It’s your furry friend’s special day and you want to throw them the dog party of their dreams, but you’re not sure how in your apartment. Well, don’t worry! We have a couple tips to make sure you and your best friend have a paw-fect party!
Send Out Invitations
Start by inviting a couple of your friends and your dog’s friends. Send them a quick text or email with the date, time, and address, and perhaps include instructions on where and how to park in your apartment community. Let them know why you are having the party (for example, it’s your dog’s birthday) and ask the humans to bring their dogs.
Make it an Indoor/Outdoor Party
When planning the party, consider having an indoor/outdoor party. An indoor/outdoor party means you spend part of the party inside and the other half of the party outside. For example, if you’re throwing a dog party inside your apartment, you may only want you and your dog’s best friend there since your apartment is small, but you may want your dog to hang out with more than one dog. Instead of inviting a bunch of dogs into your apartment, meet up with them at a local park or dog-friendly restaurant or brewery. Once your dog is all tired out, you and your dog’s best friend can head back to the apartment so they can take a little nap while you and your best friend continue to celebrate.
Decorate Everything
Even if you're only having one four-legged guest to your apartment, you can still decorate with dog decor. If it’s a birthday party, pick up a "happy birthday" banner and some balloons at your local party store. If it’s a dog party for some other reason, then decorate your apartment with dog bone cutouts and cardboard fire hydrants. If you’re looking for simple décor, then get some balloons and tablecloths you can easily dispose of when you’re done celebrating.
Make Your Apartment Dog Friendly
After you’re done decorating your apartment, make sure your apartment is as dog friendly as possible. Pick up your rug if you’re scared it will get ruined. Make sure all loose wires are picked up. Just because your dog won’t chew on them doesn’t mean another dog won’t.
Once you have made sure your apartment is safe for all dogs, pick up and bunch of new toys for your dog and their friends. The toys will serve as entertainment for the dogs at the party and they can serve as party favors when they leave. Finally, make sure there is comfy seating for everyone. For dogs, go to your local pet store and pick up some extra dog beds. If you don’t want to spend money on dog beds, fold up some extra blankets and place them on the floor in various places throughout your apartment. For your human friends, pick up some cheap folding chairs at the store so they will have somewhere to sit in your apartment. To make the folding chairs more comfortable, place a folded blanket on the seat of the chair.
Murphy and a smaller dog friend.
Food For All Guests
The most essential and important part of any party is the food and the drinks. For your furry friends, make sure there are plenty of water bowls throughout your apartment or at the venue so they won’t become dehydrated. For humans, do the same, but instead of water bowls, place one big punch bowl on your kitchen counter filled with juice or a cocktail everyone can enjoy. For food, go to a dog bakery or a local pet store and pick up a dog-friendly cake. If you can’t find this where you live, you could have dog ice cream, which is sold at most grocery stores, or make pup cups, which is just whipped cream in a plastic cup. Make sure you have tons of dog treats so you can give every dog one for being a good boy or girl. Finally, for your human guests, you could serve a regular cake with some pizza to ensure no one will leave the party hungry.
Tell Guests Where They Can Take Their Dogs Out
Show your guests where they can take their dog out to use the bathroom. If your apartment has a rule about picking up after your dog, make sure you supply your guests with bags so they can dispose of pet waste properly. If you have puppies attending your dog party, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a puppy pad or two, either in the corner of your apartment or out on your patio if you have one. This will help reduce accidents, but I would keep some paper towels and disinfectant spray near just in case an accident does happen.
Take Pictures
Finally, take pictures during your dog party! You’ll want to remember this special moment and capture some memories, so make sure you take some pictures of all the furry (and human) friends having fun together. Take some videos and snap pictures to put on social media so they can exist forever on your page.
Murphy celebrates his birthday with his parents and friends at a local dog-friendly brewery where he is a VIP with his own special treats. Follow Murphy on Instagram: @murphmonstermax
Hopefully with these tips you can have the dog party of you and your furry friend’s dreams and create memories that will last a lifetime!
