“Howl”-o-ween is coming!
Have you thought of your dog’s safety this year?
Every year, I try to post some Halloween safety tips for dogs and their owners. I like to do them a couple of weeks ahead of Halloween so that you have time to prep if you need it. Some of these things may be common sense, and some may be new, but it’s always nice to refresh your memory so you don’t have any “tricks” and all “treats ;-P
5 Halloween Safety Tips For Dogs
- Trick-or-treaters can be scary – especially to new puppies who may not be used to seeing kids in costumes. Dogs like habits and routines and things that are “normal” to them. If your dog is used to being around people and kids – great! But kids and people in funny clothes, costumes, hats, and ESPECIALLY masks – that is a whole new situation they may not be comfortable with. Dogs communicate through facial expressions and body language…so bulky costumes and masks that hide faces don’t let them pick up on signals they can be looking for.
- What do you do? Either keep them on a leash when you open the door to prevent them from running out, or just confine them to a safe area that they can relax while you get up every few minutes to hand out candy.
- Watch what they eat – all these goodies and candies hanging around are VERY tempting!
- What do you do? Try to remove the temptations by keeping unhealthy treats where your pet can’t reach them. And if you have chocolate around – REALLY keep an eye out on your dog since it can be toxic. Nobody wants the “trick” of going to the emergency room on Halloween!
- Decorations – scary, silly, or just seasonal – can be a danger to your dog. They can be chewed on, the sudden-motion ones can scare them, and especially those with candles can be hazardous to your dog’s health if swallowed. The wax is obviously not good to ingest, but a happy wagging tail or curious nose sniff can knock over candles and start fires. Decorations your dog swallows may require surgery to remove!
- What do you do? Again, keep an eye on your dog. Make sure he has appropriate chew toys that are not near the decorations. Put candle decorations where your dog can’t accidentally knock them over or chew on them.
- Costumes for your dog, not just your kids – Make sure your dog likes to be dressed up. Costumes can stress a dog out – which means they continually try to take it off. Or chew it off :-/. When they try to get out of it, you can see some pretty interested acrobatics; and chewing – well, we just mentioned that above.
- What do you do? Test the costume out before Halloween night to see if they will be OK to walk in it, sit/lay down in it, and just don’t mind having it on in general.
- No ID tags on your dog – This just begs common sense, but I still have to say it.
- What do you do? ALWAYS KEEP YOUR DOG’S COLLAR AND PROPER ID TAGS ON!
Related: Healthy Halloween Treat For Your Dog
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