What to buy your dog for Christmas

In case you are wondering what to buy your dog for Christmas, we have some tips.

We are those people

It’s okay, you can judge me. Five years ago, I would have judged myself. My family has become the people who bake birthday cakes for our dog, take him out for pupaccinos, get him a puppy paddy at In-N-Out, and generally treat him like a family member… and it brings us so much joy! There are Science-based benefits to having a dog, so we would encourage it if you are in a life situation where you can give it the love and care it needs. In case you are wondering what to buy your dog for Christmas, we have some tips.

As a family, we love to wrap presents for our dog and mix them in with ours. (By “wrap,” I mean put them in a gift bag with tissue paper) Every year he is somehow able to sniff each of his out. It’s amazing to watch him stick his nose in the bags and pull out only his own gifts. He knows the smell of his stuff regardless of where we purchased it from. I even have to hide his presents in the garage because he finds them in the house.

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Dog gift ideas

What to Buy Your Puppy for Christmas

As a puppy, our dog chewed on everything. The first time we left him alone and free in the house, he ate our couch. It’s important to have plenty of appropriate chew toys around and other things to keep his mind occupied. Here are some perfect gift ideas for rambunctious puppies.

In the early days, we loved dog puzzle toys. Our puppy was brilliant… maybe the most brilliant puppy to ever have lived… and figured them out pretty quickly, so we tried several different ones. Here are a few options.

Bob a Lot Treat Dispenser

Interactive Puzzle Games: These come in different levels from beginner to advanced

Buy Your Puppy a Hoodie or Sweater

When he was a puppy, our dog didn’t mind it when we dressed him up. I think he liked how the sweater would squish him. Now that he’s older, he doesn’t prefer it. You need to know your dog on this one. However, In my opinion, there is nothing cuter than a puppy in a reindeer costume or ugly Christmas sweater.

Balls, Balls, and More Balls

Anything we say to our dog, he interprets as, “Go get your ball; I want to play with you.” He would play ball all day long if we had the energy for it. In the puppy days, he would try to get several in his mouth at once. His favorites had spikes on them. I think they felt good on his teeth. Here are a few of his favorites.

Something to put Peanut Butter in

My dog is more into play than food, but he loves peanut butter. We used several different peanut buttery toys to keep him occupied. We only use natural peanut butter and make sure that there is no added sugar and especially no xylitol, as it can be extremely toxic to dogs.

Dog Bed

Our goal was to train our dog to go to his bed whenever the doorbell rang. Instead, he goes to his bed when he wants a treat and runs to the door to greet our guests. It turns out that training your dog takes a lot of time… and I was a teacher, so I used up all my energy on my students. He’s a great dog, but he has the potential to be an amazing dog… if I was a better dog owner. He loves to lay on his bed and put his head on the little pillow edge. It also goes with our furniture and gives him a place of his own.

Many of my friends who have well-trained dogs use elevated pet beds that look like puppy cots you might find at a puppy preschool. Is that a thing? Make sure you get the size that your puppy can grow into, though. You don’t want to have to keep leveling up.

Nylabones

What to buy your adult dog for Christmas

As our dog got a little older, he was not as big of a fan of the Christmas sweater, so we switched to the tie. I’m thinking tutus are pretty fashionable as well.

Nerf dog tennis ball blaster

My dog never gets tired of fetch. He brings me the ball constantly and my kids get distracted after about a minute. My son played with this toy with a friend’s dog and I believe that this ball blaster might be the answer to my fetching problems. Not only does it take less energy, but my kids are willing to shoot it for longer periods of time. It’s a win win.

A Squeaky Toy

If you give our dog a squeaky toy… he immediately attempts to rip the squeaker out. Most squeaky toys only last about ten minutes. That is why it is great if your can find a squeaky toy that is extremely durable. Squeakers can be annoying, but our dog loves them, so we give him the occasional obnoxiously loud gift.

Himalayan Cheese dog chew

My dog has never been terribly food motivated. He’d rather play with another dog or a small human than have a treat much of the time. We struggled to find something that would keep him happy for long periods of time. Even as a puppy, this Himalayan dog chew was a hit. He loves them, and they last longer than most of the bone type treats. Please note that they come in different sizes based on the weight of your dog.

Travel Bag for your Dog

This is on my wishlist. We love to bring our dog with us when we go places, but I end up throwing tons of stuff into a reusable bag. I love how this keeps all of our gear together, even the water and food bowl.

What to buy your human friend’s for Christmas

If you are trying to figure out what to buy funny human friends this year, here are some hilarious ideas that were advertised to me on Facebook.

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