Claire and I at Rocky Mountain Dog Training for Christmas photos to benefit Saving Dobermankind. Photo taken by Jarka Haan, www.pawprintmemories.com With the holidays quickly approaching, I wanted to give some tips for a safe and enjoyable holiday for pets and their people. In this blog post you will find some tips to keep you and your pets safe throughout.
- Prevent escapees by notifying guests of indoor kitties. If you have an indoor cat and will have a lot of company, be a good advocate for them. Make sure that everyone knows that they need to stay indoors. If you have a door darter, communicate that with your guests and give examples of how to best keep them from dashing outside. Better yet, set them up a quiet space with food and litter so that they are comfortable and away from the excitement.
- Set good rules and boundaries for what is allowed or not with your pets. Be sure to make it known what rules that they have for instance: Fido cannot have table scraps. There are many ingredients in human food that can be toxic or at the least very upsetting to your pets tummy. Instead, consider having their own "feast" prepared for dinnertime. A Kong toy stuffed with a mixture of their kibble, canned pumpkin and yogurt frozen ahead of time will keep them occupied while you sit down to your meal.
- Invest time in teaching your dog to keep all four paws on the floor. Many times during the holidays, there are small children and elderly that can be easily injured by a jumping dog. You can consult a trainer, such as Rocky Mountain Dog Training, located in Broomfield.
- Give skittish dogs a safe zone to retreat to. Its always best to keep everyone's stress levels down, including your canine companion. Set up an area where they can retreat to when stressed. If they get overwhelmed from all of the excitement it will help to give them the ability to leave the situation and will keep them safe, as well as your guests.
- Garland and tinsel can be very dangerous for our pets. If you have a busy body, it may be a good option to go without tinsel or garland on the tree, or keep your tree in an area gated off or away from your pets. Ingestion may result in serious medical issues such as intestinal blockage.
- Clean up your gift wrap as you go. Kitties cannot resist playing with fancy ribbon and while it is fun to see, unsupervised ribbon and string may be dangerous.
- Keep edible items out from under the tree. Dogs and cats have a strong sense of smell. They can likely smell that box of chocolates you have stashed for your loved one. Wrapping paper will not stop a hungry pet.
Thanks for reading and have a HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Do you have any holiday tips for your fellow pet owners? Please share them in the comments. We'd love to hear from you!
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