During the holidays we are going to be cooking more and (possibly) having family over. Even with some restrictions on the number of people we can have visit this holiday season, there will still be many things around that can be harmful to dogs if we are not watching them closely. While I always recommend keeping a watchful eye on your dog, there will be times when we need a little extra help in keeping our dogs safe. In this article I am going to give you some safety tips to help keep your dog safe during the holidays!
Counter Surfing
Counter surfing is a common problem with dogs and the management tips I am about to give you can be used outside of the holiday season as well! Dogs who counter surf are often quite good at it and very opportunistic. This means that they are on the lookout for openings and we have to be on our toes as well! However, during the holidays specifically, counter surfing can be dangerous as there are many sweets and chocolates around, which can make dogs sick, or can even be fatal to dogs. To help keep your dog safe this holiday season, make sure that your dog is never left alone in the kitchen where it can access dangerous foods. When you are in the kitchen, make sure to push dishes back far enough that your dog will not be able to reach them. If your dog is quite large and can reach all of the counter space, or your dog has figured out how to get on top of the counter, make sure to put all food away when you are done with it, even if you are not going to completely leave the room. Make sure to work on training a replacement behavior for counter surfing as well. However, these tips can help, as we are not always able to act as fast as we might need to if food is readily available to our dogs. Keeping food ways from the edge of the table, may just give us enough of a head start to remove the food and redirect our dogs before they get ahold of the food.
Jumping on People
While many of us usually have more people over during the holidays, things might be different this year, so I will keep this one short. However, if you are able to have a few people over, it can be very helpful to put your dog away in its crate or a safe and secure place until after everyone has arrived. If you choose to let your dog mingle with the guests, please make sure your dog has a place to go if it is overwhelmed and needs some time and space to itself. If your dog simply cannot handle having more people around (e.g. they are stressed or over excited), please find a comfortable, safe place to put your dog and remember to allow it time outside if people are over for long periods of time.
Getting into Decorations
Many dogs know to leave decorations alone. However, if you have a new dog, a puppy, or a dog who deals with separation anxiety, decorations can become a danger to your dog and many decorations we might love may get destroyed. To help prevent this, watch your dog while it is near decorations and call it away from them when it gets too close. Make sure to call them before they get to the decorations and give them a treat for coming to you. I also highly recommend keeping any valuable or breakable decorations out of reach of your dog. Put more valuable tree decorations higher on the tree and place your more valuable home decorations up where your dog cannot reach them.
If your dog deals with separation anxiety, know that your dog will probably use chewing to release stress when you leave. To help combat this, first make sure you work on helping your dog be comfortable with being separated from you (if you need help from a trainer, please contact a trainer who works with separation anxiety cases). To help manage the situation, please give your dog a comfortable space, such as a large crate (note: sometimes covering the crate can help) or a safe room in your house. Please make sure that your dog does not have access to anything it is not allowed to chew on. Sometimes it can be helpful to have a large dog run outside. Make sure that your dog does have something it can chew on. Also, if you need to leave your dog alone for a longer period of time, it can be helpful to have a friend stop by to say hello to your dog or hangout with it for some of the time you will be gone.
Closing thoughts
I know this year the holidays are different; however, it is always a good idea to be prepared and these tips can be used outside the holiday season as well! Please make sure your pup is safe and comfortable this holiday! Whether it is over zoom, or in person, I wish you and your families all a wonderful holiday season!
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