Dangers at Christmas time

The Christmas season is full of warmth and joy. There is a lot of cuddling, cookies and other treats are baked and when darkness falls the wonderfully decorated windows light up everywhere. As wonderful as the heartwarming time may be for us, there are also some dangers lurking for our four-legged friends. As responsible dog parents, it is important to us to make the Advent season and the festive season as pleasant as possible for four-legged friends.

In this blog post we give you tips on how to get through the Christmas season safely with your four-legged friend.

• Place your Christmas tree in a quiet corner and check that it is stable and cannot tip over.
• Make sure you choose your Christmas decorations carefully. With Christmas decorations made from natural materials, such as wood or straw, the risk of injury is significantly lower than with fragile items made of glass.
• You should avoid popular Christmas plants such as poinsettias, Christmas roses or mistletoe. They contain toxins that are harmful to your dog’s health. The same goes for nuts, spray snow, glitter dust and tinsel .
• All sweets and cookie plates should definitely be placed out of your dog's reach.
• Open fires should be avoided as much as possible during the Christmas season. Candles on the Advent wreath or in the Christmas tree can easily be replaced with electric candles. If you don't want to do without real candles, you should never leave your dog unattended with them.

For our dogs, the Christmas season is often associated with a number of stress factors : loud music, suddenly lights are shining everywhere, it smells spicier than usual and there are more visitors than usual.

It is all the more important that you take measures to make the unfamiliar circumstances easier for your dog.

• Establish quiet areas . It's best to place the dog bed or dog crate in a quiet place so that your dog can relax better. Depending on how well your dog finds peace, the place can be in the same room or in another, quieter room.
• Maintain your daily schedules and routines (e.g. feeding times, dog walking times and bedtime)
• Take your dog into the city regularly and train in short periods of time - this way he can slowly get used to the Christmas hustle and bustle. However, it is better to avoid taking your dog to the Christmas market. The stress factor for your dog is too high.
• Let your four-legged family friend take part in Christmas traditions. Just as we humans are happy about gifts, our four-legged friends are happy too. Our tip: Prepare an Advent calendar for your four-legged friend - this way you can give him a little joy every day. You can find various ideas for filling the individual doors here.

The entire PALOPA team wishes you and your furry friend a wonderful Christmas time!