Tricks & Treats for Your BFF

Although trick-or-treating is buckets of fun for us humans, it isn’t always an ideal activity for our pets. But don’t worry — there’s no need for your pawesome pal to feel left out on the best holiday of the year.

If you can’t take your dog trick-or-treating, there’s only one thing left to do: teach him some tricks, and make him some treats!

Keep reading to learn how to do both!

Fun & Easy Tricks

Wow your Halloween party guests by teaching your old pal a few new tricks! You’ll need some of your pup’s favorite treats to do this, so make sure you have some on hand.

Play Dead

The “play dead” trick is just pawfect for Halloween! Dress your pal up in a spooky ghost costume for the full effect!

  1. Give your pup the “down” or “lie down” command. Make sure he follows this command well before moving on to the next step.
  2. While he’s lying down, hold a treat above your dog’s nose, slowly moving it to the side. He should have to roll over onto his side to get it. (This is easier to teach if he already knows the “roll over” command.)
  3. Whenever he rolls onto his back — instead of fully rolling over — praise your pup, give him the treat, and then repeat several times until he understands what to do.
  4. If he rolls over the whole way, step back for a moment and repeat from step 1 as many times as needed until your pal holds the pose.
  5. Once he understands, select a verbal command and a hand gesture. Many dog owners use “Bang!” with a gun hand gesture, although the command and gesture you use is up to you.
  6. Repeat steps 2 and 3 using the hand gesture and verbal command until your dog understands.

Take a Bow

Teaching this trick is, well, tricky! But we think your pal will get the hang of it in no time. After all, he is the star of the show!

  1. While your dog is paying attention to you, place a treat under your shoe or foot. If he sits or lies down, pick up the treat and take a few steps back until he stands up. Then place the treat under your shoe again.
  2. He will probably try to paw at your foot to get the treat. Once his backside is in the air and he’s in the bowing position, lift up your foot so he can get the treat.
  3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until your dog understands the command, then introduce a verbal command. “Bow” or “take a bow” work just fine. After you introduce the verbal command, you can reward him from your hand instead of putting the treat under your shoe.

Yummy Pumpkin Treats

One of the most exciting Halloween traditions is pumpkin carving — but don’t toss out those icky pumpkin guts just yet!

Did you know that, each October, 15 million perfectly good pumpkins are thrown in the garbage? You can help eliminate food waste by using your previously decorated pumpkins (perhaps the one you used for our pumpkin carving competition?) to make tasty treats for your pup!

Here are just a few of our favorite pumpkin recipes, courtesy of Chef Loki!

Pumpkin Dog Biscuits

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 cup flour of choice
  • ¾ cup canned pumpkin
  • ½ cup baking soda
  • 1 egg

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Mix all ingredients together until a ball forms. Add more pumpkin or flour if too dry or moist.
  3. Roll out dough on a prepared surface, using extra flour to keep it from sticking!
  4. Cut biscuits out using cookie cutters or a knife.
  5. Bake until biscuits reach desired texture; we liked 15 minutes at 350F!
  6. Baking at a lower temperature for longer, or leaving the biscuits in the oven overnight after turning it off will create a drier, crunchier biscuit!

Fresh Pumpkin 

The easiest way to collect the pumpkin flesh is to bake your pumpkin for about an hour or two (depends on how large the pumpkin is!) to soften it up for cutting. Then, you can remove the skin or leave it on if you are going to use pumpkin slices.

If you want to puree the flesh, you can scrape it from the skin after baking it long enough to be mushy! Pureed pumpkin can be used in lots of different recipes, like cookies or blended treats!


Pumpkin Carving Competition

These tricks and treats will keep your BFF in the spooky Halloween spirit, even if he can’t tag along to trick-or-treat!

Our pumpkin carving competition is still running! We can’t wait to see your pictures! Don’t forget to hashtag #FriendshipCollarPumpkin to enter!

Love and friendship x