How to do I throw a birthday party for my dog?
As a dog parent, you most likely enjoy watching your dog have fun. If it’s your dog’s birthday or adoption anniversary day, you probably want to go all out to make him or her feel appreciated. Instead of posting about it on your social media where your dog won’t see it, why not organize a small party with close friends to celebrate your dog’s big day?
Here are some helpful tips on throwing a birthday party for my dog to get the festivities going.
1. Pick Out the Theme
First, you need to choose a unique theme. For this, you need to think outside the box. Ditch the cliché paw-printed napkins and tablecloths and instead go for a much different angle. Find out what your dog has been into lately and use that to your advantage. If they’ve shown an increasing love for a particular color recently, you can incorporate it into your theme plans to help them settle in comfortably at the gathering.
2. Craft and Send Out the Invites
Before sending out the party invites, you need to make a guest list. Ensure that the people you invite to the party are dog people and won’t mind the dogs at the event. You can also ask them to bring their canine babies along.
Although other dogs are encouraged to the party, you need to make sure that said dogs are accounted for in size. Make sure to keep the large dogs and small dogs aside. Often, small dogs can feel intimidated by the large ones, while the large ones can be aggressive towards the tiny ones.
Pay special attention to your dog’s response to other dogs. If they don’t like being in a crowd, you can have a few neighbour canines come over for the party to relieve your pup of its crowd-related anxiety.
If the gathering involves a large crowd of dogs, you may have to get the children away from the venue. You can also teach the young ones how to behave around the dogs to avoid unnecessary trips to the hospital for dog bites and scratches. Always ensure that the human and dog ratio is balanced for maximum adult supervision.
3. Pick Out a Venue
Planning on where to throw the dog’s party can be tricky on its own. Dogs are naturally very energetic animals, and any form of excitement gets them all over the place. For the party, you will have to consider a larger space than a house. If you have a backyard, then that could be your cheapest, best, and safest option.
If you don’t own a backyard, then you can try and organize a pup-friendly venue. Consult with your local animal shelter or pup daycare and inquire whether the daycare can rent you a venue for your dog’s party for a couple of hours. You can also hold the vent at your local dog park. Always be sure to put up flyers advertising the day so that other people can decide whether they would want to attend or not.
4. Dress Up
A big part of having fun is dressing up. Much like any costume party, your dog’s party also requires that you dress up a little. Encourage your guests to also dress up in dog-themed outfits or any other outfits of your choice.
You can also dress up your cute canine in a personalized outfit perfect for the occasion to get them picture-ready. Dressing the dog up lets all the attendees know who the birthday dog is.
5. The Snacks
For the party to be complete, you need a cake for the birthday dog. If you’re feeling creative, you can bake your dog a cute cake with their name on it. If you aren’t in the baking mood, you can visit the local pet store or bakery and ask them to bake one for you with a personalized message.
Your local pet store has a large variety of toys and treats that you can choose from to ensure that all the invited doggies have something to nibble on while the festivities continue. If the party is in the summer, you can hand out sweet popsicles to the guests to keep them cool.
Another factor to remember is that you should always ensure that you have plenty of water bowls available. The last thing you need to hear or see is dogs growling at each other because of thirst.
6. Party Games
This is probably the make-or-break for the whole party. If you want your pup to fully enjoy himself on his special day, you need to incorporate some bit of playful fun into the day’s itinerary. This includes having a doggy piñata, plenty of balls for every dog to play with, fetch sticks and chew toys for every pup.
You can also take the canines to the park to run around and play in the puddles of water. This way, your dog is guaranteed to have all the fun he can have.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need to plan something large for your canine to have fun. You need to understand your dog’s preferences and use it to your advantage to give them the best day of their life.
