pneumonia and the vets didn't pick it up in time. Apparently she used to stay in the back with him, but now that's she's alone she seems to enjoy lying in the shop. I had never seen a dog look so sad. I ended up in tears in the shop. The owners were still so upset and they aren't sure whether they'll get another dog to keep her company. I came home and gave our dogs big hugs. It really made me realise how short their lives are and to make every day with them count.