Do you have a patriotic pup in your house? I don’t know about you, but any excuse to put a bandanna, collar or even a festive dog tag on Drake, I take full advantage of it! Some may think it’s a little crazy to dress up your pup, but I think it’s PAWfectly normal!  Now Drake, on the other hand, doesn’t necessarily love the “dressing up” part of the holidays, BUT he sure does love all of the festive treats!

So, lets make this Independence Day one your fur baby will never forget!

First off and MOST importantly, if you plan on being near fireworks AT ALL, make sure your pup is secured with a leash/harness or inside a fenced in area. It is very common for dogs to get lost on the 4th of July due to the loud noises of the beautiful explosions that we all love to see. Although awesome to us, your pup may not be too fond of it! It’s better to be safe than sorry!

Next, you must find the perfect outfit for your pooch! Now, you don’t have to go overboard and crazy (unless you want to)… you can simply find a patriotic bandanna to tie around your pups neck, OR a little dog tag swag (like Drake is wearing here) and VOILA, festive cuteness!  If you didn’t already order something fancy, you can find a plain American bandana literally anywhere. In fact, what I usually do, is just grab a “human” bandanna and it’s equally as adorable- not to mention, it costs next to nothing! And since we’re talking about low cost here, I also LOVE to go to the dollar ally at Target and pick up random red, white and blue things, just for photo ops… SO fun!

DIY patriotic treats

While you’re cooking for your friends and family, go ahead and whip up something for your favorite furball too!  Y’all, these are SO easy to make and your pup will absolutely drool over them!

Ingredients: peanut butter, water, blueberries (You can add strawberries or watermelon for the red color. Drake doesn’t like these, so mine are only white and blue… still yummy though!)

Materials:  You’ll need, a blender or really strong shaking skills!

Directions: Blend together the peanut butter, a little bit of the water and blueberries until you get a nice liquid substance (I add less water because Drake likes his treats heavy on the peanut butter)! Roll the mixture into 1 inch balls (if you’re feeling really fancy, you could cut them into star shapes with a cookie cutter). Pop them into the freezer, wait a few hours and then pull out the festive treats… EUREKA, you’ve got yourself an easy peasy, patriotic pup treat! Now these special treats may not look very cute, but I promise your pup will not mind!
BONEappetit!

Happy 4th y’all!

Megan Rose

Megan is the Co-Founder of Gal's Best Friend and the East Coast Editor. She lives in New York City with her 3 dogs. Megan works in the pet industry on the marketing side, Megan is also the Pet Contributing Editor at Bestprodcuts.com is an author of Rescuing Rumba (coming Fall 2021), and a border member of Global Strays.