Spring, summer or early fall is a wonderful time to plan a fun picnic outing with your furry best friend in tow. Here are some ideas and suggestions to help get you started with your planning.

Choose A Picnic Fabulous Location
Pick an aesthetically pleasing place in your local neighborhood park or somewhere dogs are welcome and you know that there would be a lovely picnic spot for you both to enjoy. If your town has a local dog park, this would be a great place to host your picnic! Scout out your perfect location in advance so that you already know where you’re going beforehand and can plan accordingly.

Planning The Picnic Food
Depending on the time of year that you have your picnic and your individual tastes, you will want to create a delicious picnic menu for both you and your pooch to enjoy. On our last picnic, we chose to have gourmet appetizer type foods that are simple to make, but enjoyed by everyone. For our pup, we decided to bring along a few special snacks and some gourmet dog treats (menu suggestions below). We have listed our favorite picnic menu, including a suggested menu for your best friend below.

Picnic Menu Ideas For The Humans
-White Wine
-Cheese & Crackers
-Croissants filled with thin slices of smoked salmon
-Homemade Potato salad
-Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies & brownies
-Iced Tea

Picnic Menu Ideas For Your Doggie
-Mini chicken hotdogs wrapped in mini size wheat bread wraps
-String cheese nibblets
-Gourmet dog cookies
-Bottled water, served in your cute Paw Print Portable Dog Bowl

Planning The Picnicware
One of the most important elements of your picnicware will be your basket or backpack that you will use for carrying all your food and picnic utensils. Picnic Backpacks are what we have found to be the very best for not only ease of carrying, but also for organizing. These handy backpacks also free up your hands if you’re biking to the picnic site with your pooch or if you’re hiking. They come in a wide variety of colors and styles and many of them even include a large blanket, which can be used as your ground tablecloth. Some backpacks also include a wine chiller section- we especially appreciated this feature!  

Picnicware Essentials
Napkins, cups, plates, napkins, and eating utensils are a must and most of these come with your new picnic backpack or basket. Include serving spoons and forks. If you will be serving wine, remember to pack plastic wine glasses and a corkscrew.

Don’t Forget
Bottled water, a map (if venturing far from home), sunscreen (for you and your dog), cell phone, compass, hand sanitizer wipes, extra plastic baggies (for your used utensils, leftovers and cleanup afterwards).  

Getting To Picnic Site
What better way to get to your picnic site than by riding your bicycle, with your doggie riding along in their Bike Basket? Wear a picnic backpack (so many styles available) to carry all your picnic ware and food.  Bicycling allows you and your doggie to enjoy taking the scenic route to your favorite picnic spot.