A Doggy Xmas

As the hectic Christmas festivities gather pace, it is worth taking a few moments to think about how this time of year can impact upon our canine companions.
 
This blog post is to help you avoid the potential pitfalls by offering advice on how to keep dogs and their owners safe over the holiday season.
 
During this busy period, the consistency and routine of our regular day-to-day life can alter, leading to increased anxiety in some dogs. For this reason, it is important to try and maintain your dog’s routines, with particular regard to feeding and walking. Provision of a quiet, undisturbed, rest area will also help alleviate your dog’s anxiety, as he will be able to retreat there if things get a little too hectic, and this can be complemented with the use of an ‘Adaptil™’ plug in diffuser.
 
Although a traditional part of Christmas, the decorated tree can be fraught with problems, so supervision of your dog whenever he is around it is a must. As well as seeing it as an invitation to urinate, some dogs may accidently knock the tree over, or even succumb to the temptation to play with the lights, tinsel or baubles! (Please remember to avoid hanging any chocolates on your tree). To combat this, try to make the tree as inaccessible as possible for your dog and provide him with plenty of his own exciting toys to play with instead, including Kongs’ and puzzle feeders. Also, if you happen to have a real tree, watch out for fallen pine needles injuring your dog’s paws, and if presents are kept under the tree, make sure that they do not contain food, otherwise your dog may have the perfect outlet for his natural scavenging instincts!
 
It is important to realise that a lot of the traditional foods that we indulge in over Christmas are extremely toxic and dangerous to dogs, including grapes, raisins, chocolate and licorice; so any nibbles must be kept well out of reach. If you intend on giving your four-legged family member a Christmas dinner, please be aware that it may cause him to have an upset stomach, and foods that produce a lot of gas (Brussels sprouts, cabbage, etc.) should be avoided as they can contribute to the life threatening condition of ‘gastric dilation’. Finally, cooked bones must not be given as they may splinter and cause damage to your dog’s digestive tract. ©