DOG FRIENDLY HOLIDAYS
Are you planning now to have dog friendly holidays? It's that time of the year again - time to put out all those beautiful holiday decorations. And the biggest one of all, the Christmas tree, can be both beautiful as well as dangerous. There is one important thing to keep in mind if you're a pet owner - are all those decorations you're putting out pet friendly?
Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind as you make your Christmas tree and other holiday decorations both festive and pet-friendly.
1. If you do have a live tree, please keep in mind that any additives that you put in your tree's water basin are probably harmful to your pet. Better safe than sorry I always say, so please, carefully cover up that liquid reservoir with some kind of covering, such as a tree skirt, to keep your pet from drinking the 'tree juice".
2. Christmas trees are notoriously wobbly and can be easy to topple over. Solution: anchor it to the ceiling in some way or to a wall right behind the tree, attached to the upper third of your Christmas tree, high enough that the dog can't get tangled in the cord or cabling if it were to get behind the tree.
3. Dogs explore the world with their mouths and all those new and weird smells on that tree might get your dog to want to do a few taste tests. Before the dog gets any ideas it might be a good idea to spray some of the mid to lower level tree branches with bitter apple, a citrus scent or some other scent that is unappealing to your pet to keep them away.
4. Dog friendly holidays mean planning ahead of time to know exactly what is going on your tree. If you decide to put any kind of ornaments on the tree that are not really "pet friendly" make sure that you place these up near the top of the tree to keep them out of your dogs reach.
5. Handmade decorations are pretty but may encourage the dog to want to nibble - especially if they are made out of edible ingredients. Keep in mind that many kinds of foods are poisonous to dogs if they eat them - not to mention what could possibly happen internally if the dog were to swallow the string.
6. Avoid placing decorations such as tinsel or angel hair on your Christmas tree because either of these could possibly cause damage internally if your dog were to swallow them.
7. Very important: group all those loose electrical wires together for all those tree lights and electrical cords and hide them from the dog and your other pets as best you can using something like a tree skirt.
8. Speaking of tree lights, all those cords can be an accident waiting to happen. Why not use one of those all-in-one power strips to plug in all the tree lights and then place the strip in an area out of the dogs normal reach? That way you'll have only one power cord running from your tree to the electrical outlet instead of lots of flimsy cords tangled up all over the floor just waiting to trip someone up.
9. Those little metal hooks that you use to hang the Christmas ornaments on your Christmas tree with could be very dangerous to your dog, especially if they were to swallow one. Plus, they could easily stab into a dogs paw if stepped on. Again, better safe than sorry, why not use ribbons in place of those little hooks to hang your decorations? Plus, the ribbons are less dangerous, more colorful and prettier too.
So, I hope the ideas above help you in making your holiday decorating pet friendly. Dog friendly holidays are possible if you keep these things in mind. It's so much better to take a few moments ahead of time to prepare for dog friendly holidays safely at your home rather than to have to spend even one minute in an emergency clinic with your pet during the holidays. Happiest of holidays to you all.
(http://www.pedigreedpups.com/dog-friendly-holidays.html)
