Tips for Making the Holiday Season Safe for Your Dog
This holiday season brings with it great decorating and cooking to celebrate the holidays, but considerations should be made for the safety of your dog. Let’s take a look at a few tips for keeping your dog safe during this season.
Holiday decorating is always a fun part of celebrating that often includes plants, flowers and special foods. When decorating, keep these things in mind:
Poinsettias are beautiful holiday flowers but are dangerous to dogs and cats. The sap from the leaves can irritate the mouth and esophagus and ingesting the leaves can cause nausea and vomiting. If you use them to decorate inside your home, keep them in areas where they can’t be reached by your dog or cat.
The Holly and the Ivy may be a beautiful traditional Christmas carol, but holly and its berries are toxic to dogs. It’s best to use them outdoors and keep them out of your home.
Although you might kiss a loved one or even your dog under the mistletoe, but please keep it away from your dog. Mistletoe contains multiple substances that are toxic to both dogs and cats and can cause severe intestinal issues, breathing difficulty, seizures and death.
Lilies and Daffodils are pretty flowers but toxic to dogs.
They can cause kidney failure and gastrointestinal issues.
Christmas Trees are a beautiful traditional element to decorating a home, but precautions should be taken when having a real Christmas tree in your home. Some trees can produce oils that will irritate your dog’s stomach and can cause excessive drooling and vomiting. The water used to keep your tree from drying out contains bacteria and mold that can make your dog sick. Keep the water covered and block your dog’s access to the area.
If your dog ingests any toxic plants or food, call the ASPCA Poison Control at 1-888-426-4435, 24 hours a day.
For more information, take a look at this article: 7 Common Holiday Plants Toxic to Dogs
Holiday Foods
Not all human food is good for dogs, so let’s take a look at some holiday favorites food that your dog.
Many families have a traditional turkey dinner as the main holiday dish. Sharing a small piece of turkey is ok for your dog as long as it is thoroughly cooked, boneless and has no spices or gravy. Never give your dog turkey on a bone or the leftover carcass as bones can be extremely dangerous to their digestive system.
Some vegetables are fine for your dog including sweet potatoes and green beans but be sure they are not dressed up with lots of sugar, salt, garlic, onions, leeks or chives.
If you bake fresh bread, never let your dog have uncooked dough. It can cause stomach aches and bloating that could develop into a medical emergency.
Sweets and human treats can cause an upset stomach for your dog and some ingredients may be deadly, so avoid giving your dog any of your desserts. Remember chocolate is toxic to dogs and the artificial sweetener xylitol can be poisonous for your dog, so check all your foods for this artificial sweetener. Pies and cakes often contain currants and raisins which are also toxic to dogs.
Holiday celebrations tend to generate a lot of food trash, so be sure you keep your trash receptable covered and inaccessible to your dog. You never know what can be lurking in the trash that can be deadly or make your dog sick.
If at any time you think your dog may have ingested anything poisonous or toxic, call the ASPCA Poison Control Hotline at 888-426-4435.
Family Gathering Safety Tips for Your Dog
Celebrating the holidays is a time to spend time with family including your dogs. If you have guests for the holidays, please be sure to remind them not to feed them table scraps and to keep their belongings, especially medications, secure and out of reach of your dog.
Always give your dog a safe space to retreat to if they feel overwhelmed by the people or the noise.
Never force an interaction between your dog and a guest. Let them take the lead on what is comfortable for them.
Please celebrate the holidays joyfully and make it safe for your dogs. Happy Howlidays to you!
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