Helping your Dog survive Christmas
Hands up if you love Christmas? 🙋🏼♀️
I absolutely love MOST things about Christmas - the rubbish weather, the darker nights, the twinkling lights, the cheesy Christmas movies, spending quality time with my nearest and dearest.
What I don’t love is how busy it seems to get in the build up. After doing a food shop I need to take half an hour to decompress at home, no taking or interact with anyone - just me and my coffee.
The festive period is a very different experience for our dogs. Their walks are more likely in darkness with (for them) spooky hi-vis and torches on everyone. The humans can often be a lot busier, either with more visitors to the home or with the house being empty for longer periods. There’s a tree in the house that they’re not allowed to pee on, with dangly enticing toys that they’re not allowed to play with.
Here’s my top tips for helping your dogs to cope;
🐾 Aim to stick as closely to their routine as possible. Particularly with regards to their meal times and walks.
🐾 Aim to not leave them home alone longer than they are used too. They will get lonely and bored. When this occurs destructive behaviour can happen.
🐾 If your dog is likely to chew the lights/decorations, don’t leave them unattended in that room.
🐾 If your home is where friends and family spend Christmas, give your dog a safe space where they can retreat too. This could be their crate (if they’re crate trained), a spare room, a corner of the room your in (if they’ll be able to settle with all the hustle and bustle)
🐾 If your dog doesn’t choose to take themselves off, if you notice they’re not really sitting at peace it would be an ideal time to take them to their safe space and give them an enrichment activity to do.
🐾 Remember, in a 24 hour period puppies will generally sleep 18-20 hours, adults will generally sleep 12-14 hours. Sleep/rest is as vital for dog’s survival as food and water. It is key to their physical, emotional and cognitive wellbeing. It helps with their learning and decision making. (Think of a tired toddler)
🐾 Aim to add some additional enrichment to your dogs day. Sniffy and licky activities will help them to feel calmer and had them to snooze. Particularly at the meal time if you don’t want them to be mooching at the table.
🐾 Be mindful of what food your leaving on the kitchen counters. Best case scenario your Christmas dinner is ruined, worst case scenario your dog has ingested something that is extremely toxic to them.
🐾 Vets and animal poison line often report a higher number of calls during the festive period due to dogs eating something they shouldn’t. If you have any concerns at all please consult with your vet immediately.
For additional support here’s the link for the animal poison line: https://www.animalpoisonline.co.uk/
🐾 Remember to have some fun with your dog. They don’t understand why all the humans are excited, stressed, tense (often all at once ha) Spending some 1:1 time with your dog will help you to feel calmer, it will certainly help them to feel calmer.
Merry Christmas
Until next time
Gem
XOXO