Dog Party Games

Musical Dog Beds

Similar to musical chairs, musical dog beds will challenge your pet's speed and obedience skills.

How to Play:

1. Ask everyone to bring a dog bed to the pet picnic. Prep for the game by arranging all the dog beds in a large circle on a flat grassy area, with one less bed than there are dogs playing the game.

2. Bring a loaded iPod and battery-powered speakers (or boom box with CD) and have someone man the music. Playing a song like "Who Let The Dogs Out" is a must for the pet party picnic theme while the pet owners walk their dogs around the outside of the circle on leashes.

3. When the music intermittently stops, all the pet owners should get their dog to jump onto a bed and sit down to claim a spot in the next round. The last dog left without a bed is eliminated.

4. Raise the stakes by giving away dog toys, new collars, gift certificates to Petco or Petsmart, or even a new dog bed each week. For the bigger ticket items, arrange for everyone in the play group to pitch in $5 to pay for the prize.

Fetch Relays

This game is a fun exercise for groups of well-trained dogs who know how to fetch.

How to Play:

1. Bring multiples of the same rubber dog bone to the pet picnic; these will serve as the relay fetching sticks. Make sure to buy a size that all dogs can easily carry.

2. Break the dogs and owners up into relay teams with at least two to three members on each team. Have each relay team line up behind the first owner & dog pair on their team, and space each group ten to fifteen feet apart to avoid interference.

3. Set up a judge facing the line of teams about twenty five feet from them. The judge will determine whether the owner has thrown the dog toy far enough for their dog to fetch it.

4. The relay begins when the judge says Go!'. The first owner in each team will throw the dog toy at least as far as the judge, and ask their dog to fetch it. If the dog toy doesn't make it within two feet in front of the judge, the owner will have to retrieve the toy and throw it again. This keeps the game fair with all the dogs running the same distance to retrieve the toy.

5. After the first dog successfully fetches the toy back to the owner, the toy is handed off to the next owner and dog pair in the team to continue the race until all pairs have gone.