It has been a whole year since you brought that cute little puppy home and now it is time for his first doggy birthday party. Never thrown a puppy party you say? You are in luck because today I am going to share some tips for throwing a dog birthday party that will be remembered by all.
Dog birthday parties are very similar to celebrating your birthday; except you need to adjust the food & games to what you dog loves to eat & do.
Dog Party Decorations
Here are a list of great ideas for decorating your house, apartment or condo for a dog’s day in heaven.
Cut napkins into paw or bone shapes (or you can look to buy precut napkins)
Create happy birthday flyers using construction paper and gluing a picture of your dog onto the paper. Then add Happy Birthday with your dog’s name & age. Place a few of these up.
Hang a Happy Birthday sign but add either pictures of your dog, paws, bones or any combination to the Happy Birthday sign.
Cut out paws and bones from brown & black construction paper. Cut 2 foot long strips of ribbon for each cut out, tape one end of the ribbon to the paw or bone cut out. Tape the other end of the ribbon to the ceiling for a great party effect that stays with the dog theme.
Take some wash away chalk and color paw prints on your sidewalk or driveway to the door of the party. A great way to get people in the party mood as they walk up.
You can strategically place some stuffed animals that are dogs (or other animals too) around the house or condo for some extra decorations.
Take some dog toys and hang them from the ceiling or a shelf. Adds to the paper paws & bones made earlier.
Dog Food, Treats & Drinks
Get 3-5 kinds of dog treats that are different shapes and fill a seperate bowl with each kind of treat. So 3 kinds of treats you will need 3 bowls. You can kick it up a notch by using paw and bone shaped bowls.
You will also want at least one bowl of water because the dogs are going to get thirsty from all the playing with other dogs. I recommend you have 3 bowls set out so there is plenty of water and less reason for the dogs to be possessive or fight over the water.
Put out some small baggies so your guests can make a doggy bag of treats to take home. This will reduce the time you spend preparing for the party and ensures everyone gets treats their dog will like.
Dog Owner’s Treats & Drinks
You will also want to make sure that all the dog owners have a snack & drink throughout the party. Muffins, cookies, cakes or cupcakes are great. Feeling extra creative? Try making the cookies, muffins or a cake into the shape of a dog head, paw or bone too!
Make sure to put out some carrots, celery and crackers for those who want some healthy food. For drinks a pitcher of water along with some fruit punch are usually great hits. Going for a more adult party? Add some beer & wine to the drink selection.
Dog Birthday Party Games
Now for some dog gone fun with some doggy olympics! Here are some cheap and easy games to setup for the dogs.
Fetch Race: Get 3 to 6 dogs lined up and have some one stand in front with a ball, frisbee or other fetching toy. Throw the toy and see what dog gets to the toy & brings it back.
Tunnel Crawl: This works best if you have a spare piece of drainage pipe to use as a tunnel or a fabric tunnel designed for dogs. Since it is very likely you don’t have those try using some chairs. That’s right, take 4-6 chairs and line them up so all the feet/legs are in line and there is a tunnel between the chair legs. Have each dog owner hold a treat just in front of thier dog and coax them through the tunnel of chairs. Make sure to reward each dog that makes it through; however, you can give an extra special treat to the team that finishes first.
High Jump: Give each dog owner 3 treats to see how high their dog will jump. Record the height and reward the highest jumper. Easy, cheap, fun.
Top Trick Dog: Have each dog & owner perform a couple tricks, then let everyone vote on their favorite trick.
Most Tricks Dog: See what dog & owner couple can perform the most tricks in 60 seconds / one minute.
Dog Prizes
After each game and at the end of the party you want to give each dog a prize to finish off a day of rewards, treats and tricks. I prefer giving out treats or toys the dogs can use but you can also give out ribbons, medals or trophies to the owners. Feeling extra generous? Give treats to the dogs and ribbons to the owner.
Now you have everything you need for a fun dog birthday party. Did I leave a great idea out? Share below in the comments.