My little sister is an all time animal freak, so after reveiwing many ideas she decided on a dog/puppy party for her 5th birthday. I started far ahead of time just to get an outline and then about two weeks before the party I worked out the final details.  INVITATIONS: We entertained two ideas but since we only had a total of seventeen people coming to the party we just invited them via phone and e-mail, however if you wanted to make your own invitations, you can do this: 1. take a brown lunch bag and cut out a simple dog bone shape on white paper. 2. glue the bone to the bag and write the name of the child you are inviting on it. 3. Fill the bag with either real dog treats or "Scooby Snacks" (these are grahm crackers shaped like dog treats). 4. include a card inside with all the birthday info (rsvp, date, time, location etc.) Then you can give these out to your childs friends about a week before the party. You could also just buy store bought invitations (: DECORATIONS: We just went to the party store and chose some generic dog decorations but this party is compatible with Disney's 101 dalmation decorations or "The Dog" decorations or anything else dog related.  We took ivory ballons and drew dog faces on them then glued construction paper shaped like dog ears to the sides of the balloons.  We also took a doggie mobile and hung it from the celing as well as streamers of contrasting colors. We took a dog-theamed table cloth to cover the table and used squares of newspaper for place mats. you could also take little doggie toys, treats and stuffed animals just to lay around the house. FOOD: This part was a little tricky.  1. we made rice crispy treats in the shape of dog bones and added little sprinkles to make them colorful 2. A bag of "Scooby Snacks" for each child to take home. 3. Instead of a cake my little sister wanted an ice cream buffet, so we took vanilla ice cream, chocolate and caramel syrups, bone shaped candies, three or four types of sprinkles, crushed oreos, m&ms, skittles, gummy bears, crushed ice cream cones, bits of candy bars, chocolate chips, nuts, etc. and put them all in little styrofoam bowls.  We served water to the kids instead of soda. GAMES/ACTIVITIES: As the guests were arriving we had the "Adoption Center" Set up.  Inside mini milk crates we put small dog stuffed animals. When the kids came in they got to pick a dog to "Adopt". Each dog had an "adoption certificate" with fur and eye color, temperament, personality etc. on it and when it was "adopted" the kids got to name it and had to sign at the bottom of the page. After that we had little "stations" set up.  We had doctor and vet supplies at the first station so that each child could make sure their dog was good and healthy, then there was the grooming station where there were brushes and bows and little things to put on their dogs to make them look better. Then there was the training station where all the kids could teach their dogs tricks and such. When they were done with these things, they went on a scavenger hunt and found: 1. dog coloring pages, 2. Crayons, 3. Collars, 4. Dog blowers (those little curly blow-out things kids love) 5. a pouch of "scooby snacks" 6. Homeade rice crispy treats shaped like dog bones, 7. a little brush to groom their dog with, 8. dog bowls to eat their ice cream out of, and 9. dog stickers. Each child had a goodie bag that they used to collect their items as well as a list of items to find.  When they were done and had come back in we played "fetch" with a dog while my mom was writing all the kids names on their bowls. you play "fetch" by throwing a tennis ball into a bean bag toss type game.  At the end of this each child recieved a small thankyou-for-playing prize, then they all went and played pin-the-tail-on-the-doggie which my mom had made ahead of time out of poster board. They all got prizes for this game too. After that it was time for the ice cream buffet.  Now, my mom didn't have enough room at the table for all the kids so we laid squares of news paper on the floor so that each child had a place to put their dog bowls and eat. They formed a single file line down the buffet and we filled their dog bowls to their hearts contentment.  Then they all sat down to a good doggie meal. some of the kids wanted to eat their ice cream without a spoon and since they were on the floor (which they loved) we let the other moms decide weather to let their kids eat like that or not.  We stuck a candle in the ice cream of the birthday girl, and sang happy birthday. You could bark inbetween each verse or bark the whole song if you liked. Then they did presents and such. You could even watch 101 dalmations, or the shaggy dog, or another dog realated movie if you wanted to make it a looong party. All in all the kids LOVED the party and I'm sure it will be one to be remembered for years to come.