The countdown to Christmas is always an exciting time, and it’s made all the more exciting by having an advent calendar to look forward to each morning! We don’t see any reason why our pets should miss out on all the fun, so we’ve put together a handy guide for how to make a dog advent calendar! You and your pup can enjoy the whole of December waking up to little moments of joy as you see what this day’s treat is!
What to Put in a Dog Advent Calendar
First of all, to create your dog advent calendar you’ll need to pick out all your goodies to go inside! From Christmas dog toys to tasty chews, you know your dog best – what will get them excited each morning?
We’d recommend having a mixture of edible treats, toys and accessories in your dog advent calendar. This way, your dog’s diet won’t be imbalanced by too many extra treats. Plus, the more variety, the better!
Christmas Dog Toys
We think this adorable plush carrot toy would make a great addition to the advent calendar – let’s just hope the reindeer don’t make off with it come Christmas Eve! Or, what about a cheerful penguin toy to play in the snow with?
You could also pop in a new tugger toy for a fun play session that day, or maybe a new ball. This one glows in the dark so that your game of fetch can continue even after the sun goes down on short December days.
Treats
Of course, no advent calendar is complete without a few tasty goodies! We think these hairy lambs ears, pork and apple sausages and these chicken and venison bites would all make very welcome advent treats for your dog!
Or, keep it festive and treat them to some turkey and bacon Christmas Crinkles, a mouth-watering doggy charcuterie board, or some meaty turkey and cranberry treats.
Other Christmas Gifts for Dogs
Along with toys and treats, why not add a few other goodies to your dog advent calendar? A tartan collar will have your pup feeling festive, and look great for the rest of the year too. Another idea could be a new lead.
As many pet owners will know, lots of dogs have funny obsessions with simple household items, such as socks or cardboard. If this is the case for your dog, popping a couple of these in your advent calendar can be a great way to keep costs down without dampening the excitement for your dog!
How to Make a Dog Advent Calendar
Now that you’ve got all your treats, it’s time to make the advent calendar. It’s best to choose your fillings first so that you know how big your calendar ‘windows’ need to be.
Tip: If you already have a fill-your-own Advent calendar, you can skip this step and put your goodies in that.
For the ‘windows’ of your dog advent calendar, we recommend using fabric pouches or paper gift bags. You can get various different sizes depending on what you’ve chosen to fill your calendar with.
If you want to add even more fun, you could also wrap the gifts in plain tissue paper and help your dog unwrap them each morning! That way, they’ll get the interactive element of an advent calendar that we humans enjoy too.
Pop your 24 goodies into their own separate pouches. Then comes the fun part. Take some string and attach each end to something secure to create a kind of washing line. Use pegs or ties to attach your pouches to the string. Get creative with number stickers or write your own numbers to attach to the pouches as dates. And voila! You can also add ribbons, tinsel and other festive elements to make it even more Christmassy.
If you’re using smaller pouches, you might like to play around with your string’s positioning. For example, you could cut five pieces of string in increasing lengths and arrange them on top of each other to create a Christmas tree shape. Or you could pin your string into a star shape using a cork board before hanging your pouches off of it. Get creative!
Where Can I Buy a Dog Advent Calendar?
If you love the idea of a dog advent calendar, but you’re not the DIY sort, we’ve got you covered. Check out our Pooch & Mutt Christmas advent calendars for dogs, already filled with plenty of goodies. All you have to do is hang it on the wall!
Wrapping Up
It’s nice and easy to make your own dog advent calendar. We love that you can personalise it so that it features all your dog’s favourite things. Just remember to give your pet treats in moderation – and make sure the calendar is out of your dog’s reach! We hope you have fun putting your calendar together, and that your dog has even more fun opening them each December morning!