As the holidays wind down and we head toward the New Year, many of us are still enjoying time with food, friends, family, and celebrations. While this season can be joyful, we also recognize that it isn’t always easy—for people or for pets.
Many cats may retreat and hide from the hustle and bustle, but dogs don’t always have that option. Some dogs thrive with full houses and new faces, while others can become stressed or get into trouble as routines shift, guests come and go, and noise levels increase.
With New Year’s celebrations still ahead, it’s a great time to check in and talk through a few ways to help make the rest of the holiday season safer and more comfortable for everyone—including your dog. We still have some time to prepare, so let’s chat about some of the ways you can make the holidays fun and safe for everyone, including your dog.
Stealing snacks from counters
Someday, we’ll have a whole article dedicated to the behavior of stealing food off of counters, otherwise known as “counter surfing.” This is a really tough behavior to reduce, because it is so reinforcing for the dog, and interventions for counter surfing include ensuring the dog never gets access to unsupervised food while doing some training steps. But during the holidays, counter surfing is much harder to manage; there is so much holiday food out, we’re often distracted by many different activities at once, and also it’s challenging (impossible?) to control the behavior of our guests. It’s practically a given that food will be left unattended on the counter at some point during the holidays!
If your dog ends up purloining something, this means two things. First, they have just been heavily reinforced for stealing food and are now more likely to scope out the counters for snacks in the future – ugh. Second, the food theft may result in expensive medical bills; especially if it’s something toxic (think dark chocolate or raisins) or spiky (think turkey or chicken bones). And those vet bills are extra pricey during the holidays, because most regular vets are closed and the only vet open is the emergency vet.
The easiest and most effective way to avoid issues around stolen snacks is to set up baby gates so your pup simply can’t enter the kitchen and make bad decisions. Baby gates ensure that no one has to worry about whether the turkey is left on the counter to cool or if someone spills a bag of dark chocolate chips. And your pup will still feel like part of the holiday activities, especially if you give them a comfy bed, a long-term chewie, and occasional attention while they are lounging behind their gate.
Parties are fun, but not for everyone
Around the holidays, we have so many parties or gatherings of friends and family. Some dogs live for these events, but many dogs will be overwhelmed or get themselves in trouble. For example, human partygoers are notorious for setting down plates of food within easy reach of dogs, and most dogs can’t help but steal the food when it’s put perfectly at face height!
From a social perspective, most dogs just aren’t realistically built for parties. Some dogs are easily overwhelmed by strangers entering the home and don’t react well; they may hide, cower, bark, growl, or engage in other unwanted behaviors. Some dogs love parties until they get tired, and then suddenly their behavior declines. And some dogs are social butterflies but currently lack the manners necessary for parties; these dogs may jump up on guests for attention or food, knock kids over when excited, run out through open doors, race around underfoot, etc. These dogs can benefit by avoiding the party scene altogether.
This can be easily accomplished by boarding the pup elsewhere for the night, keeping them in a quiet, separate room, or using a baby gate and a bunch of food toys to keep them away from guests. If you use the last option, our strong recommendation is to place two baby gates several feet apart down a hallway. Many guests can’t help but lean over the gates when they see a dog, even if you’ve told them your dog is nervous around people and asked them to leave your dog alone. This is an awful scenario, with your dog trapped in a room and someone leaning over a gate toward them. Instead, use two gates that are several feet apart. This ensures that your guests stop at the first gate, your dog is behind the second gate, comfortably far away from your guests who “love dogs,” and thus everyone’s safety is ensured.
You might wonder which dogs would do well at a holiday party, and we’ll be honest that this is a very small minority of dogs. But if you have a dog who is relatively polite to guests, enjoys being around people, but also knows how to put themselves to bed when they’re socially done, then your pup is probably ok for parties. The best party dogs I’ve seen were those who came around to greet people for the first 10-15 minutes, then left the party by going to their own bedroom to snooze and chew on food toys for the rest of the night. Perfection!
Avoiding doggie destruction
During the holidays, there will be so many new things for your dog to explore, especially mail packages, goodie bags, and wrapped gifts. One thing about my family is that we love to give food as gifts – yum! The problem? Well, most dogs have excellent noses, and they are more than happy to sniff out those snacks for you, and maybe even open a box to try a nibble or two. If I’m describing your family, then you have a few safety options. The first is to just leave all food-related gifts on counters, though this doesn’t really address the issue of food being sent in the mail. A second, perhaps more effective solution, is to put a cute pen around the gift area. To be honest, there are some really adorable holiday gates out there, including some that are very chic and blend well with your decor, such as Pawland’s Freestanding Foldable Wooden Dog Gate with three panels. This gate comes in a white or espresso finish.
It’s a tree – I’m gonna pee on it!
If Christmas trees and indoor plants are your thing and you have a male dog who likes to mark things while on walks (especially trees), well, there’s a good chance that tree-marking behavior will generalize to your tree inside at least once! So if you’re unsure how your dog will react to bringing a tree inside your home, either monitor your dog’s behavior really carefully in the first week or put up a very temporary, cute pet gate around the tree. It doesn’t have to be big and bulky, as your dog isn’t likely to try and push through it, but it does need to provide at least a modicum of a barrier. After a week or so, you can likely take the gate down, as your dog will get used to the tree’s presence as just another part of the house. Carlson makes a large dog gate that is easy to set up and take down around your holiday tree or houseplants.
Have veterinary clinic info on hand for emergencies
Somehow, emergencies always arise during the holidays. I can think of multiple friends and family who had random medical issues crop up during holidays when their regular veterinarian is closed, thus requiring the use of an emergency vet. Before going into the holidays, make sure you know your regular veterinarian’s hours, as well as the hours, contact information, and address of your local urgent care and emergency vet clinics. It’s not a fun thing to think about, but you’ll feel so much better knowing that you’re prepared in case something does come up. Now stop thinking about emergencies and go plan your next social gathering of loved ones!
Conclusions
You have so many great options for ensuring your pet is happy and safe this holiday season. It takes a bit of preparation and some pre-holiday purchases to set everyone up for success and avoid stress. Happy and safe holidays, from Puppies.com to your family!
Puppies.com is your trusted puppy platform for Paws-itive Puppy Love! Since 2003, Puppies.com has helped millions of puppies find their fur-ever homes from sellers nationwide. Finding your perfect pup is free and easy–and signing up only takes a few minutes.
Add a little wiggle to your life!®
