Thinking of throwing your dog a puppy party?
Your dog is a member of your family, so why would you not celebrate their special day. If you’re planning to celebrate your dog’s birthday, we believe you’re looking forward to creating some special memories with your beloved pup.
Here are some steps you can implement to throw a successful party for your pup!
1: Send out the invites
Invite your dog’s friends (and some of yours). If your pup has a couple of doggie pals that he or she likes to run with invite them to the festivities.
We suggest inviting your dog’s friends from the dog daycare, neighborhood, family, and street friends that your dog might have. Ensure that you specify the type of dog gathering to everyone, i.e., whether you’re inviting large dogs only or small dogs. In this way, the gathered dogs will be comfortable with one another. Also, keep an appropriate human-to-canine ratio at your dog’s birthday party to help supervise the energetic gathering.
Saftey tip: make sure all of the dog’s you invite to the party are up to date on vaccinations and dewormings. The core vaccines that are warranted in large gaterhings are of course rabies, distemper (usually DHLPP), and Bordetella (for kennel cough).
2. Decide on a venue
Next, you’ve to settle for a venue that best serves your purpose. Usually, it’s best to opt for open space because you’ll have lots of dog guests.
If you try accommodating them in your house, you might have to deal with lots of accidents here and there, which might leave your house in a mess.
We recommend arranging this birthday party in your front yard or back yard. If you don’t have a yard, you can arrange it in the nearby dog park or you can always book a place in your local dog daycare.
Once you have the place arranged, decorate it appropriately. You can go with a themed backdrop, streamers, and birthday hats for everyone. Ensure that you set in a festive vibe.
Saftey Tip: Ensure that whatever the venue it is securely fenced in, there’s no better way to ruin a party than with runaway guest
3. Decide on a menu
Even though this is a dog party, the menu is still going to be the highlight of the festivities.
Of course, you have to have a dog cake and there are so many places to purchase dog-friendly cakes. Some places even deliver dog cakes. Alternatively, you can bake your own.
Make sure to put things on the menu that can be served to your guest’s humans as well. You can really make it fun and arrange dog-themed food for your human guests, such as dog-themed cupcakes and pupsicles.
There are plenty of great recipes for dog cakes and cupcakes that can be made from healthy human ingredients. Here’s a quick recipe for a cake, Pinterest is also a great place to find recipes or you can check out our recipe page for a ton of great recipes.
Apart from the cake, we also recommend arranging separate bowls of dog treats for each canine friend you invite. Also, arrange separate water bowls for each dog. Otherwise, all of them may attack one bowl making a mess.
Follow these rules of thumb when deciding on a menu
- Remember that dogs’ stomachs are usually not used to eating a variety of foods like we are, so keep the menu for them fairly simple. Stick to limited-ingredient treats or those that have no more than 5 ingredients
- Before baking a cake, make sure you know which flours are best. You can read our list of the best flours to use in dog treats here
- Check with your dog’s owners to see if their dogs may have any allergies
- Keep the treat table inside or up high so that no dogs are tempted to snag all of the treats at once
4: Play Games
Dog owners and their pups alike will love playing some games because what’s a party without them right?
Some fun things to do are:
- Set up an obstacle course for the dogs and keep track of who wins
- Scavenger hunts are always fun for dogs and humans alike
- Have random toys placed in the space so dogs can play with each other and you can also place balls around so owners can play fetch with the dogs
- Make it into a costume theme party and choose the winner
Don’t forget to have prizes for the winners!
5: Get some Gifts & Goodies
It’s a dog birthday party, so of course, you should pass out doggie ‘swag’ bags! You can arrange goodie bags containing dog treats, cookies, and squeaky, interactive toys.
However, ensure that you make your birthday boy or girl feel a bit more special than others. Arrange a unique gift for your furry pal. We recommend getting your furry friend a custom pet portrait.
Custom pet portraits basically refer to portraits that contain your dog’s picture on them. It could be printed or painted. You can hang this portrait in your dog’s room or perhaps in your living room, so they feel more like a part of your house. Even better than that, you can have these custom pet portraits printed in products like pillows or mugs and have them distributed to your human guests as well. Final Thoughts
Author bio: Shawn Mack is an experienced content writer who offers ghostwriting, copy-writing, and blogging services. His educational background in the business and technical fields has given him a broad base from which to approach many topics. He is also fond of writing interesting articles on technology & digital marketing related topics.
