10/30/2017
Tomorrow night is Halloween. It's a very good idea to have your dogs denned up (in crates) during the "witching hours" of ringing doorbells, parties, and costumes. Keep Halloween candy for the kiddos (and you!), not pets. Candy and decorations should be up out of reach. If by chance your pets get into candy anyway, or someone decides to share their treats with the pets, keep an eye on them. Candy wrappers can be as bad as chocolate, etc. Xylitol, an artificial sweetener in some candies is deadly to your pets. Most chocolate candies are milk chocolate with very little of the xanthine that is so deadly to dogs, but the wrappers can cause blockage and the sugar and other ingredients may make them sick. You may be lucky and just have to clean up vomit, but if you think your pet ate a substantial amount, it's time for a vet visit. It's an emergency, so don't wait. Constant people at the door can be very upsetting for many pets. Let them veg out in their crate with some music or a tv going in the room to drown out the noise. As cute as costumes are on our pets, many do not tolerate them well. Test it out ahead of time, don't just drag them to a party and throw a costume on them and expect it to work. It might be best to wear a costume yourself in which a dog figures but is not costumed. Think Dorothy and Toto, Sergeant (darn, can't think of the name!) and RinTinTin, Timmie and Lassie, Cruella DeVil and Dalmatians, Peter Pan or Wendy and the nanny dog, one of the boys in Ole' Yeller and Ole Yeller himself (please don't use shaving cream for rabies!) or let your dog go as themselves but tell people your Dobie is actually a Poodle but is in costume (GREAT costume, right?). What else? Roy Rogers or Dale Evans and Bullet. Many presidents had dogs - do that.
Have fun but be mindful of your pets. It's not the best holiday for them.
