The time for candy everywhere is almost here, which means that the time for maintaining dog safety regarding ingesting dangerous things is also here. When the costumes go on and the candy comes out, sometimes, specifically with puppies, the curiosity becomes dangerous. So today, I am passing on some tips for keeping your puppy safe around Halloween candy. Let's take a look!
Speed Dial
Have your vet’s number quickly available. You don’t necessarily need to add your vet’s number to your speed dial if you have one. But you could add it to your favorites as that will make it easier to find. In any situation where a puppy ingests something, I always tell people, first and foremost, to call your vet! This is a must as, even if it turns out to be an easy solution, they are the ones who will be able to walk you through how to solve the issue and how to best set your puppy up for survival in an emergency situation. So please remember to keep your vet’s number on hand in case of an emergency.
Keep It Up High
The simplest thing to do to keep your puppy safe is to keep all candy up high. This can also be great for maintaining how much of it your children eat. For puppies, it takes it completely off the table, and many puppies won’t even know it is there. If you take it down to let your children take some out, keep it up on the counter and in a bowl so things don’t fall off the counter to where your puppy can reach it. Once they are done getting their pieces of candy, make sure to put it all back up on the fridge or whatever place you keep it.
Don’t Let Your Children’ Keep Candy in Their Room
This is entirely up to you, but following this tip can help a lot, especially if you have an older puppy who can be left at home alone. Even if you keep doors closed, keeping candy in bedrooms is not a good idea. The reason is that there are always times when people are in a hurry, and the doors do not get closed all the way. Many times, when people are used to just keeping the doors to bedrooms closed, they feel like their things are safe from their puppy or dog, and they tend to leave things within reach in their room, trusting the closed door will do the job. For items that won’t hurt puppies and dogs, this is probably fine (though if your shoes get damaged because you left the door open, please don’t get mad at the dog). However, when candy is involved, if the door gets left open, and candy is all over the floor or kept under the bed, disaster can ensue very fast.
How Much Chocolate is Dangerous?
Cady is not good for dogs. That is just a fact. In reality, it isn’t good for people either, but for some reason, our human bodies don’t react quite the same way as dogs do. This means that a small amount of candy can put any canine in danger. That being said, puppies are in worse shape because they are smaller. The amount of toxic things ingested impacts your puppy faster and worse than an adult dog because of body weight (a larger dog can handle more than a smaller dog, and an adult dog can handle more than a puppy). That said, small amounts of candy can be deadly for any dog of any size and weight. But what about chocolate? Well, interestingly, many cadies don’t have as much chocolate in them as we think they do. For example, a standard chocolate cake does not usually have enough chocolate in it to kill a dog, even if an adult dog ate a whole tear of a chocolate cake. It would make your dog sick, and it might throw up, but chocolate cake does not usually have a lot of chocolate in it and thus doesn’t pose as much of a risk (Please still call your vet if your dog eats any chocolate (or anything with chocolate in it) just in case something goes unexpectedly wrong, especially if your dog has other medical problems). However, chocolate mousse, chocolate bars, and chocolate shavings may kill your dog, especially your puppy.
In short, always call your vet, especially if your young puppy has eaten something you are unsure about. Before the 31st rolls around, you can contact your vet and ask them what to do if your puppy ingests something. Either way, please be careful and make sure your puppy is safe. Puppies can sneak around and get into things in the hubbub of getting costumes set up and all the doorbell ringing. So remember to put candy up high and monitor your puppy at all times. Be safe!
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