Your child loves dogs as much as you do. You even plan to get her her own cute puppy for her birthday. Aside from this gift idea, won’t it be fun if she can fully experience an adorable doggie-themed party on her special day? Plan a puppy dog birthday bash. She’ll definitely adore this enjoyable party theme.

Cute and simple as it may seem, planning a puppy dog theme can be a bit of a hassle, especially if you’re not prepared for the event. If you’re not careful, the event will go to the dogs! To help you out, here are some fun and enjoyable tricks you can try for this happy birthday party.

Are The Dogs Invited?

Since it’s a dog-themed party, your kid will start begging you to let her have actual pets at her party. After all, her friends have their own cute pooches, too. It’s a great idea to have dogs at the party, but can you handle it? For example, you have to consider making two kinds of snacks for the event, one for humans and one for the canine guests. You also have to make an area available for the dogs, and make sure they’re comfy.

Consider your time, budget and venue before allowing the guests to bring their pets. If you think you can manage it, then, keep these pointers in mind.

• All the pooches attending the event must have their owner, or any person they feel comfortable with, with them. If the guardian isn’t present, the dog shouldn’t come, either.
• Invite dogs that are familiar with each other. Don’t invite canine bullies. Lastly, keep the guest list to the dogs. Don’t invite cats, hamsters or other kinds of pets.
• An outdoor area, like your backyard or the park, is more appropriate for this type of party, but make sure you have a contingency plan in case the weather turns bad.
• Remember, dogs can become restless easily, so be prepared to shorten the party time if you need to.
• Make sure the area where you’re having the party is safely enclosed. You should also ask the owners to bring leashes for their pets, although you can let them loose every now and then.
• If there are dogs that aren’t spayed or neutered yet, make sure you let the other owners and parents know. Tell the owners of these pets to also keep a close eye on them.



• Give each dog a container when giving out the treats.
• Make sure the snacks you give are deemed safe for pooches. Consult a veterinarian for extra measure. You should also ask the guests if their dogs are allergic to a particular ingredient or food.

Once you’ve taken care of these concerns, you can now start planning a party filled with doggy fun.

Letting The Dogs Out: The Invites

For a quick and hassle-free invitation solution, your best bet is to buy ready-made invites from a party supply store. You can pick one among numerous design choices. Some have cartoon dog drawings, some feature real pictures of cute dogs. There are also designs with popular dog characters on them like Goofy, Scooby Doo, Odie or Pluto. Pick a design that suits your celebration best, fill in the details, then send to the guests.

If you feel like making the invitations a bit more special than usual, you can also create your own invitations. You just need some craft materials and a bit of creativity for this. One easy idea is to make paw-shaped or dog bone shaped invitations using colored cardstock paper. Write the details using colorful markers, then stick a picture of the birthday child with his or her puppy. Put in an envelope, then mail them.

Here’s another idea: get an 8” by 8” sheet of brown or white construction paper. Get the two opposite corners and fold them to make a triangle. Then, with the fold at the top, bend the left and right edges down and out to the sides to make dog ears. Add a paper nose, draw a mouth and add wiggly eyes. You can write the details on the inside of the fold.

Use enticing and creative wording for the invitations. You can write “It’s time for a doggone birthday celebration! Join ___ on his special puppy dog bash! You’ll have a woof-ing good time!” or “Wag your tail and come to our house to celebrate ____’s birthday!” These will make guests feel more excited towards the celebration. Mail the invites as early as possible, at least a few weeks before.

One last reminder: Note if the kids are allowed to bring their pooches to the party on the invitations. Remind them to bring their dog’s leash too. If there’s a dress code, you should also mention it in the invites.

Cute Puppy-Styled Decorations

Just as puppy dogs are adorable, you also have to make your party venue cute and enticing to the guests. Here are some bright tips to help vamp up the place for the fun celebration.

• It’s best to have an outdoors party if you’ve invited dogs to come with their masters. Your backyard, garden or the park can be perfect venues. If you haven’t invited any pooches, then you can have the celebration indoors.
• Many different colors can be used as a motif for your puppy dog party. You can use blue, green, white and brown or white and black. If your kid has a dalmatian, you can also use dalmatian prints as your main motif. Get balloons, streamers and confetti in the motif you’ve chosen.
• There are also cute paw-shaped and bone-shaped balloons you can get.
• Put up posters of cute dogs around the place.
• Cover the tables with tablecloths with puppy prints on them. Dalmatian-printed fabrics are also great.
• Fill the area with doghouses. You can either purchase them or ask your neighbors to bring theirs to the party. You can also make your own using large cardboard boxes and some paint.
• In front of the house or the venue, hang a sign made from cardboard that says “Welcome To The Dog House!”. Draw paw prints around the words.
• Cut large paw prints from construction paper and paste them on your walls.
• Allot a space for the dogs to stay in. Set up a barrier or fence where the kids can leave their pets every now and then so they don’t have to keep holding on to the leashes.
• The eating areas for the people and the dogs should also be separated. To avoid confusion, set them up as at separate parts of the venue. You can also put up colorful signs, like “Master’s Buffet” and “Doggie Corner” to let the guests know which is which.

Doggie Wear

It can be too much of a hassle to ask the kids to dress up in costume for this party, especially if they have their pets along with them to keep them busy during the whole party. Instead of asking them to dress up, here’s a better idea: give them headbands with dog ears made from brown felt paper as soon as they arrive at the venue. They’ll feel as cute as the puppy dogs they adore.

You can also set up a face-painting booth. Get some adults to help you paint a dog nose and whiskers on the kids’ faces. You can also draw popular cartoon characters on their cheeks, like Snoopy, Scooby-Doo and Goofy.

