Christmas Day With A New Dog

Christmas is an exciting time for everyone but add a new puppy into the mix and it can be a recipe for disaster (no pun intended)!

Whilst all the preparation and present opening is in full swing, it is a time when we are not giving our full attention to our pup and what he is doing to entertain himself, so this is the riskiest time for him to eat something he shouldn’t.

The best thing to do is play with him, feed him, let him out, then crate him and while he is sleeping you can get on with the present opening as it only takes a minute for accidents to happen and no one wants to be calling the vet out on Christmas Day.

Later on when you are wanting to eat, do the same but give him a kong filled with tasty food to keep him occupied while you tuck into your turkey.

We all want our dogs to have lots of treats at Christmas like we do, but don’t be tempted to give him a full turkey dinner.

First of all we season the turkey with all sorts of herbs and spices (and onion-also poisonous to dogs) then we are giving them food that they may not be used to-so just be thoughtful of that-at the best you could be cleaning up after your dog several times that night or at worst a trip to the vets-is it really worth it??

Other hazards to be aware of (these are just a few)……

Eating tinsel, ribbon, chocolate, (don’t put any on the tree either!) mince pies, Christmas cake, Christmas pud (raisins and sultanas) turkey bones, Christmas decorations and even the boring socks dad had for Christmas!

Drinking alcohol that has been left on the floor, macadamia nuts, artificial sweetener (xylitol)-can be found in some of our food especially cakes and is highly toxic, blue cheese and of course food recycling boxes after the big day, (mouldy food and bones).

If you have relatives around for Christmas Day (especially elderly ones) be mindful of them leaving their medications around and of course tripping hazards when your pup is out and about.

This list is just a small example of some of the things to keep in mind during the festive period but proves the point that it is easier and safer just to keep your little one away at times when he can’t be fully supervised so you can all enjoy Christmas.