Open the doors of the best dog advent calendars and your enthusiastic pooch is likely to come running over. It won't take them long to work out that these fun Christmas countdowns tend to contain some of the best dog treats. They'll be as excited as you are when opening your own.
Unlike human advent calendars, there is no chance of even a morsel of chocolate being present here. The theobromine content of chocolate makes it poisonous to dogs so instead manufacturers pack the calendars with healthier, safer options, including treats that are grain and meat-free.
Your decision, then, is based around the advent calendars that best suit your dog's dietary requirements, bearing in mind that you'll also likely want something that is attractive to look at too. The makers certainly haven't skimped in that department: the advent calendars we've looked at are beautifully presented.
If you'd like more control over what your dog eats, then you may want to consider an empty advent calendar that you can fill yourself. There are two here – one made from sturdy cardboard and the other from fabric that can be personalized with your dog's name. Buying a prefilled calendar takes away a lot of the hassle, though, and you can buy ones that are suitable for different sized breeds.
One word of warning though. You may want to cut down on the other treats you give your dog while feeding them goodies from the advent calendars. The general rule is that 90% of a dog's diet should be made up of the best dog food with treats filling up the remaining 10%. With that in mind, though, let's take a look at what's on offer in 2021.
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PetsRadar's pick of the best dog advent calendars
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Twenty-four days of treats is enough to make any dog happy, and this classic advent style calendar has exactly that stored away waiting to be unveiled and eaten. Brought to you by long-time pet food and treat manufacturer Purina, this is a limited edition advent calendar that makes sure your favorite fur friend gets to join in the festive fun with their very own selection of tasty treats.
Made with small breeds in mind, these fun-size treats come in three taste-tastic flavors with the variety your pet pooch will love. Hidden behind every door is either a Purina Beggin' Bacon and Cheese, Beggin' Fun Size Original With Bacon, or a Busy Bone Mini snack waiting to be snaffled up. There are a lot of flavors going on in these treats, and ones that your dog is bound to love.
The Beggin' Bacon and Cheese treat's main ingredient – as you might expect – is pork, followed by grains, including rice, barley, oats, and corn. So if your happy hound is sensitive to grain, you will need to look elsewhere for a grain-free option. If your pet pooch is okay with grain, there’s some tasty bacon in there as well.
The Beggin' Fun Size Original With Bacon is basically the same treat without the cheese, while the Busy Bone Mini is a chicken-flavored chew with rice as its main ingredient. Again, it’s not good for grain intolerant pets but great for your dog's dental hygiene. And if you and your dogs love these treats, they are available to buy as a treat all year round.
A classic advent calendar boasts 24 boxes to represent the days of December leading up to Christmas. But this holiday treat calendar celebrates the 12 days of Christmas that run from Christmas day right through to the 6th January – also known as the Epiphany. This could be the perfect gift for your pet pooch. Team it up with a classic advent calendar and they will get over a month’s worth of treats, which will undoubtedly keep them happy.
Half the number of treats means that you are paying around half the price or even less when compared with most of the classic advent calendars in this buying guide, so it won't be burning a big hole in your pocket. But you are still getting the pop open windows and behind each one is one of two treats – triple flavor twist sticks or triple flavor kabobs.
There are eight twist sticks with the triple being three types of meat – beef, pork, and chicken, plus a little salt and artificial colors. The kabob is much the same but has duck and garlic to add a little more flavor. There are no added grains, so it’s ideal for those looking for grain-free treats.
To add a little more variety to the calendar, they could have provided a third option and given four of each. But this is a small point and one that your dog probably couldn’t care less about. Much like they won't care about the design of the box, but its charming composition and layout make it an appealing addition to the Christmas decorations. And we really like the cute dog illustration for each day on the calendar.
The countdown to Christmas is on for your favorite fur friend with this Furry Christmas advent calendar from Dreambone. Adopting the classic advent calendar format, there are 24 windows hiding a host of tasty treats.
