‘Tis the season to be Jolly!
We all know Christmas can be exciting for everyone, including our furry friends.
It can be hard to keep the day-to-day routine, while being off work and having more friends or family around. Here at Barking Bags, we’ve thought of some ideas to not only keep your dog involved, to keep them safe during this holiday season.
12 Days Of Christmas…
1. Plan different walks with your family/friends.
New environments are exciting, all new smells and places to explore. This not only keeps you all active but burns off some of your pooches energy! Get the zoomies out before having friends/family visiting.
2. Buy them a gift
Some dogs suffer with FOMO, and it can be fun to buy them a gift that can keep them busy.
3. Create a safe place for them
Typically, Christmas can make our homes busier, not only with everyone home but with added guests. There will be more sounds and lights than normal and it can be overwhelming for our dogs. Give them an area to retreat to where they know they won’t be disturbed.
4. Involve them in games!
Not every game is dog friendly but you can make some changes to give them some involvement. Depending on how many people you have in your house, some of the games to consider playing include tug of war, hide-and-seek with their favourite treats, or chase the ball (you may need to use the garden depending on indoor space and depending on the English weather).
5. Try keep their routine as normal as possible
We may know it’s Christmas but our dogs don’t. This means they’ll be up early wanting feeding and walking. If routines change this can make your dog anxious and overwhelmed.
6. We all love family photos
Dogs are part of the family, and it’s nice to have long lasting memories. Tag and share your photos with us!
7. Pamper your pooch!
We typically get hair cuts, nails done and pamper ourselves over the holidays, why not pamper your dog? Book them in to get groomed, or give them a bath or brush. While it is not required to bath your dog once a week, it's best to keep your fur-baby clean and groomed. These holidays give your dog a nice relaxing bath. Right after they will run around playful, and your house won't be full of hair.
8. Enrichment dog toys
Dogs can get bored and start to cause trouble to get attention. Look into enrichment dog toys to keep your pooch busy, these could be lick mats with tasty treats like dog safe peanut butter, or even puzzles with treats hidden in them. They’ll keep your dog busy for hours!
9. Take a trip to meet Santa!
At selected Garden centre Grotto’s there’s the option to visit ‘Santa Paws!’
10. Dog’s dinner
Christmas is the time of year we eat a lot more and treat ourselves, why not serve a dog friendly dinner for your dog?
11. Microchip / Collars
With the increase of visitors round, there’s a chance your dog could get out the house, not all dogs have great recall so sadly could go missing. It’s a great chance to ensure your microchip and collar tag details are up to date.
12. Sharing is caring, but do you know which Christmas foods are safe for your dog?
Check out Barking Bag’s Christmas dog blog to see do’s and don’ts for what you can feed your dog.
From everyone at Barking Bags we wish you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
