How to Throw a Party for Your Dog

Koda isn’t just my dog, he’s my best friend. For the past year, he has been exactly what I needed him to be, exactly when I needed it. He has been my protector, my snuggle buddy, my dinner date, and even my shoulder to cry on. He has helped me adjust to the army lifestyle without completely losing my mind. I owe so much to my Koda Bear.

I have been planning his birthday for months. The little dude has his own circle of friends. How could I not? A lot of people think I am absolutely crazy for throwing him a party. But I know there are a lot of people out there who feel the same way I feel about their own dogs. This post is for you.

Where to start.

The first step in planning any party is choosing a theme. For Koda, that was simple. As a puppy he would watch Despicable Me to calm himself down before bed. He LOVES minions. So I knew I had to throw him a minion party.

Next you’ll want to lock in a date, time, and location for your party. I live in an apartment, so having a bunch of dogs over wasn’t an option for me. I started looking for shelters to reserve, but came up empty. I ended up deciding that it would be extremely fun to just have everyone meet at the dog park. It made it simple.

The next step is inviting furry friends. I designed my own invitation and emailed it out to friends and family. If you don’t have the ability to design your own, you can try using templates. You can find some really cute ones on websites like Tinyprints.com or Shutterfly.com. Depending on the theme, you can always go the old fashioned route and buy invitations from Target or WalMart and mail them out.

Once you have an approximate head count, you’ll want to put together some sort of goodie bag. Taking dogs out for the day isn’t always easy. Giving them a little something for their time is just polite. I decided to make little minion baskets. To learn how to make them yourself, click here. I filled them with little toys from the Dollar Store. I included a ball, a rope toy, and a squeaky toy. If you are trying to keep the cost low, look for toys that come in packs. You can split them up into each basket. I also included a roll of poop bags. If you have a dog, you’ll know how awesome free poop bags are. I also added little minion goggles, as a cute little way to keep the theme going.

I also made dog cup cakes. I made enough regular sized cup cakes for each dog to have one. I also made a few batches of mini cup cakes and bagged them up to add to the baskets. If you would like the recipe I used, click here. If you want to make sure your human friends are happy too, you may want to include an edible treat for them as well. I just made a batch of regular cup cakes as well.

You can obviously you don’t need all the gift baskets, treats, or anything special to celebrate your dog’s big day. But I had a blast putting it all together and for everything I paid around $25.

I’d love to see what kind of party you threw for your furry friend! I’m excited to start planning my little Koda Bear’s second birthday!