Post by madhatter on Nov 2, 2011 22:59:31 GMT 1
Bonfire Night
In the run up to Bonfire Night, many of you have been discussing how much fireworks bother your poor dogs. So here are some tips from our veterinary team to make the next few nights as worry-free as possible:
• Make sure your dog cannot harm themself if they should become scared. Even the most placid of pets can occasionally bolt for cover.
• Try to keep your dog somewhere with few windows (to remove the flashing light/rattling windows aspect of the fear) and either try to black out or heavily curtain the windows that there are.
• Provide plenty of familiar toys, but change them often so there is lots to interest your dog at this time.
• If at all possible, make sure your dog isn’t alone so they don’t have the stress of being ‘abandoned’ while they're stressed. However, try not to reassure your dog when they're showing the fearful behaviour by cuddling them as you may inadvertently reinforce this behaviour.
• As a family try to act as you would do any other day. Try to involve your dog in some form of active game – playing with toys, tossing a ball about, so he can choose to join in, but only if they want to.
• Exercise – your dog will often be much more relaxed if they’ve had a good walk and a bit of quality time during the day. However, make sure you have returned home before dark so that their ‘relaxing walk’ doesn’t accidently become a traumatic experience.
• Pheromones are natural chemicals that help to induce feelings of relaxation and security for them. They work really well for some animals and are definitely worth a try. Talk to your local vet about the various preparations available and see which may best suit your situation.
• Feeding – we all know that indulgent sleepy feeling we get after a big lunch or dinner and by giving our dogs a nice big early evening dinner we can help relax them with a full stomach.
by: Park Bench www.facebook.com/joinparkbench
In the run up to Bonfire Night, many of you have been discussing how much fireworks bother your poor dogs. So here are some tips from our veterinary team to make the next few nights as worry-free as possible:
• Make sure your dog cannot harm themself if they should become scared. Even the most placid of pets can occasionally bolt for cover.
• Try to keep your dog somewhere with few windows (to remove the flashing light/rattling windows aspect of the fear) and either try to black out or heavily curtain the windows that there are.
• Provide plenty of familiar toys, but change them often so there is lots to interest your dog at this time.
• If at all possible, make sure your dog isn’t alone so they don’t have the stress of being ‘abandoned’ while they're stressed. However, try not to reassure your dog when they're showing the fearful behaviour by cuddling them as you may inadvertently reinforce this behaviour.
• As a family try to act as you would do any other day. Try to involve your dog in some form of active game – playing with toys, tossing a ball about, so he can choose to join in, but only if they want to.
• Exercise – your dog will often be much more relaxed if they’ve had a good walk and a bit of quality time during the day. However, make sure you have returned home before dark so that their ‘relaxing walk’ doesn’t accidently become a traumatic experience.
• Pheromones are natural chemicals that help to induce feelings of relaxation and security for them. They work really well for some animals and are definitely worth a try. Talk to your local vet about the various preparations available and see which may best suit your situation.
• Feeding – we all know that indulgent sleepy feeling we get after a big lunch or dinner and by giving our dogs a nice big early evening dinner we can help relax them with a full stomach.
by: Park Bench www.facebook.com/joinparkbench