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From custom cat treats to rented venues, birthday celebrations for pets are bigger than everCat in a birthday hat? Pets are the guests of honor at these parties. Photograph by Veselina Alexandrova/Getty Images.
baker Sheila Raebel’s birthday cakes look like rich chocolate-covered confections. But her clientele leans toward the four-legged, furry, and chocolate-intolerant, so she’s mastered a cocoa-colored frosting made with carob, layered over a peanut-butter base. The owner ofin Arlington, Raebel has made countless birthday cakes for dogs over the years. Occasionally, she’ll get a request for a feline client, such as cat food molded into the shape of a fish. According to Raebel, the demand for pet birthday bashes has grown in the past five years, driven mainly by millennials. These hosts take cues from kids’ birthdays, hiring vendors and sending guests home with dog-treat goodie bags. Vienna’s Sarah Faisal is among the pet parents leaning into the trend. “It wasn’t in the cards for me to have human children,” says Faisal. “So are my whole world, and everything that I do in my life really revolves around them.” For her mini goldendoodle Mamba’s second-birthday party, Faisal hosted a backyard fiesta. More than 20 canine guests attended, dining on dog-friendly empanadas fromin Falls Church. A caricature artist sketched pup portraits. Faisal is currently organizing a birthday bash for her youngest mini-doodle, Mookie. He was born on Pi Day, so she’s in the market for some dog-friendly pizzas. Finding canine catering is now a priority as guest lists are shifting. “It’s more common to have a full birthday party with dogs in attendance,” says Raebel. “Before, it was like, ‘We’re going to have a little family birthday party for our dog with the humans coming.’ ” She recalls a particularly extravagant canine pool party in Bethesda where she stocked several glass canisters with homemade dog biscuits to create a luxe treat bar. Milestone birthdays in particular call for an elaborate celebration. Chevy Chase event planner Stacy Heit tapped into her expertise when planning a “bark mitzvah” for her dachshund, Nathan. The 13th-birthday party at District Dogs included a ceremony and reception, just like a traditional bar mitzvah. For the first half, Nathan donned a custom yarmulke and prayer shawl; in lieu of a Torah portion, Heit lifted him up–style and made a speech in his honor. The wiener dog changed into a tie for the post-ceremony soirée, which featured a “kosher hot dog” theme and Ben’s Chili Bowl catering for 25 human guests. Meanwhile, Nathan’s cohort snacked on cake from the dog bakery. Heit also set up “painting” stations for the animals: She filled plastic baggies with a canvas and a few squirts of paint, then smeared some peanut butter on top of the bag, letting the dogs go to town. The entire celebration, including a professional photographer, cost $1,150, but Heit has no regrets about going all out for Nathan, who passed away four months later. “It brought me so much joy because I had never seen him that happy and that engaged with everyone around,” she says. “He knew: ‘This is for me, and you are all here for me.’ ”
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