10 Ways to Celebrate Your Dog’s Birthday

Our four legged fur babies are family, so it is only natural we would want to celebrate their birthdays!

1. Pool Party

If you have a kiddie pool in your backyard, you can turn your dog’s party into a pool one. If you don’t, you can always head to the beach or a dog friendly pool. In our Singapore heat all year round, most of our dogs enjoy cooling off.

Not a birthday party but a beach party all the same!

It’s my birthday and I’ll drink if i want to

2. Dog Cafe Party 

When some of our dogs turned ONE, we had a joint birthday party at Paw Pet a few years ago (time flies! Sob). We ordered a big dog boned doggie cake for them to share, and made them party hats.

Happy Birthday doggies!

Meatballs and Cake

3. Cycling Party

Head to East Coast Park and rent some bikes. Dogs love to run and they can run beside you on your bicycle. Or if you’re like us and have your own bikes, you can make a day of it. We ride along the river and then stop for everyone to have drinks to cool off. Check out one of our cycling posts.

From L to R: Olive, Lucy, Kafka, Lulu and Muddy

From L to R: Vivien with Kafka and Lulu, Tanya with Muddy, Sisi with Lucy and Vicky with Olive

4. Pup-cation

If your dog doesn’t enjoy the company of other dogs, you can treat him to a staycation in one of the few pet friendly hotels in Singapore. Which dog won’t enjoy a bask in the tub and spending the day in a lush robe and bedroom slippers. =P

When’s my bath ready?

Finally away from the hustle and bustle of everyday dog life

5. Dog Park

Round up all your dog’s best pals and head to a park where we may or may not let ours off leash. End it off with doggie pupcakes for all! We love Mount Emily Park and Fort Canning Park. Lots of shade and big green spaces.

Having a ball at Mount Emily Park

Fort Canning Park

6. House Party

The Furry Tales do this a lot. We make use of any reason to celebrate with our dogs- dog birthdays, human birthdays, etc. We order cake, make hats and lets the dogs play (supervised). Here’s a peek into one of our house parties.

Pupcakes by Furrific

TFT and pals

7. Stand Up Paddling

SeaBreeze Water Sports at Siloso Beach in Sentosa is dog friendly and rent boards for $35 per hour. Stand Up Paddling is really fun. Even if you can’t stand up, you can sit or kneel and paddle.

L to R: Sisi with Lucy, Vivien with Kafka and Lulu, and Tanya

8. Pet Cruise

If you have a bigger budget and have a whole day to spare, you can organize a pet cruise for birthday pooch and his best pals. Boat owner, Joe, started this boat company in 2012 and is the only pet cruise company in Singapore. His motor catamaran carries a maximum of 10 pax (including dogs – 1 dog counts as 1 pax). A basic cruise lasts 2 hours and costs S$300. To book, please call 96375009 or email: petcruise88@gmail.com

Lucy and Muddy went on a pet cruise with The Wong Dogs

9. Picnic Party

Pack along a picnic for your pooch, bring some party hats and a mat and head to a secluded spot like Singapore’s Little Guilin in Bukit Batok. Hardly anybody is there during the weekday mornings and you can take pictures without having to crop anyone out. The dogs will enjoy the space and water.

Our dogs enjoying their romp

Pampered pooches get a tent

10. Doga Party

If you like Yoga and you have dogs, combine the two and have a Doga party! Head outdoors, bring your mats and stretch together. Here’s the link to some easy dogs poses with your pooch.

Muddy, Olive, Lucy and Kafka doing their best downward dog poses

 

Stand-Up Paddling (or Sit-Down Paddling?)

Stand up paddling (SUP) has become increasingly popular in recent years, and it was just a matter of time before our dogs got on the bandwagon, or in this case, the paddle board. It’s also a great way to beat the Singapore heat and get out to nature.

The Furry Tales first tried SUP last year on a windy, choppy day…our second attempt this year was a lot calmer and more successful. Needless to say, the dogs who enjoy swimming and are not afraid of the sea did a lot better.

TFT all set to do SUP!

Kafka and Lulu love stand up paddling, or perhaps more accurately, sit down paddling, and don’t want to go home after.

Work those arms harder, mama!

Vivien can’t stop Kaffy from jumping off when he sees Lucy! #TFTvalentines

Olive and Muddy, who don’t like swimming anyway, do not enjoy it. Olive refuses to even get on the board for more than a few minutes, ON THE SHORE. Muddy was persuaded to get onto the board in the water for a little while, but hated every second of it. So they took on the role of life-guard duty, sitting in the shade, sipping ice cold water, all the while watching (and secretly pitying) their friends.

