PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--This time of year, as families everywhere look for more ways to incorporate their pets into holiday traditions, PetSmart and party expert Kimberly Schlegel Whitman, editor-at-large of Southern Living Magazine and author of Dog Parties: Entertaining Your Party Animal, have teamed up to share easy and creative dog-friendly holiday recipes.
Two iconic holiday classics – the gingerbread house and holiday wreath – have been recreated with dogs in mind using popular PetSmart treats like Milk Bone® dog biscuits, Pup-Peroni® and Milo’s Kitchen® treats. These dog-friendly crafts are a festive and yummy treat for our furry friends and a wow-factor gift or holiday party idea.
“I love Petsgiving – that special time of year when we, as pet parents, give thanks to our best friends for the unconditional love they give us all year long,” said Whitman. “I like the idea of not only buying and making gifts for your own pets, but also thinking about pet-friendly parties and presents for fellow pet parents.
“These two amazing creations – the Gingerbread Dog House and Dog Treat Holiday Wreath – are simple and fun for any dog enthusiast. The wreath makes a unique home décor item and the Gingerbread Dog House is a fabulous dog party theme. Picture pet parents coming together to make this great holiday treat, then letting the dogs enjoy it.”
Gingerbread Dog House
The Gingerbread Dog House is a straight-forward, simple cookie recipe similar to the classic treat made of cookie dough rolled and baked into the shape of walls and roof panels. The icing is made of low-fat cream cheese and you can also use all-natural peanut butter – both serve as delicious adhesives for putting together the house and affixing pup-friendly embellishments. The white icing is best applied using a pastry bag or a plastic storage bag with the corner snipped off to give the house a classic winter feel, Whitman advises.
“The Pup-Peroni® treats are log-like and give the gingerbread house a rustic cabin feel and make the perfect exterior wall treatment. You can use Milo’s Kitchen® treats for the roof shingles – the chicken jerky strips or chicken grillers both work, but the grillers with the grill marks make for a great roof. The Milk Bone® dog biscuits offer the finishing touch for the door, chimney – even a front walkway!”
Created as a treat, not a meal, the Gingerbread Dog House is perfect for a holiday pet party, where dogs can share and enjoy the treat together, Whitman said. See the easy DIY recipe here.
Dog Treat Wreath
This simple creation starts with a circular piece of cardboard the size of the desired wreath. A Milk Bone® biscuit and a Pup-Peroni® treat, cut in half, are paired up and affixed to the cardboard base by snugly lacing and wrapping a 2-inch festive ribbon around the treat pairs. There is no glue involved, so when the holidays are over, you can easily remove the ribbon and let your pup indulge. See here for more detailed instruction on this DIY holiday item.
“You are sure to get ooohs and aaahs when you show up with this wreath on your arm – the perfect holiday hostess gift for any dog lover,” said Whitman.
About PetSmart®
PetSmart, Inc. is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. At PetSmart, we love pets, and we believe pets make us better people. Every day with every connection, PetSmart’s passionate associates help bring pet parents closer to their pets so they can live more fulfilled lives. This mission impacts everything we do for our customers, the way we support our associates, and how we give back to our communities. We employ approximately 53,000 associates, operate approximately 1,444 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico and approximately 202 in-store PetSmart® PetsHotel® dog and cat boarding facilities. PetSmart provides a broad range of competitively priced pet food and pet products and offers dog training, pet grooming, pet boarding, PetSmart Doggie Day Camp day care services and pet adoption services in-store. Our portfolio of digital resources for pet parents – including PetSmart.com, PetFoodDirect.com, Pet360.com, OnlyNaturalPet.com and petMD.com – offers the most comprehensive online pet supplies and pet care information in the U.S. Through our in-store pet adoption partnership with independent nonprofit organizations, PetSmart Charities™ and PetSmart Charities™ of Canada, PetSmart helps to save the lives of more than 450,000 homeless pets each year. In addition, PetSmart supports organizations that make communities a better place to call home through our philanthropy program, PetSmart Gives Back™. By giving back to the communities where we live and work, PetSmart not only celebrates the power of pets to enrich people's lives—we live it.
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