Happy Birthday, Atticus!

Atticus is 4 years old now.

We're not really sure when her birthday is, but the vet guessed when she was found that she was 3 months old.  That was in November of 2008.

I feel like this needs some sort of disclaimer...I don't throw my dog a birthday party every year.

But I feel like that would just surprise you.

Doesn't it surprise you that this is the first time that I've done this?

It surprises me.

But Atticus has had a rough couple of months.  And she's finally feeling better and seems more like herself...so, I felt like celebrating.

Plus, while Brian & I were in the emergency animal hospital at 3 in the morning with her, we read on a chart that Atticus is about 27 in dog years.  I'm about 27 in human years.

Back in November of 2008, I had just spent a weekend away with my cousin, Grove, and her husband, Adam, at their home over on the Gulf Coast.  I was actively looking for a puppy to adopt, having just settled into my first apartment on my own.

Grove and I looked around while I was there, checked with a few animal shelters...but didn't find anything.

The night that I got back home, I received a text from Grove.  It was a picture of Atticus.

"I think I found your dog," she said.

A friend of Grove's had found her on a rural road.  I told her that I wanted her, and the next morning my mom and I drove halfway to Grove's to meet them.  To meet Atticus.

This was the first time that I saw her.

Obviously, it was love at first sight.

I was on my own for the first time in my life.  But then I had Atticus with me.

She's been with me ever since.

Christmas 2008

                                        

So, you get it.  I love my dog.  

And now she's Brian's dog, too. 

And now she's 4 years old.  Or 27.  

And I felt like celebrating.

So, because Atticus has been having her health issues, I have been very interested in finding some healthy homemade treat recipes.  

By the way, we no longer think she could have epilepsy because she has improved so much since we started giving her a daily antihistamine.  In fact, she hasn't gotten sick in a few weeks now, {knock on wood} so we definitely think that the issue is allergy related.

I found the recipe for these treats on Dog Nutrition Naturally.

Sandra, the site's author, has done excellent research on the topic and her site is full of great information.  

Basically, the idea behind these treats is that dogs are carnivores.  And I am no expert, but she explains that dogs do not need carbohydrates in the same way that we do...and carbohydrates make up the bulk of most popular dog food brands out there today.  

So, Atticus' food now is grain-free, but it is chicken based.  In doing my own research on the episodes that Atticus was having, I read that it is fairly common for dogs to be allergic to poultry.  So, I wanted to find a recipe without chicken, too.

Here is the recipe that I found on Sandra's site:

1 large sweet potato, diced and then boiled for about 10 minutes.

And then mashed...I ended up taking the skin out.

1 large egg

1 lb of your choice of ground meat, {not vegan}
I used ground beef, $4.

Also mix in 5 Tbsp of rolled oats and a 1/4 teaspoon
of garlic powder.

Spread it out onto a lightly greased baking sheet
& bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

"that smells good.  is that for me?"

Not sure why this happened...
but at this point you should take the pan
out of the oven and cut the mixture or
use your cookie cutter.

Like this.  And then put it back into the oven at 250 degrees
for another hour.

So, this is how they turned out.

Not how I thought they'd look, but Atticus was very pleased.  

I'm keeping them in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

The recipe for the cupcakes came from DogTreatKitchen.com. 

This recipe calls for whole wheat flour...3 cups, in fact, which seemed like a lot to me.  And I actually ended up reducing the amount because the mixture was so dry.

But I used brown rice flour, to keep the cupcakes gluten free.

2 cups of shredded carrots

mix together with 3 large eggs {oye, that's a lot}
and 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce.

In a separate bowl, mix together 3 cups of gluten free flour,
2 tsp of cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of rolled oats.

Then, slowly, mix the wet and dry ingredients.
Like I said, this was super dry, I did not add all of the flour
and I added some extra applesauce.

It's helpful to wet your fingers and press the dough
into the cupcake liners.

The cupcakes won't rise, so fill them on up.

I made the frosting using reduced fat
cream cheese and applesauce.

I forgot to buy a candle...but this ended up being a lot better, I think.

Plus, putting a yummy cupcake in front of a dog with a lit candle stuck in it probably isn't an awesome idea.

Sweet Atticus, these pictures crack me up.  I am definitely going to frame some.  

I think they would be really cute as a series, maybe with some colorful mattes.  Maybe hanging in the kitchen?

I don't know, but I love them.  And I love her.  

She seems a little sluggish tonight...I'll probably let her have more of the cupcakes, but probably not a whole one at once.  They are very dense, but she loved them!

So, Atticus and I are the same age now.  And all I can think about is how from now on she will be growing older much faster than I am.

It doesn't matter, Atticus is going to live forever.  Until then, I hope you love your life as much as I do.