Christmas is usually a joyful occasion for all the family – including the family dog thanks to all the extra food floating around. However, it’s important to remember that more often than not, a little extra care is necessary around the holiday season to ensure that your dog stays safe.
Watch Your Food
While there is usually much more food available at home during Christmas leaving us with larger than desired waistlines, bear in mind that some of these foods can be dangerous for dogs. While most people know that chocolate can be toxic to dogs, other items such as onions, raisins, and garlic should also be kept safely away from anywhere they could reach.
Hoover Your Tree Needles
If you have an authentic Christmas tree at home, you’re probably more than aware that in the weeks around the holiday, they can shed large amounts of pine needles. Ensure that you vacuum these up regularly to prevent them getting stuck in your dog’s paw and potentially leading to infection.
Keep Alcohol Away
Spilt drinks may not be the end of the world, but certain strong spirits can seriously harm the kidneys and liver of small dogs even if only a little is ingested. Keep all drinks off the floor and mop up any spills immediately.
Give Them A Refuge
While your dog will undoubtedly be excited on Christmas day with all the extra food and the possibility of visiting guests, they often need a quiet place to go and recharge their batteries once in a while – so make sure they have access to a quiet room with their bed so they can catch forty winks.
Watch For Bangs
As you’re probably aware, dogs aren’t huge fans of loud bangs. So try to keep fireworks, champagne corks, party poppers and crackers to a minimum.
Tidy Your Cables
If you’ve got your Christmas lights up, be careful if your pooch is the kind that enjoys chewing wires. Try to route them behind furniture so that they can not be reached.
Non-Toxic Decorations
Try to avoid cheap decorations from pound stores – often these decorations are made cheaply abroad, often with paints and materials that would not be allowed in the EU.
Anchor Your Tree
Larger dogs often don’t know their own strength, and if they get a bit rowdy during playtime they can easily knock your Christmas tree – so make sure that it is secured and anchored properly to avoid injuries.
Keep Them Away From Tree Water
The sap from pine trees can be deadly to dogs if ingested in sufficient quantities and will find its way into any water that it sits in. To prevent your dog from drinking this water, make sure it is not accessible.
And Finally…
If one of the presents someone is due to receive on Christmas morning contains food – don’t leave it under the tree overnight. Your dog will find it, open, and eat it.
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