The best advent calendars for dogs in 2022 - including real meat, natural ingredients and more

Because Christmas is for the whole family there are a variety of advent calendars for dogs on the market to make sure your furry friend can enjoy the countdown too.

While we enjoy the best cheese advent calendars or even tasty chocolate advent calendars our beloved pooches can enjoy a selection of tasty treats with one of the best advent calendars for dogs. From buying Christmas jumpers for dogs to finding the perfect Christmas gifts for dogs, we are always looking for cute ways to involve our furry friends in festive celebrations. 

Purchasing an advent calendar for your dog can be a surefire way to ensure that your pooch has a variety of little treats to keep them included in the festivities this holiday season.

The best advent calendars for dogs 

We tested the best advent calendars for dogs in real life with the help of Mr Brooks a crossed-breed Whippet Italian Greyhound who loves treats - both real meat and biscuit based. Despite wanting to eat everything he sees Mr Brooks has a delicate stomach so he was the perfect pooch to test the treats for a real-life experience. We're happy to report he had zero tummy troubles with the treats of each of the calendars he sampled over the course of a week, as a daily treat alongside his daily raw food diet.

Lily's Kitchen has created a decorative advent calendar that is filled with three different types of hand-baked treats each made for different times of the day – ideal for varied feeding times if you prefer to balance when your dog has treats throughout the day. 

The dog food experts explain that the 'Training Treats' are, "a troupe of mini organic bone-shaped biscuits, made with organic apples and farmhouse cheddar to help keep your dog's attention on wintry walks in the park." You get three of these treats behind each door, but they are small in size and therefore ideal for training treats so you don't overfeed.

The calendar also includes 'Rise and Shines' which are, "flower-shaped treats made with beef liver, fresh carrots, blackstrap molasses and alfalfa to help keep your dog's coat as shiny as a Christmas bauble." You get two of these medium-sized treats.

Like one of the best Christmas hampers but for dogs, this selection includes 'Bedtime Biscuits' which are calming treats to help relax your pet, of which you get two with each door. Lily's Kitchen says that these are, "blissful bedtime treats, made with honey, yogurt, chamomile, and passion flowers to help soothe your dog on those exciting nights before Christmas Day."

Good Boy is famed for making real meat treats that dogs adore. This advent calendar for dogs is the dream for pet owners who want to include real meat in their dog's diet.

The 24-door calendar reveals a real meat treat behind every door, each packed in an individually sealed packet which is ideal to store and keep fresh – should you want to wait to give your dog the goods. The treats are a selection of some of Good Boy's most favored flavors including beef bites; chewy chicken stars; duck bites; beef fillets; chewy chicken strips and a festive three-bird roast strip. 

You get a generous portion of treats in each individual packet, three of each for the bites and stars and five of the strips and fillets. There were no complaints from our pooch.

This calendar also has a thoughtfully positioned hook on the back so it can be hung out of reach, ensuring it lasts the duration of the countdown.

This thrifty calendar is just £3 and is the perfect option for those on a budget. This product is made with carob, which is a dog-friendly alternative to chocolate so it looks just like a creamy white chocolate treat.

This highly-affordable advent calendar contains treats that emulate the traditional style advent calendars that we humans enjoy – chocolate. But as all good dog owners know real chocolate is poisonous to dogs, so this is the dog-friendly equivalent. It does look very realistic which may unnerve some dog owners, but rest assured there is no trace of real chocolate.

The treats are not sealed within the calendar, and they are slightly tricky to get out - but for the price, these factors can be forgiven. But we would say this calendar is not perhaps ideal for those with a sensitive stomach because of the sugar contents - but because the treats are easy to break into smaller pieces it was easy to limit how much Mr brooks actually consumed.

This is the perfect option for people who want to treat their pets but don't want to spend a fortune on an advent calendar. The treats in the calendar come with no added artificial coloring and no added grain.

As a good-to for pet owners who are constantly in search of treats that solve a pet's tummy troubles, Scrumbles are often the trusted brand of choice because the treats are baked using only natural wholesome ingredients. We're delighted to therefore say Scrumbles sells an advent calendar for dogs who crave only the finest baked goods. 

The Scrumbles 2022 advent calendar for dogs features a variety of different healthy flavors that are good for your dog's teeth and diet. The brand said that the treats are, "full of delicious natural dog treats that have functional benefits, including dental dog treats, calming treats and 100% chicken dog treats that taste great and are kind to tummies." 

The flavors in this selection include sweet potato, turkey, pumpkin seeds, parsley, spinach, chicken, and thyme – the essence of some of the best Christmas food their owners will be enjoying too. The pack also includes calming flavors in each treat such as chamomile, lemon balm, and peppermint oil, which are perfect for making sure your dog is relaxed during the festive season.

Pooch & Mutt sells a low-calorie, organic advent calendar that is perfect for those pets that are a little bit on the chunky side. 

This Pooch & Mutt calendar contains 100% 'Natural Calming' Ingredients that are also low in calories – ideal for older dogs who may be on a more restricted diet. The calendar includes probiotic meaty products that are grain-free and junk-free.

The treats may be healthy but that didn't stop them from proving incredibly moorish for our pooch. With this healthy calendar, your pet can still be treated during the festive period, but in a healthy way that doesn't damage any diet that they may be on.

It may be at the more expensive end of our selection but well worth the money in our eyes plus for an added feel-good factor with each calendar sold Pooch & Mutt is working with a rehoming charity to donate goods for dogs who deserve spoiling the most. 

This wooden design offers more of a keepsake that can be refilled year after year, allowing you complete control over the treats. Made from wood the design comprises 24 mini pull-out drawers 

Surrounding a middle board that can be personalized with paw prints and your pet's name laser cut in up to 9 characters. 

To add to the festive fun the design also features sparkling twinkle lights, that illuminate the frame of the calendar. It requires two AA batteries in the back of the advent box frame to light up the twinkle lights and make your pet's name in lights – quite literally.