Everyone loves a party, so why not organise one for your dog
Any occasion is a good excuse, his birthday, the anniversary of the day you brought him home from the shelter - whatever.
It doesn't have to be too elaborate. Just choose a venue and buy a few bags of dog treats and you are almost there.
Choosing A Venue For Your Dog Party
Before settling on the venue, there are a few things you need to think about. Firstly, is this really a dog party or just an excuse to socialize with your friends? How many humans will be accompanying each dog? The time of year – Is the weather hot or cold? Are you prepared to spend money to rent some premises?
The easiest and cheapest venue would be inside your own home but do you really want a group of dogs, some of which won’t be as well behaved as yours, paddling around your home.
What about outside in your yard. If you have a large backyard this could be the way to go. You will need to consider the security. Is your fencing good enough to keep the dogs inside if they are off the leash? If you do decide on your backyard, will your own dog show aggression in defending his own territory?
A dog park is a good choice. Some of the guests may be regular visitors there anyway.
You could use a dog-friendly human park. In most cases you would need to book your space with the authority that runs the park.
Who will you invite?
If this is truly a dog party, you will start by making a list of the dogs (who are the main guests) You could confine the doggie guest list to just the dogs your dog already knows. He may have met them on his daily visits to the dog park or when you are taking him for his walk around the local area. You could expand the list to include the dogs of your friends – who your dog may or may not have met. If you are bringing a group of dogs together who do not know each other, quite a bit of time will be taken up introducing them all to each other.
Once you have the dog list, it’s time to think about the minders. How many humans will be accompanying each dog. If you plan to invite children as well, then safety is a real consideration. Each dog owner will need to keep and eye on their dog and make sure there is no interaction between him and the kids which could lead to aggression.
Sending Out The Invitations.
When you send out the invitations, mention a finishing time as well as a starting time. A couple of hours should be enough.
Are you expecting a present for your dog. If so, you could indicate the type of thing you think is appropriate. It may just be a small bag of treats or something similar. On the other hand, you could just say that gifts are not expected but if participants donated a bag of food to the local shelter, that would be appreciated.
What Food Should You Prepare.
You have to think about food for both your dog and human guests.
If you intend to have a cake for the dogs, make it healthy. Here are some dog cake recipe ideas.
Related Article: Food Which Is Toxic For Dogs
Make a separate cake for the human chaperones.
The rest of the dog food should be healthy treats which should be handed to the owners to pass on to their dogs.
There should be plenty of clean fresh water for the dogs.
other considerations
Dogs will generally be less aggressive to each other if they are off the leash.
Work out where the dogs are to be taken to relieve themselves.
There should be an area set aside to take dogs who just need some time-out.
Good luck with the party. I hope all dog and human guests enjoy themselves.
