DogBoston’s Dog Blog

Many of us enjoy decorating or homes during the winter.  No matter if you celebrate the seasonal standard holidays, an amalgamation of your own creation, or nothing at all it is still important to pay extra attention to household pets.  Boston is also in the midst of a extraordinary  warm spell, so regular seasonal care has to still be completed.  The first day of the month is an excellent time to give your pets  flea/tick, and heart  worm prevention medication.

Winter means more plants in the house, seasonal favorites like poinsettias, mistletoe, Christmas cactus, and amaryllis, are all partially or totally poisonous.  Keep plants away from pets, picking up and throwing away and dead leaves and flowers.If a live tree is brought into the house, trim off branches low enough for the family dog to catch tufts of fur on.  The sap from a conifer tree is not harmful, but is sticky and difficult to remove from a dog’s fur.  Ornaments on lower branches should be soft or unbreakable to prevent accidental injures to a playing dog, unable to stop in time.

My dog sees garland as a fun new pull toy, and he will knock over a small tree to get ‘his’ toy.  Your dog might be smarter than mine, but to be on the safe side do not play tag or tug with the garland around the tree.  Do not bring the garland to your dog’s attention, by shaking it, or placing garland on your dog.  Also keep garland to the higher branches, not low lying where a determined dog could grab a section. If you have any advice on how I could keep my dog out of my garland would be helpful.  I miss garland on my tree, but prevention is the best way to stop injuries from happening. 
Live trees especially trees from road side vendors could have been sprayed with insecticides,  herbicides or other poison.  Unless you know other wise, treat a live tree as if it has been sprayed.  Prevent your pets from chewing branches, licking or scratching the trunk, or rubbing against the tree trunk in an attempt to mark the tree.  The ground has yet to freeze, so fleas and ticks are still active out side.  Check the tree for insects before you bring it inside or out of storage  Keep the tree, either fresh or fake, firmly in it’s stand. Do not allow any one to play in or around the tree.   Quickly remove the trimmed branches and needles from the  dogs access,  if you have other pets, keep them away from the tree as well, for what is unsafe for the dog is not safe for the guinea pig either. 
 

Do not leave animal presents under the tree, dogs are curious and will pull boxes out  from under the tree.  Boxes with loose edges or fancy decorations are temping play toys for a bored dog.
Now is also not the time to add a pet to your family.  If a family member wants a pet as a holiday gift, wait until after the holiday is past to bring a new pet home.  Never purchase a pet for a friend, or child not living with you, without the knowledge and consent of the people who will be living with the  pet.  Finding out as the gift is given that a parent is allergic, or the recipient is not capable of caring for the pets is irresponsible.
When walking your dog be careful of decorations and displays. Electrical lights on bushes could catch a dog’s lifted leg, causing either embarrassments or injury to both of you.  Free standing displays, especially older ones, could have loose or damaged wires.  A dogs urine stream, or a  bare pad stepping on a wire could mean an electrical shock  Puddles on the street near electrical lights are power boxes could hold current.   Last winter three Boston dogs were killed, and a fourth badly injured after stepping in puddles containing live wires.   A puddle with a live wire looks no different that a puddle without a live wire, and a person walking through such a puddle will not receive a warning jolt of electricity.  Your dog, walking in the same puddle as you, could receive a life threatening shock.  Avoid puddles around electrical poles, better safe than sorry!

With care and caution the next few weeks can be happy and exciting ones for all members of the family.  Take care of your pets this holiday season and continue to celebrate their presence in your lives.

- Jan Dumas