“I will nama-stay with you on land, mama.” Be a warrior.

Lucy loves to swim, but has a hard time staying on the board as she still gets a little nervous of the rocking motion (that could be due to Sisi’s paddling skills too!). Sisi has had to rescue her many times from the water because she would suddenly decide it was time to swim over to Kafka’s board to say hello and dive right in without warning.

Sisi with a little black blob in a pink life vest.

Because sharing is caring, here are a few tips for SUP newbies like us!

1. Size matters. Go with a wider and longer board for better balance and stability, especially if you have bigger dogs.

2. Land exercises. Spend some time on the board, on the sand. Reward your dog for sitting or lying down on the board. If you can, teach the dog to jump off only on command (something Lucy still needs to learn), as they tend to get excited close to shore, going back on land. This will minimize board upsets.

That’s as far as Olive will go. But she still gets treats for getting on the board!

3. Suit up. Have your dog wear a life vest so you can get a good grip and help them up the board if they fall over or jump off. Also, some dogs may not realize how exhausted they get from swimming in the sea and a life jacket keeps them buoyant when they are too tired to paddle. It’s also good practice for us humans to don a jacket.

Lovebirds Lucy and Kafka on their SUP date in their spiffy jackets. #TFTvalentines

4. Don’t go in circles. Change sides while paddling to keep the board moving in a straight line. Just like with kayaking or canoeing, if you paddle on just one side, you will go in a circle.

5. Practice falling off and getting on in the water. It can be tricky to get back on with a scrambling dog, so it’s good to practice and know what to expect.

Lastly, remember to stay hydrated and have fun!

SUP in Singapore can be done at Mana Mana Beach Club at East Coast Park, and they love our dogs too. S$30/hour,(human) life vest included. Best to go on a non-windy day or it’ll be challenging standing, especially with your dogs. After you are done, you can buy food from the hawker centre and eat at one of the stone tables with your dog. That’s what we did.

Extra service with a robe for Lucy.

Olive thanks her mama for not forcing her to do SUP.

So if you want to try something new and spend time with your dogs this weekend, give SUP a try, and let us know how it goes!

Bumming at Tanjong Beach

Sentosa, and specifically Tanjong Beach, is a great place to bring your dog. The Furry Tales make it a point to go there at least once a month. We’re all lucky to have the luxury of flexible working hours so we usually go early on a weekday morning when it is not crowded and not too hot.

Just chilling at Tanjong Beach…

Our dogs love the beach. Even Olive, who hates to swim and abhors baths, likes going to the beach. She will follow the other dogs into shallow water and watch them swim away to fetch some ball or other, then pounce on them again once they reach the shore.

It took numerous trips to the beach before Olive got brave enough to go this deep!

Olive waiting to ambush the rest back on the shore!

On the few not-so-hot days of Singapore, the dogs don’t mind just lying on the deck chairs provided at Tanjong Beach Club, sipping cocktails and getting a tan. They don’t mind it at all. The restaurant and bar is extremely dog-friendly, and their food is good with yummy truffle fries and a relaxed ambience.

Waiting for their mocktails.

On hotter days, the dogs just can’t wait to jump into the cool water. Of course not without first putting on sunscreen and goggles.

Floats: check. Goggles: check. Sunscreen: check.

The humans usually pack a simple picnic breakfast to tide them over until Tanjong Beach Club opens at 11am. The dogs mostly entertain themselves and make new friends. They lead an active social life.

Everyone, get Kafka’s ball!

Looks like Lulu might win.

Muddy has his life vest to make sure he won’t sink on as he’s coaxed into the water.

 

When our dogs get tired of swimming, there’s still plenty for them to do. They like to look for buried treasure (sometimes they get lucky and dig up a chicken bone or two, especially at the outdoor seating portion, so be careful when they start digging near the tables).

Digging is definitely a favored activity at the beach!

And sometimes they get lucky!

Mama, I found roots!

They be yummy!

They also like to interact with the humans.

Kafka loves to play tug. He will bug everyone until he gets to play!

We take every opportunity to practice their recall. Especially at the beach where there are plenty of distractions. Be armed with high value treats!

Masha is the treat dispenser here.

And when all the excitement has passed, we sit with our dogs and contemplate the deeper things in life.

Olive ponders her lost stick.

There’s plenty of parking available at Tanjong Beach. The other beaches on Sentosa (Siloso, Palawan) are not as dog-friendly as Tanjong Beach and we have never been told to leash them up here. It does get crowded on the weekends with families and young children so we prefer going on the weekdays.

Beach days get us away from the hustle and bustle of Singapore city life, and Lulu just about sums up how we feel when we are done.

Lulu LOVES the beach!