How to Avoid Taking Your Pet to the Vet This Holiday Season - With Dr Kristi | Pupford
5 Comments
Filed under health & wellness+ pup parenting
As pet guardians it is up to us to care for our dog’s health, safety, and happiness, year round. Around the holidays, our dogs may be exposed to different sights and smells - which can be a potential danger to them. That’s why it’s important to do all we can to keep them safe around holiday decor, food, and more.
Here are tips from Veterinarian Kristi on ways to avoid taking your pets to the vet this Holiday season.
Note: This isn’t a substitute for veterinary care. If your dog is sick, injured, etc. go visit a vet ASAP.
TIPS TO AVOID TAKING YOUR DOG TO THE EMERGENCY VET THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
1. BE MINDFUL OF COOKING INGREDIENTS AROUND YOUR PET
Whether you are doing the cooking or someone else is, if your dog is around the kitchen, be extra careful that they can’t get into potentially harmful and/or toxic foods.
If you’re worried about counter surfing, the #1 thing you should try to avoid is leaving food up on the counter that your dog can get into when you’re away. It’s your responsibility to control your dog’s environment, so when possible, keeping your counters clean and clear can help prevent unwanted counter surfing.
2. KEEP PETS IN A SAFE AREA DURING HOLIDAY GATHERINGS
To avoid stress and anxiety in dogs, as well as to prevent them from getting into things they shouldn’t, keep them in a safe area during gatherings. This can also help keep them safe if the door is going to be open more often than not. You can put them in a separate room, in a crate, use baby gates to keep them out of certain places, and more. It’s also a good idea to brush up on some training, like place, stay, leave it, and come.
3. REMOVE DECOR AND ORNAMENTS THAT CAN BE EASILY CONSUMED
Christmas trees, ornaments, dreidels, gifts, menorahs, kinara, that creepy decoration your aunt gave you, you name it… dogs can get into a lot of things. Remove decorations from your dog’s reach that can be a danger to them.
While there are some foods your dog can eat that are not toxic to them, even things like sweet potatoes and turkey are filled with sweeteners, spices and seasonings, butter, and more. So to be the most safe, it is best to just avoid table scraps altogether.
Instead, you can make your dog their ownholiday mealthat they can safely eat! Or give them sometasty treatsandchews instead.
When it comes to our dog’s health and safety, we don’t like to leave things to chance. For more first aid tips, including preventative care, DIY remedies, and more from a Veterinarian, check out theDog First Aid Coursein Pupford Academy.
Thank you for the holiday reminder. My girl likes to rip up paper if she gets it. She’s 11 months, still working on leave it. She knows the word but sometimes chooses to ignore.
L
Laura01/26/2025
The only time we needed an emergency vet was when a puppy ate pennies – they are not usually thought of as a danger but they are not copper any longer; they are zinc so zinc poisoning sets in very quickly – our dog needed surgery and blood transfusions – please watch the small shiny objects that may even look like kibble!
T
Team Pupford01/26/2025
Thank you, Vicki!
P
Paula01/26/2025
Great article thanks
H
Hope01/26/2025
Thank you for this Holiday reminder. It’s always good to brush up on our past training to remind our pups what to do.
Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.
5 comments
Leave a CommentThank you for the holiday reminder. My girl likes to rip up paper if she gets it. She’s 11 months, still working on leave it. She knows the word but sometimes chooses to ignore.
The only time we needed an emergency vet was when a puppy ate pennies – they are not usually thought of as a danger but they are not copper any longer; they are zinc so zinc poisoning sets in very quickly – our dog needed surgery and blood transfusions – please watch the small shiny objects that may even look like kibble!
Thank you, Vicki!
Great article thanks
Thank you for this Holiday reminder. It’s always good to brush up on our past training to remind our pups what to do.