The big plus of these treats is that, despite being rawhide free, they have all the benefits of a rawhide chew – you are getting the best of both worlds here. They help prevent the build-up of plaque and tartar by offering plenty of chewing action. As your pet pooch chews the treat it rubs and scrapes their teeth clean. This means healthier teeth and gums with the added bonus side effect of keeping their breath a little less stinky.
The health benefits may be great for your pet pooch, but they are more interested in the taste and texture a treat has to offer. The old favorite chicken plays a big part in the mixture of treats here. Recommended for small breeds, though large breeds can still enjoy them, there are eight mini Candy canes made with real chicken and artificial chicken flavor to intensify the poultry taste.
Keeping the chicken theme going, there are eight mini chicken wrapped sticks, again made with real chicken and vegetables. Finally, there are eight mini bones with sweet potato as the main ingredient but don’t worry, there is chicken in there as well, to keep your pet pooch interested.
All the treats are enriched with vitamins and minerals to help supplement your dog's daily diet. However, please note that they are not grain-free, so avoid them if your dog doesn't deal well with grain.
Advent calendars come in different shapes and sizes, but this design from Best Friend’s sticks with the classic advent calendar format that is seen in thousands of stores and homes every Christmas holiday. It has 24 little cardboard windows that are just waiting to be popped open to see what treat lies in store for every day leading up to the big day.
The box measures 17 x 11.5 x 1.25in, so it won’t take up too much space and only weighs 3oz, so you can hang it up and keep it a safe distance from your fur friend – just in case they are feeling hungry when you're not in the room and can’t resist a treat. You don't want them ripping open the box and eating everything before Christmas Day, that will definitely get them on the naughty list.
There are 24 small and easy-to-digest treats to enjoy making them suitable for all sizes and ages. And all are made from natural ingredients – you won't find any artificial preservatives here.
And there are four flavors to enjoy – bacon, chicken, peanut butter, and cheese, based on a traditional Himalayan cheese recipe. They are lactose-free, ideal for dogs who are intolerant to such products, and mostly grain-free.
If you’re concerned about what ingredients are in each of the treats and want to make a more informed buying decision, it's definitely worth checking out the product description. This gives a full rundown of what each treat contains and there is also an analysis of its makeup – fat, protein, fiber, and calorie content. We know it's Christmas, but you don’t want them to overindulge… too much.
Dog treats are commonly meat-based, chicken being the most popular choice, but if you want to give your dog something different, then you might want to consider this classic style advent calendar from Trader Joe’s as an alternative to the meat feast.
A popular advent calendar for dogs – they usually sell out in the lead up to Christmas – you get the ever-popular 24 windows that are just waiting for you to pop them open to reveal a tasty salmon and sweet potato treat. You only get one type of treat in the calendar, so you need to make sure that salmon and sweet potato are two ingredients your dog is happy to eat. If you are not sure, you can always buy some treats to try out before investing in the advent calendar.
If your canine companion is a fish and potato lover, they are in for a treat. These tasty snacks only contain natural ingredients, in fact, salmon and sweet potato are the only two ingredients in the snack. They are made from antibiotic-free salmon raised in the cold waters of Scotland’s lochs, where some of the world's best salmon is farmed.
The fish is combined with sweet potato to add consistency and a sweet flavor and then smoked over natural hardwood to create a treat that your pet pooch will love. This means that you won’t find any grains bulking out the treat, which makes them even more appealing for dogs with sensitive stomachs.
Dogs love a treat and their owners will know exactly what treats their pet pooch loves and which ones they don’t. More importantly, they will know what treats suit their dietary requirements. If your happy hound has a sensitive stomach you don’t want to give them treats that might upset their delicate constitution. No owner wants to be clearing a mess that could have been avoided.
For those who want an advent calendar that gives their pet pooch the treats they love, this offering from Midlee provides the ideal answer. It doesn't contain any treats at all, you get to choose what treats the advent calendar has. It could be the same treat in each of the 1in x 1in drawers, a mixture of treats, or even throw in a small toy to mix it up a bit. The choice is yours – and that’s the best bit.
