Six Ways To Reduce Holiday Stress In Your Canine



 The Holidays are right around the corner: Holiday shopping, meal planning, parties, guests, you name it. It can be a stressful time of year, especially for our furry family members. They don't know about holidays or what the big excitement is about, all they know is that energy is up and their human companions are stressed out. This in turn, causes them to be frantic and stressed out as well. Here are signs of stress in your animal companion:

  • Loss of appetite
  • Lack of energy and interest in things they used to love
  • Lip licking and yawning
  • Boisterous behavior  or excessive whining
  • Hiding and cowering when you call to them
  • Chewing on furniture and things they are not supposed to chew on when they haven't done that in ages.
  • Velcro dog-- basically following you around EVERYWHERE and being right under your feet all the time.
  • They seemed to have forgotten they are potty trained. 
These behaviors could also be an underlying health problem. It's a good idea to take your dog to the vet, just to rule out something physical.  Once you have ruled out something biological, here is what you can do to help ease the tension in your dog:

  1. Stick to your routine: Routine is very important to canines. It brings comfort. Make sure you are feeding your furry loved one at the same time(s) you would each day and walk/play with them at your normal times. 
  2. Physical Exercise: It's easy to cut corners on physical exercise when things are coming at you from all directions. But physical exercise is not only good for you, it's good for Fido. Setting aside a regular time everyday to exercise will help reduce stress in both of you and will be good for bonding/ strengthening trust in your relationship. Plus, your dog will be less likely to engage in destructive behavior.
  3. Mental Exercise: Giving your dog mental exercises every day helps keep boredom at bay. A bored dog = a dog more likely to get into trouble! You can challenge your dog with enrichment puzzles or brush up on some training behaviors. All of this will help reduce stress and keep your dog happy.
  4. Enlist Help: If you are just too busy to keep a normal routine with your pet, you may want to think about enlisting some help! You can hire someone or recruit a family member to take over walking and feeding the dog at the normal time. OR you can opt for your dog to come play at a doggy daycare. Personally, we think Bark City Doggy Daycare is the best. 😉
  5. Manage Your Own Stress: Often your dog will figure out your stressed before you have figured it out. If your dog is a walking around mental health case, chances are you are too. Dog's don't know why you are stressed, they can sense you radiating that energy and it makes them nervous! Maybe it's time to sit down and evaluate the stress in your own life and find ways to calm down and BREATHE.
  6. Quiet Sanctuary: If you are having a party or lots of guests, set aside a quiet room away from all the chaos for your dog. Put the kennel (aka personal sleeping den) in that room with their favorite toys, water, ect. This is a place just for them. People are not allowed.
The Holidays are stressful for humans and furry family members. Taking steps and precautions to minimize stress is a must.We can't avoid all the hustle and bustle, but at least we can try to be a lion tamer. Happy Holidays everyone! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

8 DIY Enrichment Games for the Canine Mind

Image
As winter continues on, we all try to ward off the winter blues by taking our handful of vitamin D daily and watching endless hours of Netflix. Sometimes, we take hikes in the winter wonderland...or there is skiing...or ice climbing.  But let's face it, winter is a time of hibernation and cabin fever can take it's toll. A dog's mental health can suffer. While you can go skiing and ice climbing, a dog can't. They get bored when mental and physical exercise are not consistent. And a bored dog equals a mischievous dog. Luckily, humans are also a creative species and below I have found a bunch of DIY enrichment games for dogs. So start crafting away the winter canine blues! What you see above is a "snuffle pad". You can purchase these or make them. The picture above is a snuffle pad from an Etsy store: FleeceBeWithYou . The price of these mats vary depending upon size and weight ($9.00- $50.00) Snuffle pads are also fairly easy to make, but can b...
Read more

DIY Enrichment Games For Your Dog

Image
Because we have a great Enrichment Program , I thought it would be fun to post some enrichment games you can make for your dog at home:  Image: Yes Missy The Muffin Tin Game is somewhat like Hide-and-Go-Seek, but with treats instead of humans. It's pretty simple and easy to put together. You just grab a muffin pan, and place a few treats in random indentations in the pan. Then, place tennis balls over all the indentations. You dog needs to A) figure out how to get the balls out and B) figure out which indentations hold the treats. A full tutorial can be found here: Yes Missy . Image: The Nerd's Wife This enrichment game was found on The Nerd's Wife and will keep your dog entertained for hours. I do want to write a little disclaimer: The Nerd's Wife tutorial on how to make this enrichment toy also endorses Purina Beyond Pet Food. Though Bark City thinks this is an awesome idea for an enrichment toy, we are not endorsing Purina Beyond.... Because, well... ...
Read more

Dog Collar Safety In Daycares

Image
At Bark City, we have a "No Collar Rule" while the dogs are in the daycare. When two dogs are playing and have collars on, they can quickly become entangled. Teeth, jaws and feet can get caught.  Once the entanglement happens, things can escalate quickly. A dog can start to panic: twisting, turning and pulling to get free. This can result in an injury to the area of the body that is trapped. In addition, there is the risk of the twisted collar on the dog cutting off the oxygen supply resulting in asphyxiation. Outside of a dog care facility, collar safety is a must for owners as well. There are three basic types of collars: Each collar serves a different purpose and should be used at the appropriate time. I am using examples found on 2 Hounds Design , simply because they had images of the three types of collars I am want to discuss: This type of collar is called a Martingale Collar and is often used with dogs that have a smaller head than neck. Owners often use the...
Read more