i don't know if it was because it was cloudy and rainy outside or rocket just didn't want to turn one, but he was in a grumpy mood yesterday.

yuki was uncharacteristically cheerful and made good on her promise she made last year, and totally made rocket's birthday all about herself.

rocket was suddenly fearful of his cake and yuki took that opportunity to eat as much as she could of both slices of cake.

when rocket decided it was 'safe' to eat, he ate what yuki had left on the plates and floor.

i guess i will see if their attitudes are different in august, when it's yuki's 2nd birthday. below is the super easy recipe for rocket's barkday cake.

barkday cake

ingredients:

1/2 lb lean ground beef

1/2 lb lean ground pork

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup veggies (i used a organic frozen mix)

3/4 cup shredded cheese

1 egg

potatoes, that have been peeled, chopped and boiled. you will use this for the 'frosting'.

directions:

preheat oven to 350 f. grease a cake pan, i used two of the smallest cake pans i have.

using your hands, combine all of the above ingredients (except potatoes) in a bowl.

press meat evenly into prepared cake pans and bake for 45 minutes-1 hour, or until completely cooked.

meanwhile, place your cooked potatoes in a potato ricer or similar device and mash into a bowl.

once the meat has cooled down, but is still warm, 'frost' the meat with the potatoes. basically you will use your hands to scoop up the potatoes and mold the 'frosting' on to the cake.

refrigerate unused portion, should be good for 2-3 days. i like mixing it in with their everyday kibble.

 rocket's first birthday will be this wednesday and it's hard to imagine that he was once this tiny. rocket has been such a great influence on yuki, i'm so thankful he has become a part of our family. below is a list of a few things you may or may not know about rocket.

things you may not know about rocket:

1. he is such an alpha when around other dogs. he let's everyone dog know he is the boss. but around human's he is very submissive. yuki will have a staring contest with humans and will bark her demands. not rocket. he won't even look in your eyes for a second, he quickly looks away when human eye contact is made and he has not barked a demand to a human once.

2. speaking of barking, rocket it actually not that barky, at least for a schnauzer. the only time he really barks is at the birds outside and on our walks (can be controlled with treats). but around the home he is very quiet. when yuki and rocket welcome us home yuki has an excited bark, but not rocket he greets us with silence and a wagging tail.

3. rocket does not like yuki's 'unstable behavior'. whenever she is barking excitely at us when we come home, or when she's barking at a guest, rocket will correct her. when she starts barking, rocket will block the person she is barking at with his body, and either bite her mouth bitey face style or jump on her and push her out of the way. i will actually let rocket do this, because i find it quiets her a lot faster when rocket is telling her to be quiet.

4. rocket still thinks he's a tiny puppy. he likes jumping on us and also forcing his body to fit in small spaces that he cannot fit in.

5. rocket is really whiney. so much so i call him 'cry baby'. while he doesn't bark at us, he does actually whine, a lot.

rocket after he's suddenly dropped to the ground.

oh, look. rocket's in a very deep sleep all of a sudden. this picture is the very next shot after the one above. it's amazing how still he is and how he can't even hear me. it must be because he's been sleeping for a while.

you might be asking yourself, is that a laughing schnauzer? yes folks, it is indeed a laughing schnauzer. rocket is laughing because he showed mom. actually we both showed mom. 

you might be wondering, how exactly did we 'show' mom. well, you first have to understand schnauzers. if there's one thing you should know, is that one of our original purposes besides being ratters, was to be watch-dogs. we may no longer be used for these purposes, but the instinct is still there. 

mom decided to pull the blinds down on the backdoor window. apparently rocket's 'ear-drum-bursting-high-pitched-bark' at the birds invading our backyard, was giving mom a 'headache'. mom may think his bark is annoying, but what's even more annoying is blinding our view. we do have watchdog duties!

little by little we've been eating our way through the blinds so we can do our daily watchdog duties. we love to bark and trying to jump through the glass to get to the enemy!

as you can see, she didn't stop us, and she won't be able to either. where there's a will, there's a way.

your move next, mom.

okay, so last week i was talking about how rocket was weird and i still think he's weird, but now i think he might be closer to almost being a pawesome schnauzer. i said almost.

just take a look at what rocket did to his harness. you can see how rocket's harness is supposed to look by comparing it to mine. he chewed right through it, while it was on him, within a matter of minutes!

i know, right? you'd think i, yuki the aggressive chewer, would have done this. but, no. it was all rocket and his harness is thicker than mine! i never thought the day would come where i'd actually be proud of my little brother rocket.

when mom first brought rocket home, i thought he was a little strange. but, i tolerated it and just thought he was this way because he was just a little puppy. now, he's approaching the one year mark and he still does strange things, like laying on floors and grass. everyone knows i only lay down on fabric, can't have my silken furs touch anything else.

what's wrong with you rocket! just look at him! he saw the sun shining warm and bright and he decided he wanted to take a little nap out on the lawn.

why are you eyes closed rocket??

naturally, i was a bit concerned with his odd behavior so i had to make sure he was okay.

                             leave me alone yuki!! can't you see i'm trying to sleep!

now, if you don't mind, i'm going to roll over because my tummy needs a little sun.

see yuki's wet beard?

well, i had to give it a thorough wash since yuki decided she wanted to take a really close look at how boy dog private parts look when they are peeing. rocket does not lift his leg, he squats, so yuki had her face under his body to examine. she got a little too close and was splashed in the beard. they both have this strange curiosity about looking at each other's body functions. they are fascinated by them. once, when rocket was a small puppy, he wanted to watch yuki go poo. he stood right under yuki's bum when she was going. thankfully their poo is pretty solid, because when the poo dropped, it literally bounced off his head and fell onto the grass. as soon as that happened he was quickly whisked away to the bathtub. they don't eat each other's poo, nor do they eat their own. i just think it's funny how they have this insatiable curiosity to learn about how things work, and i love it.

if you squint you might be able to see the mountains in the distance. normally, on a clear day they're perfectly visible, but today they're covered by a curtain of rain and sleet.

when i opened the front door, yuki went crazy when she saw all the small balls of ice pounding the pavement. she loves whenever ice falls onto the floor from the fridge's icemaker. she will swoop in, pick up the ice cube off the floor, take off to hide and eat her treat. i could imagine what was running through her mind when she saw all this ice from the fridge in the sky.

 rocket, look at all the ice!!

oh, mom. why'd ya have to make us come inside when all the ice started falling?

                                 promise i'll be a good girl if you let me outside.