Tips on How to Plan a Halloween Dog Party

The frightfully delightful night that is Halloween will be here soon. Candy is being bought and parties are being planned. However, we humans shouldn’t be the only ones enjoying the treats of October 31st. If you’re planning a Halloween party, include your pets and turn your party into the “paw-fect” event everyone is sure to love.

Set up play areas

If the weather is nice, set up obstacle courses in the yard and an area to play fetch. Inside you can have treehouses, tunnels, and tons of toys. Encourage pets to play with one another in a friendly environment by having owners join in with the fun.

Create a feast of treats

We know that chocolate is terrible (and possibly deadly) for our pets and table scraps aren’t much better. Make a smorgasbord of homemade treats and fresh vegetables, plus a mix of dry and wet food varieties. Don’t forget some delicious treats for your two-legged guests too! Just make sure if you’re putting out candy to keep it out of reach of all pet guests. Make sure to avoid any sugar-free treats that contain Xylitol. Even if you hide the candy, there is always a chance a persistent pet could break into the stash. Xylitol can be fatal to our pets, so it’s best just to leave it out altogether.

Have fun with costumes

Some pets don’t mind dressing up and others hate it. Tell your guests to use their best judgment when it comes to dressing up their pets. And if their pets don’t dress up, then have the owner dress up like an animal. Check out these ideas for pet and owner costumes and DIY pet costumes if you’re looking for some inspiration. Offer some fun prizes like a pet gift basket for the winner.

Throw a ghostly gift swap

Liven up the party with a gift exchange. Similar to “secret Santa” you can call this something like Ghostly Gifts or the Spooktacular Swap. Have each guest bring a wrapped present. Have guests pull numbers from a hat and then have them select gifts (either sitting in a circle or on the coffee table). This is a fun way to make sure everyone goes home with a token.