10 Holiday Activities to Do with Your Dog
The holiday season offers an endless supply of fun activities to create family memories and traditions. If you consider your dog to be a member of your family, be sure to include them on the holiday fun this year! Today, I’m sharing 10 holiday activities you can do with your dog!
1. Salt Dough Ornaments
Salt dough ornaments are a super easy craft that doubles as the cutest keepsake. To make them you need just three ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen:
- Salt
- All-purpose flour
- Hot water
Just combine those three ingredients, mold into a dough like consistency, and make an imprint with your pups paw! Salt dough ornaments are so easy and fun to make. They’re perfect for a puppies first Christmas, or a senior dogs last.
For a full tutorial on salt dough paw print ornaments, click here.
2. Bake Christmas Cookies
It’s not the holiday season without Christmas cookies! This year, create a new tradition with your furry friend by baking dog friendly Christmas cookies. There are hundreds of recipes online for Christmas cookies for dogs. My personal favorites are these dog safe gingerbread men!
3. Drive or Walk Through Christmas Lights
One of my favorite holiday memories growing up was driving around the neighborhood and looking at all the Christmas lights. As an adults, I plan to keep that tradition alive and of course include my dog!
If your pup enjoys car rides then this is the perfect holiday activity for them. Drive through your neighborhood and look at the lights on houses or take it a step further by finding a drive thru holiday light show to spend an evening at! And if car rides aren’t your dogs thing, consider finding a walk through holiday light attraction that is dog friendly.
4. Christmas Parades
Since Christmas parades are an outdoor attraction, dogs are more than welcome at them! If your dog isn’t overwhelmed by large groups of people, loud noises, or other animals, then bring them along to your city’s Christmas parade this year! Make it fun by dressing them up in Christmas accessories such as a Santa hat or holiday sweater, but don’t be surprised if you have lots of people asking to take a photo!
Note: Christmas parades will not be fun for all dogs. If your dog is easily overwhelmed or gets stressed out in noisy environments, leave them home during the parade this year.
5. Picture with Santa
Who says Santa is just for kids? Many dog daycares and pet stores offer a Santa photo op for pets at some point during the Christmas season! This is the perfect opportunity for an Instagram worthy photo that’s sure to be a hit. Plus, you’ll be able to gather an idea for what to get your dog for Christmas this year 😉
6. Make Dog Friendly Hot Chocolate
Hot chocolate is the perfect treat for a Christmas movie night or after a day in the snow. While regular hot chocolate is not safe for dogs- making dog friendly hot chocolate is super simple! All you need is milk of your choice (coconut milk is best to make it sweet) and carob powder. Carob is a dog safe alternative to cocoa.
For the full recipe for dog friendly hot chocolate, click here.
7. Christmas Card Photos
Does your family still send out Christmas cards? If so, consider adding your pup to the photo this year! Christmas card photos including your dog are an adorable tradition that will allow you to watch your pup grow along with your family each year.
8. Matching Christmas PJ’s
What is Christmas without matching family pajamas?? Luckily, many companies are finally realizing that our furry friends are members of our family too! If your family gets matching Christmas PJ’s every year, include your dog on the tradition! Target, Old Navy, and Walmart all offer matching family jammies that include options for your dog! And if your dog isn’t a fan of wearing clothes, Target has dog bandanas that match your pajamas!
9. Advent Calendar
Advent calendars are such a fun part of the countdown to Christmas. Nowadays there are a HUGE variety of different Advent calendars on the market from beauty supplies to movie inspired! In recent years, the ever growing Advent calendar selection came to include Advent calendars for your dog! This year I bought my dogs Advent calendar from Costco, but you can also find them on Chewy, Amazon, and more.
10. Volunteer
Christmas time is all about giving and that includes donating time, money, and supplies to charities. If your family is big on volunteering during the holiday season, include your dog in the tradition.
Search your neighborhood for volunteer opportunities for you and your dog such as bringing them to a nursing home, hospital, or school for some extra holiday cheer!
You can also choose to donate food, toys, and bedding to your local animal shelter or make a monetary donation to a local dog rescue in your pups name.
This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own.