Halloween and Holiday Safety for Pets

A lot of us enjoy Halloween and we want to include our pets in the fun, but we must be careful because our pets can become scared by all the noises, strange costumes and visitors coming to the door. Plan ahead and if your pet is one to bark at every visitor or try to bolt out the door, then confinement to a back bedroom may be warranted. Make sure your pet has proper identification such as an identification tag or microchip, and there are also new GPS Trackers for those frequent escape artisits.

Halloween has a high incidence of lost dogs, injuries, and accidental poisoning. Halloween also has an elevated number of dog bites to children and people the dog is normally social around. You are responsible for controlling your pet and protecting him from escape or biting the little ghouls and goblins that come knocking at your door.
Costumes can be scary for pets, too. Be careful that your dog won’t be scared or try to attack the stranger in the costume. Even if your dog is familiar with a person, a hat or mask can confuse your dog or trigger territorial instincts. Even my own dog, Jake, did not like the “monster” that had swallowed my son and tried to pull the costume off of him. We ended up taking our son and his costume tucked in a bag to his friends house to change and go trick or treating. We also tried to dress Jake in a costume, but he did not tolerate that either and he tried to eat the costume. Some dogs enjoy getting dressed up and some dogs loathe it.

If you want to dress up your dog for Halloween, make sure your dog is comfortable at all times. Do not use any costumes that use rubber bands or can constrict circulation or breathing. Be watchfull for any toxic paints or dyes. You may want to dress him up a few days earlier to get him used to the idea rather than wait for Halloween when all the excitment is at its highest. If your pet is uncomfortable in any way, get a quick picture, then let him “Trick or Treat” in his “birthday suit”.
Once your child returns with their goody bag, be sure to place the treats far out of reach of your pet. Not only is chocolate toxic to dogs, but they can also consume the wrappers and sticks. Also, watch your treat bowl. An unguarded bowl with goodies is tempting to your pet.  Nothing ruins a Halloween festivity than a trip to the animal emergency hospital with a sick pet.
Halloween can be fun for you and your pet with a little safety planning and protecting him from escape, injury or accidental poisoning.

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