6 Holiday Traditions with your Dog
“Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.”
- Peg Bracken
As the Winter holidays inch nearer, you might be looking for ways to enjoy them with your dog. Whether you’re interested in adding a few new traditions, or you just want to appreciate your dog for helping you stay healthy and happy through this wild year, we’ve got some ideas!
Homemade Dog Cookies
If you are the type of person to make cookies for the Christmas time, why not consider making some for your pup too. They spend all year waiting patiently for whatever is coming out of the oven to be for them. This time, your cooking could be for your pup! Here’s a recipe inspired by the Lemon and Basil blog that only takes up to an hour to make. To make this even more fun, you could wrap some of these up for gift exchanges with friends and family who also have dogs.
Prep Time: 15-35 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
2 C. Sweet Potato or Pumpkin Puree
1 Egg
1/2 C. Oat Flour
3 Tbs. Natural Peanut Butter
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F)
2. In small bowl, stir together flour, oats, and cinnamon
3. In large bowl, whisk together egg, sweet potato/pumpkin, and peanut butter. Then stir in dry ingredients
4. Pour out onto a floured surface, roll out to 1/4 to 3/8 in. thick. (Dust hands and rolling pin with flour to prevent sticking)
5. Use Christmas cookie cutters, or a biscuit cutter to cut dough, and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden brown.
7. Let cool on wire rack before serving (They harden as they cool).
To make this quickly, you can use canned pumpkin or sweet potato puree. If you’d like to make your own sweet potato puree follow these quick instructions:
Peel and cube 2 medium sweet potatoes, and bring to boil in a pot of water. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15-20 minutes, until soft. Drain cooked potatoes and puree in a blender of food processor.
Play Some Games
Playing games with your dog helps to enhance the bond between the two of you. Dogs love to play, and asking them to use their brains for these games is a win-win since it’ll help to make them more tired too! You could play these games with the fresh treats you’ve just made, or you could use any treats that gets your dog excited.
Hide and seek: Have your dog sit in another room while you go and hide treats. Then tell them to “Find it” when you’re ready.
Memory game: Have your dog sit and watch where you hide the treats, then take them out of the room, distract them for a few minutes, then tell them to find the treats.
Muffin tin game: Place treats in the cups of the muffin tin, cover it up with towels, and let your dog nuzzle around to find them.
Bowl game: Place a treat on the ground, put a metal bowl over it, and let your dog try to get to the treat.
Dress Up
Ugly Sweaters don’t have to be reserved just for humans. Most online stores (including Etsy) have a selection of ugly sweaters for dogs now. You could get the entire family in on it, and don’t forget to take pictures!
Ugly sweaters may not be everyone’s favorite. Are you more of a fan of matching pajamas? Well guess what, you can match your pajamas with your dog too! It’s pretty ridiculous, but that’s what makes it fun!
Winter Walk
Here in the Bay Area, Winter time is mostly rainy. But what’s better than celebrating the Winter season by taking a walk in the rain? From our experience, rain walks are very peaceful (this might be different if you live in the Pacific Northwest where it pours heavily - yikes). Just remember to bundle up and bring an umbrella.
Rainy walks don’t sound fabulous? That’s ok, go for a walk on a nice evening to enjoy the decorations in your neighborhood instead.
If you feel motivated for a bit of a drive, you could head up to the mountains and get your dog in the snow!
You could also consider going to a Christmas tree farm, instead of a lot. There are several farms that allow dogs, so you can bring your pup out for the adventure of finding a tree! Just remember to bring some towels - it can be muddy up in the hills.
Cozy at Home
As the weather begins to feel less inviting outside (“Baby it’s cold outside”) now is a great time to focus on cozying up the inside of your home. Dogs love snuggles and quality time (and let’s face it - humans do too). So when you settle in to watch some of your favorite holiday movies, invite your dog to enjoy them with you. If you have a blanket for your dog, wrap them up, and sit near your pup.
Doggy Stocking Stuffers
Stocking stuffers are a great way to treat your dog to something nice for the holidays. When everyone else is getting their presents, why not gift something to your dog too! Plus if you give them something that could keep them occupied, they will be distracted while gift unwrapping is happening.
Remember those treats we talked about? This is a great time to use them as gifts. If you wrap them up in tissue paper (no plastic bows or ribbons) you dog can have fun unwrapping their own gift.
If you would rather monitor their intake on treats, you could get a nice busy or chew toy to wrap up for your pup. Dogs love to unwrap their own gifts; just be sure to remove the wrappings before they try to eat it.
Joyful Wishes
For some, it’s Christmas time, for others it’s Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. Regardless of your religious or cultural beliefs, it is the season for joy, gratitude, and peace. This holiday season, honor your furry friends with the gift of time and love. They will appreciate every second they get. Nothing feels much better than seeing that twinkle of joy in your pup’s eye, and knowing you made them that happy.
“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” - Charles Dickens (A Christmas Carol)
Written By: Gabby St.Martin
Gabby is a dog walker and writer for Dog Tired Adventures. She loves being active, the great outdoors, and loving on her Doberman.