Speaking of dogs, neighbors, and pandemics...

Almost a year ago when we booked a house in Florida near the beach we hadn't really been thinking the world might still be in a pandemic. We'd just gotten back from a cruise where we'd heard about the coronavirus and were thankful our ship hadn't gotten stranded anywhere because of it. But did we really think almost a year later we'd be still talking about it and worrying about traveling to Florida? Ooof. Well thankfully the guy we are renting the house from is really nice (read NOT) and won't let us change our reservation or give us a refund in anyway, we tried in July... so we are driving to Florida in February! (yes I know this post is posting after... I'm sure it was a great trip but here I sit a few days before Christmas it seems a bit daunting.) Anyway... Something I hadn't considered in all of this - what should we do with Bernard? It's NOT a good plan to take him with... Guess we'll pay as much to board him as our rental cost... Yikes! Then steps in the best neighbor in the history of neighbors. Our neighbor Val said "Oh I'll take him!" Wait what?! Her dogs Carl and Sully LOVE playing with Bernard, and "what's one more dog?" Oh... have you spent much time with our naughty bubby? We opted to do a trial run on Christmas Day since we'll be gone for some of it. We are sweetening the deal with these dog biscuits. We tried a different recipe first - something more simple - but it surely didn't work. This one was amazing, the dough rolled out like magic, the kids cut the biscuits out with the bone cutter, and we are set for a Christmas gift for the boys! We call her dogs "the boys." We did sneak one to Bernard and he was in love, so these dog biscuits? They are a winner, just like our neighbor.

Homemade Dog Treats
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine pumpkin, peanut butter, eggs, and oil in a bowl. Add in baking soda and whole wheat flour. Stir until a stiff dough forms. Knead dough or mix just until flour is incorporated.
Roll out dough with a rolling pin and use a cookie cutter to cut out dog bone shapes, or just bake into little circles like cookies. Bake for 15 minutes.