DIY Dog Advent Calendar with 24 Homemade Treats

Key points

• Two 12-cup cardboard egg cartons, a box with compartments or 24 fabric bags or paper envelopes are all you need.
• The calendar stays out of reach: you open it and hand over the treat; your dog doesn't tear it apart.
• No glitter, staples, tape or tinsel: if swallowed, they can cause a blockage.
• Use small, dry treats and fill it week by week so they don't spoil.
• The daily treat counts toward the 10% of calories allowed for treats: for small dogs, half a treat is better.

A DIY dog advent calendar works just like a children's one, but with a small homemade treat behind each number from 1 to 24. You can make it in an afternoon with two cardboard egg cartons, a box or a few small fabric bags, and the only cooking involved is a batch of cookies or chips you were probably planning to make for the holidays anyway.

The best part isn't so much the treat as the moment: every December morning you open a door, ask them to sit or give you a paw and hand it over. Within a week they know exactly what it means when you walk over to the calendar. Here is how to put it together, which treats keep well, how to fit their calories into the day and which materials to avoid so the decorations don't end up in their stomach.

What you need and which base to choose

Any container with 24 spaces you can number will do. The three most practical options:

• Cardboard egg cartons: two 12-egg cartons glued together along one side with white craft glue. Each cup is a door and the lid closes on its own. It is the quickest option.
• Cardboard box with compartments: a shoebox with cardboard dividers or a wine box with its grid insert. Better not to reuse chocolate boxes: they smell of chocolate and their thin plastic trays break into sharp pieces if chewed.
• Fabric bags or paper envelopes: 24 small cotton bags or kraft paper envelopes hung from a string or a branch with wooden clothespins. They look very festive and the bags can be reused every year.

To number them, use a marker or acrylic paint that has fully dried. To close them, tuck paper flaps inside or tie them with a knot of cotton string, rather than tape or staples.

Safety: the calendar is not a toy

A dog that smells 24 treats in one place is going to try to reach them. If they manage it, the problem isn't just the calories: it is everything they swallow along with them.

• Out of reach. Hang it on the top of a door, on a shelf or on a wall above the height they can reach standing on their hind legs. Watch out for dogs that climb onto the couch.
• Don't let them eat the cardboard. A small piece usually amounts to no more than a scare, but a whole soggy egg carton can form a ball in the stomach. If you want them to "open" their door, do it with just one, on the floor and with you right there, and pick up the pieces.
• No glitter. It sticks to the treats and to their muzzle, and ends up swallowed.
• No staples, thumbtacks or paper clips. A swallowed staple can lodge in the mouth or the digestive tract.
• No ribbon, bows or tinsel. Swallowed ribbon and string behave like a linear foreign body, an emergency that often ends in surgery. If you see a string hanging from their mouth or bottom, don't pull it: call your vet.
• No toxic glues or expanding glue. White craft glue, fully dried, is enough.
• No family chocolate nearby. If there is also a chocolate advent calendar for the kids, it needs to be even higher up than theirs.

If they have reached the calendar and eaten several doors with their contents, call your vet. Don't try to make them vomit at home.

Which treats to use

The best are small, dry, non-messy treats that keep for a few days without refrigeration. These recipes from the site work well:

• Christmas dog cookies with pumpkin and oats, cut with a star or tree cutter.
• Christmas tree dog cookies with spinach.
• Really crunchy sweet potato chips.
• Pear and apple chips, among the lightest.
• Chickpea and pumpkin cookies or gluten-free rice and carrot cookies, if your dog doesn't tolerate wheat.
• Dehydrated chicken hearts or chicken jerky strips in small pieces: dogs love them, but they are kept in the fridge.
• For special days, a shortbread-style cookie for dogs, which is dry and keeps in its door, or a piece of no-bake turrón-style treat or one of the Christmas truffles for dogs, all without sugar or chocolate. The turrón-style treats and the truffles contain banana or cottage cheese and can't be kept out of the fridge: put just a slip of paper with a drawing in their door and take them out of the fridge when you give them.

Mixing two or three recipes makes every door a surprise. Avoid moist treats or ones made with yogurt and cheese: in a calendar at room temperature they spoil within hours.