Made from sturdy cardboard, the standalone calendar measures 8.5 x 8.5in and is decorated with traditional Xmas scenes. It is eco-friendly, recyclable, and more excitingly reusable. However, it strays a little outside the traditional convention of 24 treats. It includes a box for every day leading up to Xmas day with the added bonus of a treat box for Xmas day itself. Your pet pooch is going to love that.
Whether or not you want to pay for an empty calendar is up to you. It may be a little pricey for an empty box, but you get peace of mind about the treats your fur friend is getting.
This handmade advent calendar from Wüfers may be a little on the expensive side, but with each cookie lovingly hand-decorated, you may find it's well worth the money.
Each cookie is freshly baked and made with wholesome and locally sourced human grade ingredients, including honey, cinnamon, crushed peanuts, and coconut, and then decorated to complete the look with drizzle or icing balls. Individually packaged, they're baked to stay fresh for up to 15 months.
The simple and dog-friendly ingredients are limited to ensure they're suitable for dogs with allergies and sensitive stomachs and the recyclable plastic packaging means this is also a good choice for the environmentally-conscious pet parent.
Is this not the most gorgeous advent calendar you've ever seen?! This stunning cloth fabric wall hanging has been designed to last through the generations and is the perfect way to count your pet down to Christmas.
With 25 hand-stitched pockets that can hold your pooch's favorite treats, this hand-crafted advent calendar is filled with festive holiday details including a dog house with lights and a Christmas tree. It has a beautiful tartan trim and can be personalized to include your pet's name.
While this doesn't come with treats included like some of the other advent calendars on the market, we love the timeless feel of this unique calendar and the fact that you can choose the treats you fill it with means you have control over what you're feeding your dog. At 16" wide x 24" high, it's the perfect size to adorn your wall this festive season.
For the health-conscious pet parent, this grain-free and natural advent calendar is a real winner. Each treat is made of 100% high-quality and regionally sourced meat with delicious morsels containing 95% duck, chicken and turkey.
Made in Germany, each treat is free from corn, wheat, and soy and contains just two ingredients - poultry and glycerine. There are also no colorings, preservatives, meat flavorings or other synthetic additives, so this calendar is a great choice if you have a dog with allergies or food sensitivities.
Suitable for all dogs, including puppies and seniors, the treats are perfectly sized and you'll also receive a bully stick which you can dish out to your canine companion on a day in December when they've been extra good!
How to choose the best dog advent calendar
Treat size
By their very nature, advent calendars for dogs are not big items. So it makes sense that when you have 12 or 24 treats stored inside they are not going to be huge.
Some advent calendars are recommended for small dogs as the treats are small so they fit into the mouth of a small breed and they won't struggle to chew the treat. This doesn’t mean that larger breeds are excluded and can’t eat them, but most likely they will simply want more of them.
So if you have a small dog, make sure you look for a treat size for small breeds or all breeds. If you have a big dog, it doesn’t really matter that much as they will be able to eat big and small treats.
Treat ingredients
When buying treats, you need to be making sure that you are getting treats your pet pooch will love and that won't irritate any of their allergies (if they have them). Does it contain natural ingredients? Is the treat grain-free? Is it by-product-free? Does it contain artificial preservatives and colors? Does it contain real meat and vegetables?
Check the ingredients to see what’s in the treat before you buy to make sure you're getting what you – and your dog – want.
Calendar size and style
The majority of classic style advent calendars contain 24 treats and if you want to stick with the traditional, then 24 treats it is. If you want to stray a little from the norm, you can invest in a festive calendar with 12 treats, but that means fewer treats for your fur friend.
As for style, it's very much a personal choice. If you love snowmen you might want a design with snowmen, if you love Christmas decorations and lights then choose those. Check if it's a standalone item or one you can hang. Again, it's personal preference as to which you choose.
