When you’re celebrating a birthday milestone, you want to see all your friends, get some amazing gifts, and of course, overindulge in birthday cake. Isn’t that all true for our dogs too?!
Celebrating your pooch’s barkday can be a special and pawsome adventure for the whole pack because it represents another year together. Dogs may or may not understand the concept of time, but any reason to celebrate (especially with treats 😊) is something they’ll enjoy.
Here’s 5 Tips to Have the Best Barkday for Dog:
1. Every pawty is better with more furriends!
If you’re celebrating another year in your dog’s life, you should celebrate with their furriends. A great way to kick off another pawtastic year for your dog is to host a party where all of the dogs can run around and have fun. If your dog is more of lounger than a runner, a pillow party can be a fun alternative so that everybody is having a good time.
You might be wondering where to have this amazing event and there’s a few different locations that should work out. We’ll throw in a caveat that with COVID-19 still prevalent in most communities, please take any precaution recommended by your state and county public health experts, including not hosting large gatherings indoors.
Try out a number of these options for a roaring (or should we say barking) good time:
A dog park. If you’re comfortable hosting multiple dogs at a dog park, meeting up there makes a lot of sense. You should likely assume that your private pawty won’t be private at all, but knowing the dog park intimately and being a regular definitely helps. One piece of advice is to avoid parks you or your guests have never been to; it is always better to go somewhere that everybody knows.
A doggie bar/play area. Yes, they do exist! For those owners who would like to celebrate with a drink or two while their favorite pooch enjoys running and playing with furriends, there are bars and restaurants with off-leash dog play areas! One of our favorites is Dogwood Play Park in Seattle, which allows for large group private parties as well as general play. Dogwood is also great in that it has a Treat Bar from The Seattle Barkery, a must-have for any barkday pawty. These types of places can be a lot of fun for the humans and dogs alike since they’re relatively large for play while offering tables and seclusion. Though not as open as dog parks, unless you’re renting the entire place out, expect to have some birthday party crashers. Come prepared with extra treats is all we can say!
Your own home. Who says you need to go out to have a good time?! Considering how much fun you and your dog have at home, why not share the good times with their furriends! Whether it is in your apartment or the backyard of your home, a great barkday pawty location can be right where you live. One thing to keep in mind is that hosting a pawty on your dog’s home turf may create some instinctual possessiveness in them as your home = their den. Keep an eye on your birthday pal and try to avoid having over dogs they’ve never met.
2. What’s your dog’s favorite activity? Do IT!
We all know our dogs love to do certain things. Some love to sleep, some love to run trails for hours and some love to play fetch until your arm can no longer throw the ball.
Though we don’t recommend giving yourself tendonitis from too much ball tossing, today should be a celebration of your dog. Take them on that trail you always talk about going on, let them sleep to their heart’s content or play tug until they tap out. Whatever that activity is, embrace it and just enjoy the time you have to spend with your favorite pup.
3. Every barkday deserves a gift!
You want to make your dog’s special day truly special?! Give them gifts of course! A good barkday should include at least a toy or five, which could be something like a new stuffed animal, a new tug rope or a new ball. One fun recommendation might be to take your dog to a store like Petco or Mud Bay and let them pick out their own special day gift. The smells alone will make their day. And just remember, whatever you give your dog, they’ll consider it special ;)
4. Barkdays are meant for treats!
If your dogs are anything like ours, they live for a good treat. Or as many treats as they can eat until they roll over exhausted.
We did a barkuterie board for Shadow’s 4th barkday recently and let’s just say, he was the happiest we’d ever seen him. Don’t believe us, check out the IG Reel recap here!
5. Every barkday deserves a pupcake!
Yes, you read that right. Cakes aren’t just for humans after all. Your dog can celebrate their barkday just like you do with a cake (full or cupcakes) and candles, just don’t expect them to blow out the candles and make a wish.
In fact, make sure to avoid the candle with your pooch out of an abundance of caution.
You can always choose to make pupcakes. There are some great recipes out there such as this one or go the route of purchasing a pupcake, as we’ve done in the past.
Places like Seattle Barkery will even have you fill out a form for your pupcake to get an amazing creation unlike anything your pooch has ever seen!
And don’t worry, pupcakes aren’t just for dog-supportive communities in the Pacific Northwest, a quick search for pupcakes + your hometown will bring you a surprising selection back.
When it comes to the treat portion of your dog’s barkday is to be wary of giving them too much and too new treats.
Though we all want to shower our pack members with everything they want on their special day, multiple chicken feet on top of a pupcake on top of cookies on top of peanut butter balls will get them sick and lead to an outcome that you and they don’t want.
At the end of the barkday, just knowing you have each other is all that matters and makes the celebration worth it.
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