A plan for the four weeks

Days	Treat	Where to keep it until the day
1-7	Christmas cookies or spinach tree cookies	In the calendar: they keep a week if fully dried
8-14	Sweet potato chips or pear and apple chips	In the calendar, if they are crunchy
15-21	Chickpea or gluten-free cookies	Frozen, and into the calendar on Sunday
22-24	Chicken heart, shortbread-style cookie, turrón-style treat or truffle for dogs	The cookie, in the calendar; the chicken heart, turrón-style treat and truffle, in the fridge until it is time to give them

Calories: the treat counts toward the day

Treats, homemade or not, shouldn't go over 10% of daily calories. The calendar treat is part of that 10%, not on top of it, and if there are also walk or training treats that day, you need to share it out.

• A Christmas dog cookie has about 17 kcal.
• A 5 kg (11 lb) dog has a treat allowance of about 35-40 kcal a day: the cookie is almost half of it. For them, half a cookie or a lighter treat is better, such as the pear and apple chips (about 5-6 kcal).
• A 10 kg (22 lb) dog has an allowance of about 60 kcal; a 30 kg (66 lb) dog, about 130 kcal. From there up, a whole cookie fits with no problem.

If you are unsure about their portion, the portion calculator gives you their daily calories by weight. For dogs with excess weight, diabetes or pancreatitis, the calendar can hold pieces of raw carrot or of their own food: the ritual is what counts.

How to turn it into a game

Opening the day's door is a good excuse to practice something. Ask for a "sit," a few seconds of "stay" or eye contact before you give the treat. If they know how to search, hide the day's treat in a snuffle mat or under one of the cups in the cup game. And if they love shredding paper, on the 24th you can wrap their treat in a cardboard surprise box with no tape or staples, always with you right there.

What you need

• Two 12-egg cardboard cartons, a cardboard box with 24 compartments, or 24 small cotton fabric bags or kraft paper envelopes
• White craft glue (only if you join egg cartons or dividers)
• A marker or acrylic paint for the numbers
• Cotton string and wooden clothespins, if you choose bags or envelopes
• A batch of small, dry homemade treats: about 30 pieces so you have spares
• An airtight jar and freezer bags to store the treats for the following weeks

Step by step

1. Bake the treats

   Make a batch of cookies or chips in late November. Make the pieces small, about 1 1/4-1 1/2 inches (3-4 cm), or cut them afterwards: halves for a small dog. Let them dry completely before storing them.

2. Build the base

   Glue the two egg cartons together along one side with white craft glue and let them dry for a few hours, or set up the box with dividers. If you are using bags or envelopes, tie them to the string with a knot or wooden clothespins, with no staples or tape.

3. Number the doors

   Write the numbers 1 to 24 with a marker or acrylic paint and let them dry completely. If you want to decorate it, use drawings or stamps; no glitter, stickers that peel off or bows.

4. Fill the first week

   Put a treat in each door from 1 to 7. Keep the rest in an airtight jar or in the freezer, and refill the calendar every Sunday with the next week's treats.

5. Put it out of reach

   Hang it on the top of a door or place it on a shelf they can't reach even by climbing on a chair or the couch. Make sure they can't knock it down by jumping or pulling.

6. Open one door a day

   At the same time every day, open the door, ask them for something simple and give them the treat. Take those calories off their portion if they have had more treats than usual that day.

7. Clear up when it's over

   After the 24th, recycle the cardboard and wash the fabric bags for next year. If you have treats left over, freeze them and use them in January.

Frequently asked questions

What do you put in a dog advent calendar?

A small treat in each door: homemade cookies, sweet potato or dehydrated fruit chips, or small pieces of jerky. Dry treats that keep for several days without refrigeration are best, with no sugar, salt, chocolate or raisins. Alternate two or three recipes so every day is different, and adjust the size to your dog.

How many calories should each advent calendar treat have?

Few enough that, together with the rest of the day's treats, it stays within 10% of their daily calories. For a 5 kg (11 lb) dog that is about 35-40 kcal in total, so a 5-10 kcal treat is reasonable. For a 20-30 kg (44-66 lb) dog, a whole homemade cookie of about 15-20 kcal is no problem.

Is it dangerous if my dog eats the cardboard from the calendar?

A small piece of unprinted cardboard usually passes without trouble, but if they eat a whole egg carton or a lot of soggy cardboard they may vomit or develop a blockage. The most dangerous things are staples, glitter, ribbons and tinsel. Keep the calendar out of reach and, if they have eaten a lot or any of these, call your vet.

How do I keep 24 homemade treats from going bad?

Fill the calendar week by week. Bake the whole batch, leave only the seven dry treats for the first week in the calendar and freeze the rest in bags. Every Sunday, thaw the next seven. Jerky-type treats and those made with banana or dairy, like the turrón-style treats or the truffles for dogs, are kept in the fridge and taken out just before giving them.