K9s have their cakes, eat ’em too

The labrador’s ‘parents’ threw a party for him at a stud farm, with 25 dogs on the guest list. Neha Tara Mehta tells the entire story.

Troy’s first birthday was nearly as historic as his name. The labrador’s ‘parents’ Bhavna and Vikram Trivedi, a Mumbai-based couple, threw a party for him at a stud farm, with 25 dogs on the guest list, where Troy woofed approvingly as the Trivedis cut a cake.

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Puppy love also makes for good business. Says Urmila Dabholkar of Mumbai’s Tailwaggers Pet Salon, “We have organised dog birthday parties at resorts, where games include lemon-and-spoon race while walking your dog, owner and dog lookalikes, musical chairs and even dog Tarot.”

For a fee starting at Rs 100 per canine guest, Bangalore’s Yashbans Kennels sends out invites to pets, decorates the party venue with doggie cartoon characters, arranges for games and separate cakes for dogs and their owners, and even gives out return gifts.

Attendants make sure there are barks but no bites. Yashbans also has 45 party-trained dogs that can be invited if needed. “We have a game called ‘Which dog loves its owner the most’. No dog loses,” says Rishya Hemchandra of Yashbans.

In Delhi, most pet parties are still amateurish. Abhinav, 19, celebrated his five-week-old boxer Buzinder’s homecoming, with 25 other pet pooches. “I first had to send my parents out, and then push the furniture around.” The party toll: Two of his mother’s pet vases.