Dog Party Theme Ideas For A Howlin' Good Time!

by Janet Simons
(Myrtle Beach, SC)

Dog party invitations - I made the dog party invitations using postcards that had pictures of dogs on them. I added some of those sticker word bubbles on the pictures to make it look like the dogs were talking.

Dog costume ideas - I turned all the kids into little dogs. When they arrived, I sent them to a table where my teen daughter and friends were to paint dog faces on the kids. They also received dog collars, doggie ears, which were made out of brown and pink felt on a headband. The tails were pieces of brown feather boas sewed onto a piece of ribbon that I tied around their waists.

Dog party decorations - I put a bunch of posters on the walls that had pictures of various dogs. I hung "dog bones" from the ceiling on pieces of ribbon. I made the bones from white cardstock. I drew paw prints on the sidewalk to my front door with chalk. I had white balloons with black paw prints throughout the room. I bought most of my supplies through Birthday Express.

Dog party favors - I made it easy on myself and went with the premade doghouse favor box that Birthday Express offers.

Dog birthday cake ideas - I used one of the postcard pictures as inspiration for the cake. I took it to a place to make an edible picture to put on the cake.

Dog party food - We had hot DOGS and macaroni and cheese. I also made some dog bone shaped sugar cookies and frosted them with white frosting. For snacks, I served "Puppy Chow" which was Chex mix.

Dog party games - We had a barking contest which was really cute to watch all the kids dressed up like dogs barking their little faces off. We also adapted Simon Says and said Dog Trainer Says. We had the kids do dog motions like shake, roll, bark, stay, jump, etc. We also adapted Duck, Duck Goose into Cat, Cat, Dog. Lastly, Pin the Tail on the Donkey became Pin the Tail on the Dog.