DIY Dog Biscuits

Tags: DIY Dog Mom Holiday Kids with Dogs Samwise

My furry baby turns six today. Well, technically his birthday is October 31^st, but since the 31^st is all about the kiddos and trick-or-treating we’ve always celebrated our Sam on November 1^st—he needed his own special day. I know, I know, he’s a dog and has no idea what a birthday is. I don’t care, we celebrate him properly anyway. We love him! Have I told you guys his story? Well, for those of you who don’t know about our Sam, here’s his story.

He’s full name is Samwise. He’s named after Samwise Gamgee from the Lord of the Rings (yes, we’re nerds!) When we started thinking seriously about getting a dog, we were living in Pensacola, FL. It was Adrian’s first station when he joined the Navy, and since I spent so much time home alone Adrian thought it would be a good idea to find me a companion. So, off to the Humane Society we went in search of the perfect little addition to our family.

To be completely honest, I was extremely apprehensive. Adrian had grown up with dogs, so he was very comfortable around them and very excited to adopt one. I, on the other hand, had only ever had cats…cats that spent more time outside than inside and required ZERO effort on my part (my parents did all the work). I was hoping Adrian would change his mind about this whole dog thing…OR choose a tiny dog that I could pretend was a cat.

We walked through row after row of crates reading about each dog. We must have looked at a hundred dogs, each one barking excitedly and clamoring to get to us and lick us to death to earn a place in our home. Then we turned a corner and there he was. The only dog in the whole place NOT barking. He didn’t even get off his bed to check us out…he just lay there and stared at us with the saddest little eyes I’ve ever seen on an animal.

Have you seen those dog adoption commercials that have Sara Maclaughlin crooning some sad song in the background while they show the saddest looking dogs you ever did see? Well, this little guy would have been PERFECT for one of those commercials. But something about those eyes drew us in. We stopped, read his bio, and then crouched down so we could be eye level with him. He got up slowly edged his way toward us. Adrian put his hand through the bars and spoke softly trying to coax him forward. He made his way to Adrian’s hand and gave him one lick. That’s all it took for him to steal our hearts. Our perfect furry baby.

Instantly, our lives were flipped upside down. He changed everything. Suddenly we were “those people”. You know what I’m talking about…those people who can’t go on last minute weekend trips because they can’t get the dog into daycare on short notice or won’t vacation WITHOUT the dog at all. Those people who take the dog everywhere and plan everything around the dog’s schedule. Those people who refer to their dog as their child and make you do the same. Those people who can’t go out to eat after church because they need to get home to their dog (I MAY have mentioned to our pastor that a doggy daycare on Sunday mornings would be a good idea) Yeah, we were THOSE PEOPLE!

We quickly realized that Sam was a HUGE responsibility, a bigger responsibility than we had originally thought, but we found our rhythm and settled into a routine that made everyone happy. We were a happy little family, and then came Liev.

Sam had been with us for about two years when I found out I was pregnant with Liev. I was apprehensive when we brought Liev home from the hospital. We didn’t know how Sam was going to react to him. We had followed all the suggested steps to preparing your dog for a new baby, but still…we were nervous he wouldn’t like him, and I was terrified that we would have to give him up. We walked right into the house and put the car seat on the bed in our bedroom. We both bent down and greeted Sam—he gave us kisses but his eyes were glued to the car seat on top of the bed. Adrian put Sam’s leash on and I took Liev out of the car seat. I knelt so Sam could sniff Liev, all the while Adrian had a death grip on his leash. Time seemed to slow down and as we held our breath we both watched Sam like hawks. Then, very gingerly, he gave Liev’s exposed foot a lick and started wagging his tail like mad.

From that moment on Sam and Liev have been inseparable. Sam follows Liev around constantly, he lies on Liev’s bed until he falls asleep and he greets Liev each morning like they’ve been apart for months. It’s the most adorable thing! Liev is always very concerned about Sam. Why is he barking? Does he need a snack or water? Where is he? They’re best buds!

Sam loves Silas too, but it’s more of a “I’m happy he’s here, and I’m going to give him a quick lick, but then I’m going to stay far enough away so that he doesn’t do a cannon ball on me” kinda love. Silas is still a little rough with him. We’re teaching him, just like we taught Liev, but it’ll be a while before he has a really good relationship with him.

One thing I know for sure is that Sam completes our little family unit. I can’t imagine our life without him and I know it’s going to be rough when we lose him. But I don’t like to think about that. For now, we’ll enjoy every minute we have with him and celebrate the wonderful little furry dude that he is. Most of all, we’ll work hard to make sure he knows we love him to the moon and back. Happy Birthday, Samwise the Brave!

Part of our celebration today will include homemade birthday biscuits. They’re easy to make and Sam LOVES them! And I love that I know exactly what’s in them. Here’s the recipe.

BONE Appetit (see what I did there?!)

DIY BIRTHDAY BISCUITS

For the Biscuits:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup peanut butter, smooth

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

Preheat oven to 350°

Combine all ingredients. Roll out on floured surface. These biscuits will not rise or so make sure you don’t roll your dough too thin (I usually shoot for 1/2 inch). Place on cookie sheet and bake about 30 minutes, until hard.

NOTE: These biscuits are great just the way they are, but for special occasions I’ll add the frosting recipe below…perfect for birthday.

For the Frosting:

6 ounces low fat cream cheese, softened

4 teaspoons honey

Dash of cinnamon

Combine all and add water as needed to reach desired consistency