train your Dog for happier holidays!
Whether you want your dog to be ready for Trick-or-treaters on Halloween, to leave the latkes alone at a Hannukah party, or to keep things merry and bright at a Christmas event, preparing ahead of time with training and management will help keep the holidays happy for you, your dog, and your guests.
The best time to start training for the holidays is as early as possible…
guests & Gatherings
If you’re planning to have guests over at your home, or to travel with your dog to a holiday gathering, some preparation can set your dog up to succeed.
Some ways you can get your dog ready:
Training to help your dog feel comfortable around strange people/dogs
Create a safe place where your dog can get away from the commotion
Coach your guests on how to respect your dog’s space, especially children
If your dog needs calming meds or supplements, ask your vet in advance (they’re busy during the holidays!)
Strange sounds
Lots of holiday celebrations can come with a host of unfamiliar or loud noises. Halloween has monster and ghost noises, the 4th of July has loud bangs of fireworks, and even the clamor of dropped pans, laughter, or loud conversations at holiday events can be startling to dogs who aren’t used to the commotion.
You can get your dog ready for new noises!
Practice safe space training with a mat or bed to help your dog have a home base
Check with your vet far ahead of time if your dog needs anxiety meds
Practice teaching your dog that strange noises are okay by making a smaller, not-yet-scary version of the Scary Noise predict Good Stuff for them.
food & treats
Holiday gatherings often involve entire turkeys, hams, and buckets of chocolate sitting out at extremely tempting heights for our dogs.
If you plan ahead with training to encourage your dog to leave not-for-puppies treats alone, and management to prevent them from having unsupervised access to temptation, you can help keep your pup (and your dinner) safe for the holidays.
If you like to share festive foods with your furry friend, it’s important to also double check which foods are safe treats to share and which spell holiday disaster for dogs.
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