Having a social gathering that includes your furkids can be enjoyable and a lot of fun. Planning ahead to accommodate both guests and pets can help make the party run more smoothly.

Yes, sitting down and making a check list can seem old fashion and tedious, so we’ve done it for you.

• How much space do you have to comfortably fit both guests and pets? Is the party inside or outside?

• Is there enough room for a large gathering or would a smaller number of guests be a better fit?

• Do you have enough water bowls to accommodate your pet guests? Some pets can handle drinking from the same water bowl at the same time, others prefer on their own .

• Have your pets been socialized around your guests’ pets? Can your pets get comfortable around other pets their unfamiliar with?

• Are your pets territorial? Can they handle other pets coming to their home?

• Do you have separate feeding areas for pets and guests?

• Do you have accommodations for senior pets?

When having non-resident pets into your home, family or friends, it’s best to consider whether your pets have been socialized around other pets. You may need to introduce your pets to friends and family pets prior to your social gathering to get a feel for how they interact with each other.

As mentioned earlier, you may also need to make accommodations for senior pets. Older pets may need a non-skid rug or extra pillow/crate bed to lay on instead of the floor, especially in the winter time with tile and wood floors.

Keep in mind too that human food and pet food should be kept separately – especially if you’re providing any cakes (chocolate in particular), sweets or candies at the party, these need to be kept out of the reach of all pets.

If you can, provide a low feeding area – a table or platform where each dog can be spaced out with his or her own food.

Plus a few other items to mention – you may want to hide away your pets’ toys. Since your furry guests may have free range of your home or yard, your pets may not like or understand the concept of sharing with others their unfamiliar with.

Look at from your pets perspective. If a stranger were to walk through your door, raid your fridge for a snack, sit down on your sofa and start watching TV while waiting for their dinner order – you would feel as if someone had invaded your home.

Just have patience with your pets when they have to temporarily “share,” their home with unfamiliar pets. It may take a small gathering of pets they are familiar with to start off with, but over time you should eventually be able increase the number of pets at your gatherings.