Holidays are about spending time with family and making memories. It's hard to make memories and do things when a big part of your family has four legs and a tail, though. Whether you're quarantined and can't be with your human family or just like your dogs more, you should be able to make just as many memories with them and do activities with them, too.
Both my sister and I love our dogs and feel as though they are a part of our family, so we have come up with some ways to really make it feel as though they are a part of our family. Here are some activities that we did to include our dogs in our holiday activities!
1. Make them a stocking too!
Every year we put up stocking for each one of our dogs and fill them. These don't have to be nice expensive stockings. If you want the stockings to be customized for your dog or any other animal, there are places where artists will customize the stockings for you, but that can get a little expensive.
A fun and creative activity to do is make your own stockings for your dogs, and it can be done in a cheap way! Take a trip to the local dollar store, get cheap red and white stockings as well as something that you can write on the top of the stocking, such as glitter glue in a squirt bottle, markers, or even paint! Once you have all this, then you can write/draw your pet's name on the stocking and hang it!
2. Fill their stockings and wrap their gifts!
My family has always filled our dogs' stockings and individually wrapped their gifts. Even if you can't get many for your pets, stuff their stocking with wrapping the gifts or just wrapping paper so it looks full! If you are able to get gifts for your dogs, wrap them as if they were for your human family members. This creates a fun Christmas or Christmas Eve for your pet. Let them open it and help them tear the paper away so they can have the same excitement as everyone else when they see all their toys and treats!
3. Make them homemade treats!
Make them treats like you would make cookies or other yummy treats for your friends or family. Some pet stores have pre-made mixes, but if you don't want to, look for some peanut butter, flour, eggs, water, and honey; they work just as well! Google homemade dog treat recipes and make cheap treats at home with your dog right next to you!
All of these are great ways to include your pets this Christmas season. You can now do Christmas with your pets instead of people if you are more of an animal person!