As for the dogs themselves, won’t it be cute if they can come in adorable costumes? You can ask the guests to dress them up in simple pet party costumes. Just make sure the costumes don’t irritate the pooches though, or they’ll become cranky easily. If you think this is too much, the provide the costumes yourself. Buy simple doggy hats or cute collars for them to wear. There are also pointed party hats made especially for dogs. Letting them wear these will make them look ready for the fun party.

Puppy-Inspired Games

Everyone will look forward to fun party activities during your puppy themed party, so make sure you don’t disappoint them! Here are some fun games the kids can play.

Wanna see some dog tricks that use for fun games! Check out this video.

• Drop The Bone In The Doggie Dish – Get a dog bowl and a bunch of dog biscuits or bone-shaped sugar cookies. Put the bowl behind a chair, on the floor. The kids then take turns kneeling on the chair’s seat facing the chair’s back, with three biscuits or cookies in their hands. They must try to drop the bones into the dish on the floor.
• Dog Bone Hunt – Before the event, hide 40 to 50 cardboard bones all over the floor. When it’s time to play the game, tell the kids to get down on all fours, and act like puppies looking for the bones. The kid that gets the most bones wins the game.
• Pin The Tail On The Pup – Get a large image or poster of a cartoon or real dog, but with its tail missing. Pin it up on a wall, then let the kids stand a few meters away from it. Give each of them a cardboard tail. One by one, they must walk to the picture, blindfolded, and try to put the tail on the right part of the dog’s body. The first kid that pins the tail closest wins.



• Best Bark Contest – Let the kids stand in a circle. One by one, they compete in a “barking” contest, imitating their canine friends. The kid that comes up with the best-sounding and most creative bark wins the game.
• Dog Trainer Says – If the kids know the game “Simon Says”, then they can easily play this game. The magic words become “Dog Trainer Says”. The designated Dog Trainer gives commands like Roll Over, Stay, Growl, Wag your Tail, Lie Down and Sit.
• Feed The Breed – Draw large cardboard dog, then cut out the mouth. Then, prepare some bean bags. Line the kids up a short distance from the dog, then let them feed it by tossing the bean bags into the dog’s mouth. Each kid gets three tries. The one with the best aim wins.

There are also fun games kids can play with their darling pets, such as:

• Frisbee Toss – Pair the kids with their dogs and see which team can throw and catch the Frisbees the fastest.
• Hot Dog Dunk – You need a kiddie pool for this, filled with shallow water, enough for even the small dogs to wade in. Then, get hot dogs, and cut each into 10 bite-size slices. Each human-dog pair gets their turn. When the signal is given, the owner tosses the hot dogs into the water, and the dog jumps in to get them all. The team that gets all the slices at the fastest time wins.
• Doggie Obstacle Course Relay – The dogs and their owners must maneuver through an obstacle course together. You can do this outdoors, and use things like weaving poles, kiddie pools, chairs, a small jump and blankets hanging from a clothesline.

Delicious Doggie Treats

All the doggie party adventures can be exhausting for the kids. Prepare delightful treats such as:

• Kooky Chew – This can be bought at many party stores. It has yummy little cookies and candy bones. At a glance, it looks like dog food.
• Dogwiches – These can be any sandwich with your kid’s favorite filling. Get bone-shaped cookie cutters and use them to make bone-shaped sandwiches.
• Banana Dogs – Get hot dog buns, spread one tablespoon of peanut butter on each half, place a banana, then add tablespoon of jelly.
• Puppy Paw Cupcake – Bake any cupcake flavor and add frosting to it. Then, use mint candies to make pawprints on the surface.
• Edible Dog Collars – Get long licorice and string cereal with holes in it (like Fruit Loops or Cheerios) through it. Serve as a yummy dessert.
• Puppy Chow – You need Chex cereal, chocolate chips, powdered sugar, peanut butter and margarine or butter for this. First, melt the peanut butter, butter and chocolate chips together, then pour it over the Chex cereal. Put this in a paper bag, add powdered sugar, and shake until conpletely covered.

The dogs will become hungry too, so make sure you prepare dog-friendly snacks like:

• Bugs on the Move – Get milk bones and spread them liberally with peanut butter. Then, dot with some broken-up pepperoni treat.
• Ice-Cold Tail Wagglers – Blend water, one banana and strawberry together, until smooth. Pour it into small paper cups or novelty ice-cube trays and let them freeze overnight. Before serving, make sure to remove the paper cups, so the dogs won’t chew on them.
• Woofy Cookies – Mix flour, wheat germ and uncooked oatmeal in a large bowl. Then, add some evaporated milk, plain molasses, a cup of water and some margarine and mix them all well. Afterwards, let it chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Then, roll the dough out, cut cookie shapes and placed on an oiled baking sheet. Place in a preheated oven for an hour. Leave them to cool for a while, then served to the guests.

You can also serve canned dog food, just in case the canines aren’t satisfied with these treats. One reminder: Don’t serve chocolate. It contains an ingredient that’s dangerous and poisonous for pooches.

Puppy Favors

Before the guests and their sweet canine pets say goodbye, it’s nice to give them a little something to remember the fun party they had. Prepare party favors they’ll enjoy. One great idea is to give goody bags. Fill these up with candies, toys, animal crackers, and useful items like notepads, pencils or erasers with dog designs on them.

It’s also great to give the canine pets a little something as a remembrance. Give them their own doggy bags. Include dog chew toys, dog biscuits, collars, and dog shampoo in these giveaways.

Here’s another idea. At the party, take a picture of each kid with their pet with your Polaroid camera. You can even set a wall with a nice background. When it’s time to go home, give them out to the kids as a sweet and cute remembrance.

Dogs are considered by many to be man’s best friend, so why not let them in on the party fun? The next time your kid hosts a birthday party, make it a puppy theme bash! Everyone’s tails will be wagging with this kind of celebration!