It’s time to PAWTY!
All you need to celebrate your dog friendly birthday in style.
So in case you guys weren’t aware… my 3rd birthday is this weekend! Wait, hold on…mom just had to step away to wipe some tears… Ok back now. Anyways, it is my 3rd birthday and we are celebrating it in the best way possible…BEACH PAWTY!!!!
We are trekking down to the dog beach to celebrate it up in the sand, sun, and waves and I cannot think of a better place to celebrate. We also have met some pretty cool pups down here that are also going to come and celebrate with me!
Some people may think having a birthday party for us doggos is silly…but pups don’t typically have as many birthdays they get to celebrate like our human companions, so we think if anything, the doggos deserve it even MORE!
If you’re curious on how to celebrate your pup for their special day, look no further. We’re gonna dive into deciding what your party style is, how we chose ours and everything that entails, and we also have some delicious recipes for your dog that will have them beggin for more!
Planning a party
It's your birthday, gotcha day, adoption day, either way, we’ve got to celebrate!
We knew that we wanted to celebrate this day with some of our best doggo friends, be free to run around off leash, and enjoy the beautiful summer weather. So for us, the beach was a natural choice! Huntington Beach is our frequented dog beach, so we are already comfortable with location, foot traffic, and really what to expect.
When choosing to do a party with other doggo friends, it was important to us to pick a location that we were familiar and comfortable with. We didn’t want to be learning on the spot, especially when it comes to a group of excited dog besties.
Deciding how to celebrate
Deciding on where and how we wanted to celebrate my birthday was pretty easy. I am a true water doggo at heart so it was either the pool or the beach. The beach was an easy choice because it is FREE (outside of parking) and as many pups can join as possible!
This is also a fun birthday location because people can really come and go as they please and they can make an entire day out of it if they want to! Other free options similar to this would be your favorite lake, going on a fun hike with some buddies, a dog friendly park, or your own backyard! Since we went with the free option we were able to spend some money on fun goody bags for our friends!
If you’d rather spend money on an activity, you can rent out your local doggy pool, go to an agility class, or rent a private party room at your local dog training facility. If your curious what is in your area, just do quick search to see what facilities are near you and what kind of packages they offer! I know in our area (and in MANY other states) we have Zoom Room that has a few birthday or private session packages.
Location is the key part in planning a doggy birthday party because you wanna make sure the location is big enough, is dog friendly (preferably allows off leash), and has space available!
Setting up our Beach Party
Set up for your party. We will be getting to the beach about 30 minutes prior to the event time so we can get a lay of the land and figure out where we want to set up and then set up our few items. Thankfully we are hosting our party at a location that we are very familiar with so we know the parking situation and where we are wanting to set up everything.
If you are going to a location you’ve never been before we do suggest arriving at least 15-30 minutes beforehand! We are also doing minimal set up since the pups will just be running around, digging in the sand, and splashing in the water. We will have an umbrella area set up with some beach chairs, beach blankets, a cooler, and the goody bags! We also will have a bag of “just in case” items for our guests: poop bags, sunscreen, first aid kit, etc.
Beach Packing List:
Large Beach Umbrella
Folding Beach Chairs
Several Large Beach Blankets
Cooler (filled with water & whipped cream for pup cups!)
Collapsible Water Dishes
Tote full of extras: Poop Bags, Sunscreen, mini first aid kit
Goodie Bags for our guests
What you’ll need for a FUN goodie bag:
Party hats
Stickers (we made custom stickers on amazon with our own personal digital upload)
Bag of treatos (WoofBoard did our treats!)
Bandanas (we did a custom birthday bandana with Jackson Made)
Dog Friendly Recipes
Keep in mind that it can also be kept quite simple:
Celebrating your special day does not need to be some extravagant occasion. The most important thing is spending it doing something you love with the people you love. It helps if there's some special treatos there though. Here are a couple dog friendly recipes that will make any day feel SPECIAL, beachside or not!
Birthday Cake:
Cake Ingredients:
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
½ tsp Baking Soda
⅛ cup Vegetable Oil
¼ cup Natural Peanut Butter
½ cup Plain Applesauce, unsweetened
(can substitute with mashed overripe banana)
½ cup Pumpkin Puree
1 egg
Frosting Ingredients:
½ cup Plain Greek Yogurt
¼ cup Peanut Butter
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix dry ingredients
In another bowl, mix wet ingredients until well combined
Combine wet and dry ingredients
Pour mixture into an 8 inch circle cake pan, can be square, OR can be a fun shape, like this BONE silicone pan from amazon
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean
Let cool and then add frosting to cake
(added fun, you can add fresh blueberries or strawberries for a little decor on top)
These can also be made into cute little cupcakes if you have a large number of party goers and you want it to go a little further.
If you’re not one for baking you can also get this BOX MIX to make it even easier!
Summer PUPSICLES:
2 cups oz Greek Yogurt
½ cup Strawberries
½ cup Blueberries
½ cup Applesauce
Popsicle mold
Dog Treat or a Carrot Stick (this is going to be your edible popsicle stick so pick something that would make a small “stick shape”)
Blend together greek yogurt, berries, and applesauce. Pour mixture into popsicle molds and then add your edible popsicle sticks (treat or carrot stick) and freeze! Pop them out and enjoy!
Whether you wanna get out on the town with your pup besties, hit the beach and relax, OR just hang out at home with your favorite humans, the BEST way to celebrate your pups special day is to make them feel LOVED! Trip to the beach, day at the park, doesn’t really matter. All they need is your affection and attention.
With that, I’m off to pick out my birthday outfit. Talk to you next week and as always, stay friendly!
Graham