A Dog Party for Tess: 10 Years

 
My pup's 10th birthday was nearing when I realized something astonishing: in the past year of blogging regularly, my blog readers have never been "formally" introduced to my black Labrador Retriever, Tess.

So, I thought I should make a blog post. The photo above is Tess. She is a very lively dog for her age and adores being around her doggie friends. Much like her human sister (me) when she was little, she eats anything, including rocks.

I was 7 when my family adopted Tess from a private owner in Woodinville, Washington. It was an extremely long drive that had us exhausted, but so very worth it when we received our very own puppy.

You might ask, how did we know which puppy to choose from out of the liter? Of course these puppies were all black Labs, but only one stood out to us as my dad knelt down to pet it--this one was our Tess, who had jumped into my dad's arms and started wagging her puppy tail.

At the time, I had a babysitter named Tess, who turned out to be my teacher's daughter (another story for a different day). I adored this human Tess and thought she brought over the yummiest soup on the planet. Therefore, in my all-wise 7 year old mind, I thought it would be a fantastic idea to name my pet after my funny babysitter. Tess, or "Tessie" as I call her, has remained my favorite pet and changed my life in substantial ways.

August 26th marked her 10th birthday, and yesterday we enjoyed our annual "dog party" for her with 8 or 9 of her best friends.

This is our friend Ivan. Believe me, he NEVER gets a break from those dogs. I am grateful to him and our other human friends that make time on Labor Day for our pup party.

A couple tips for hosting your own dog party:

• First and foremost: have it outside in a wide open space so the pals can roam free without feeing claustrophobic.
• Get or create a table for the human food, at least 6-7 feet tall, and make sure to set up a bee trap nearby in case the pesky yellow jackets pay a visit.
• Create little party favor "treat bags" (get the pun?) for the doggie guests, and keep them inside until the party's over.
• Make sure to set out enough chairs for all your human guests and set out big buckets filled with water for the canine buddies.
• Last but not least: don't forget an endless supply of treats, or you won't have happy campers!