Although advent calendars have always been a thing, during the past few Christmases they have gained popularity over social media. We just can’t help but love to watch people online opening gifts during the whole month of December. But, how can we incorporate our dogs to this wonderful tradition?
Believe it or not, you can also make an advent calendar for your dog to enjoy, with treats and activities they will absolutely love. The best part is that you can decide everything about it: how many days it will have, the kind of gifts it will hide and when to open it with your doggo!
Today we’re sharing some creative ideas to help you get started with your dog’s advent calendar.
Let’s start with the basics: the calendar. You have two options: get it from the store or make it from. You’re likely to find empty advent calendars at any store, so that’s a great and easy option. Making it from scratch will definitely take more time and effort.
Our favorite option is a combination of both. You can buy an advent calendar at home, with a gorgeous design. Then, you can write every single number on little pieces of paper, put them in a jar and have your dog choose one of them each day. You’ll open the one that your pup chooses instead of going in chronological order.
Now, we can go to the next step: the gifts. What can you put in an advent calendar for dogs? Well, we’re sharing with you some ideas so you can get your creative juices flowing and prepare the best personalized advent calendar for your pup.
Activities
One of the best categories to put into the advent calendar are your dog’s favorite activities. As simple as it might sound for us, having a special activity on a regular day will be absolutely amazing for your dog.
Make sure to include activities you'll be committed to do on whatever day your dog chooses. If you add to the advent calendar going to the beach, and your dog happens to choose that number on a Tuesday, then it might be a little bit tricky to pull off.
Nevertheless, if we just keep it between us, you can make some changes here and there if you want to change an activity’s day.
Here are some ideas of special activities you can include in your dog’s advent calendar, but remember that what one dog might love, another one might not enjoy. So just trust your gut and choose the activities you know your dog loves!
- Going to a different park than usual
- Having an extra long walk
- Having a special celebration with friends at the park
- Going to visit their favorite humans (apart from you)
- Going for a puppuccino
- Having a roadtrip
- Going to the beach
- Going to a dog-friendly pool
- Going on a hike
- Having some friends over
- Baking some healthy treats
- Making dog-friendly ice-creams
- Having a photoshoot
- Watching a movie with you
- Playing hide and seek
- Doing enrichment activities
Gifts
What’s an advent calendar without gifts? Apart from activities, you’ll also have to include some special gifts for your pup. Here are some great ideas:
- Squeaky toys
- Chewables
- Healthy treats
- Licking mats
- Snuffle mats
- Teeth cleaning toys
If your dog is, for example, a cheese lover, and you want to include this delicious treat on the calendar, what you can do is add a coupon that’s worth a small piece of cheese.
