It’s Pawty Time!

If you’ve ever considered throwing a “bark”-day party for your dog, or a “purr”-fect holiday fete for your cat, you know that while getting a bunch of animals together with food and activities sounds delightful, it’s also potentially a “cat”-astrophic event (sorry, got carried away with the puns). It can also be really fun, though, and it’s a great way to celebrate your pet and hang out with your other pet-parent friends.

A pet party is really just like a kid party (with more potty clean-up)—you’ll need to pick a good venue, make sure there are enough yummy treats to go around, and have lots of activities to keep all your wild guests occupied. So write out your furry guest list and follow these tips for an awesome pet celebration:

The Guest List
While your pet doesn’t need to know every guest, do make sure that everyone you invite is well-socialized and can handle a little excitement.

Venue
Ideally, you’ll want to have your pawty in an outdoor location. Clean-up will be much easier, and you won’t have to stress out over table leg scratching or sofa chewing. If an outdoor party isn’t possible, you can still have everyone over to your home—just designate a specific area of your house where the festivities will take place, and use gates to make sure nobody wanders. If you can, remove all furniture from the area so everyone can run around and you can relax a little. Wherever you have your party, remember that there needs to be plenty of space for the pets to run around and play.

Food
Get creative and try out some yummy homemade treat recipes. (For some great frozen summer treat recipes, click here). When you feed everyone, make sure each guest has their own bowl—you don’t want to risk your invitees fighting over food. Space pets out and have their parents stay close. And don’t forget to have food and drinks for your fellow humans, too!

Activities
Bored guests may act out, so have plenty of exciting things around for them to do. Stock up on tennis balls, have a costume contest, and fill a basin with water and have the animals bob for toys.

Goodbyes
Don’t schedule a party longer than one to two hours; that’s more than enough time for everyone to have fun—any longer and your guests may get restless (or just fall asleep!). And no party is complete without fun goodie bags for your guests to take home with them. As everyone is leaving, give them a bag with some treats and/or a fun little toy. Consider giving away some goodies to the pet parents too, such as a DIY pet photo magnet with their pet’s smiling face in it!

A great pawty can be planned on any budget, and your pet will love all the attention and play. Got any other pet party tips? Tell us in the comments!

Tagged Newsletter, Pet Parties