Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas everyone!  Or happy Tuesday to all the non-Christians out there.  We had a great morning here.  Things were quiet it was just me, Ben, Kerrigan, Copley, Nova and foster dog George.  Our celebration started last night when I did my baking.  Thanks to cake mix that came in this month's BarkBox the dogs got some baked goods too.

 This "Puppy cake" mix was really cool.  It is made in the USA with only a few ingredients and is colored with beet powder so it gets our seal of approval.  The recipe called for 1 egg, 3/4 cup of water and 3tbs of vegetable oil, similar to most human box cake.  I decided to use coconut oil because I know my dogs love the taste of it and it is pretty healthy.  The recipe seems to have worked out just fine but I did have to melt the coconut oil because it has solidified in this winter house temperature.

 I had a gingerbread man cake pan so I used that to make little cupcakes!  They are perfect for my little dogs plus they are festive for the holidays.

 Here they are iced with the unflavored yogurt frosting that came in the pack.  Not only were they cute but they also were a big hit with the dogs.  Keep in mind Copley and George would eat ANYTHING so that is probably not saying much but Kerri will walk away from food sometimes and she gobbled these right up.

Now we come to Christmas morning.  First the dogs helped us open our gifts....  Yeah "helped."  Here are Copley, Kerri and George "helping."

Nova was petrified of the present opening process, just like most things but she did get in on the action when we opened the dog presents.  I think my dogs might actually have gotten more stuff than us this year.  First we opened a package from our friend Mosby and his humans

 We got two cool toys and some chew sticks, I think they were tendon wrapped in chicken?  At least that is what they looked like.

Nova is doing so much better.  Looks how brave she is in this picture!  She is still very uneasy around people but she is making so much progress.  When I think about how she must have spent last Christmas I almost could cry.  Now she gets to spend the rest of her life happy, well fed and well loved.  This is only the beginning for Nova and I hope next Christmas she will be able to wear a tacky sweater like Kerri and cuddle up next to the family on the couch while we watch TV.  If I could take all of her scared away right now I would, but these things take time.  Her life only gets better from here on out.

Back to the presents you will see Kerri modeling the contents of the stockings.  Each dog got a crinkly holiday toy and an organic oat and peanut butter dog treat.  The rats also got one of those treats, they are a big fan of anything with oats in it.

Nova LOVES her crinkly toy and has been carrying it around her pen.  You really never know what she will love and what she will be pitch terrified about.  Also you may be asking why there is a pillow in the chihuahua palace?  It is because my amazing husband has been waking up at 5 AM every night to change Nova's pee pads and to lay down in there and sleep for a few hours so she can get used to us but still be in her safe place.  That's right, Ben is sleeping in an X pen on the floor to help out a scared chihuahua.  I love my husband.

The last gift I have pictures of (there are more toys too, but I am slow releasing those) is Copley's favorite.  My parents sent out 6 HUGE braided bully sticks.  Even Kerri likes getting in on the giant chews.

Merry Christmas everyone!