You're Invited to a Doggie Party

Last Saturday Adler attended her first doggie bday party. One of our friends who owns another Bernese Mountain Dog invited Adler to help Tucker celebrate his first birthday. Always looking for ways that we can tire Adler out, especially on weekends, we dropped by thinking that we'd stay for a half an hour or so. When we arrived at the dog park, the entrance was marked with several multi-colored helium balloons. You know the kind you might buy for a friend or a special occasion party. Well, I guess this was a special occasion. For once, Adler raced into the dog park and met up with the three other Bernese Mountain Dogs and the several other dogs that were already there for the party. Usually Adler is a little shy when she gets to the park and likes to sniff other dogs, not have them sniff her. She reminds me of my neice who is shy when she meets other kids but once she warms up she doesn't want to leave. Anyway, Adler gets to play with all the dogs but I'm especially interested in the ones that are her same breed. I wonder if Adler knows that these dogs look like her. Probably not. Their paws are huge though in comparison to Adler's. Only problem is that Adler probably outweighs them by about 20 pounds. Seeing these other dogs just confirms that Adler needs to lose some weight.

At the dog party there are a bunch of dog "parents" milling around, all trading stories about their pups. How old is your dog? What kind of food does she eat? Can she do any tricks? I swear it's the same questions that mothers and fathers ask when I take my neices to the playground. Anyway, my friend is well prepared to celebrate her dog's birthday in style. She has made lemonade vodka and cupcakes for the dog "parents" and had a fancy Chicago dog bakery bake a peanut butter cake for the dogs. All dogs got a piece. Adler just couldn't wait for her piece and jumped up and snagged it off the plate of some poor lady who thought if she held it high enough Adler wouldn't get it. It was funny to watch Adler stuff that much peanut butter into her mouth at one time. I swear I thought she might choke without something to wash it down given that she refused to drink from the special dog water fountains in the park. After the dogs down the peanut butter pie, my friend hands out the doggie bags. I'm not kidding. Every dog at the party got a goody bag just like a kid would for attending a party. In it were bones, rawhide and a brightly colored tennis ball. Adler was having so much fun but after an hour and a half we had to call it a day. Our brief stop had turned into an hour and a half of doggone fun and the groceries we picked up on the way there were melting in the car. What a party. I was so impressed that I had to share the experience with my sister in law and coworkers. They all had the same response - these people must not have kids?! You're right. They don't. But I guarantee they would love their dogs just as much. I know I will.