Episode 2 - Halloween Episode - Dogs and Halloween

In this episode, Lauren discusses dogs and Halloween.  Lauren gives tips for getting your pup acclimated to people approaching your home, wearing costumes and seeing humans in costumes.  We talk about assimilating your pets, dogs and cats, to seeing people with masks on. Lauren talks about the dangers of candy, chocolate and xylitol for your furry friends. 

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Transcript

Speaker - Lauren Dunkle of The Pet Pawcast
In this episode, Lauren discusses dogs and Halloween.  Lauren gives tips for getting your pup acclimated to people approaching your home, wearing costumes and seeing humans in costumes.  We talk about assimilating your pets, dogs and cats, to seeing people with masks on. Lauren talks about the dangers of candy, chocolate and xylitol for your furry friends.

0:07  
Welcome to the pet podcast for pet parents have lovers, and it's all about pets. I'm Lauren, a Certified Professional pet sitter and pet owner. I want to thank everyone for tuning into the show.

0:25  
Welcome back to the pet podcast with me Lauren Dunkle. Today we are going to talk about dogs and the spookiest day of the year. So we're going to talk about some tips on how to get your dog used to people coming to the door and ringing the doorbell. Definitely safety in regards to Candy chocolate. And then most importantly, getting your pet used to seeing people in costumes and masks. So first, let's talk a little bit about preparing your pack for a holiday. Now we're going to talk focus a little bit on Halloween, since we are recording this at the end of October. But this can be applied to all other holidays, celebrations anytime you might have a lot of people coming to your home, or even just the mailman coming to bring the Daily Mail. So first, we'll talk a little bit about getting your dog used to when people approach the home and ring the doorbell. So most people when you ask them, you know, what do you want to change with when people come over to your home people say my dog will bark incessantly when the doorbell is wrong or people come into my home. Typically, dogs are just very excited, there's someone coming up to the home, they want to protect the home, they want to protect their owners. So getting people are getting dogs used to people approaching, you definitely want to start this prior to Halloween, or holiday or whatever celebration that you have coming up. Because this is not going to be a one day your dog barks and the next day your dog doesn't. So definitely This is something you want to continue to work with your dog on. So what I suggest is setting up a dog gate, baby gate at the front door. And practice practice makes perfect. have family members, friends, neighbors, come up to your home ring the doorbell. When your dog starts barking, what you want to do is distract them with treat a high value treat. high value does not mean the most expensive treat on the market high value to your dog, something that they just can't not want. For my dog, it's cheese. So you want to distract them, give them the high value treat or reward. And while they stopped barking because they're eating their tree, you want to give them praise, verbal praise Good boy, good girl, sweet dog, anything to let them know that what they are doing is good, they're not barking. So reinforce their behavior positively with treats. Another great thing to do is create a spot for your dog. Now I do this with my dog. So when someone comes over, she's just so excited and wants to say hi to people. So she barks. And you know, she doesn't always have the best manners when it comes to people's personal space. So I just tell her, I say sassy, go to your spot. And she goes and lays on her pillow in the corner of the living room. And she gets a treat when she arrives there. She did something good. Now I've trained her that when she does go to her spot, she does need to stay. This has been a long process. She is 12 and I have been working on extended stay with her probably for the last six or seven years. So she does stay and she gets a treat. But this is a great thing to teach your dog. So you know, the doorbell rings. In a perfect world they're gonna run right to their spot, sit silently and wait for their reward. So as people are approaching at Halloween, they're probably going to be dressed up in costumes. So there's another thing that we need to deal with when it comes to your pet. So the best way to get your dog used to seeing you in a costume someone else in a costume is again just practice. The best thing you can do first is just have the costume with you do not put it on right away and let the dog come to you. So I would suggest holding it up on a hanger the dog can Come and sniff it. And when the dog approaches it, they get their high value, reward or treat, and lots and lots of verbal praise. So you want them to associate this costume, or clothing item or sweater or even a harness with a positive reaction. And, you know, don't be discouraged if you hold up a Halloween costume or anything, your dog takes one look at it, and backs away. You know what, then it's time to end it there today. And you start over the next day, until your dog feels comfortable with it. Never go up to your dog, let them come to you. So once they're comfortable seeing the costume sniffing the costume, then you can try wearing the costume. So again, you don't want to just put it on and go up to your dog, give them a big hug and say, Oh, I love you so much. Because then, you know, a dog might think you're crazy a little bit. But also, this is not positively reinforcing any kind of behavior. So again, you just walk into the room with your costume on, let the dog come to you. And when they do, they get a treat their high value treat, they get praise. And you know, you just keep practicing this, then maybe have your neighbor come over so someone that they don't see every day. And just more practice and more practice. And hopefully, you'll have a good experience. 

6:37  
We always have to have a plan B especially when it comes to dogs in unfamiliar situations. So if you're having a large party, it's Halloween, it's Christmas. Anytime that your dog might be overwhelmed by the amount of people amount of noise, the doorbell, set them up their own room. So we have our family room in our basement in our home. And on Halloween. That's right where my dog goes, she gets all of the comforts of the couch, I make sure that TV is on for her, I bumped the volume up a little bit. So she may be can't, some of the noises are a little bit drowned out. And that is her safe spot. And I just keep her there until all the festivities are over, keeps her nice and calm. And then you don't have to be stressed when you're greeting people at your door or inviting people into your home. So now we're going to talk about getting your dog used to wearing his own costume. Now, dogs do not need to wear costumes. However, I understand that people want to dress their dog up sometimes, especially around Halloween. And everywhere you go in October, you see the cutest dog costumes. sassy has been a pumpkin for the past few years. I recently got her really cute Santa outfit that she wears around Christmas, but it would also make a great Halloween costume. So let's talk a little bit about how the costume should be for your dog. You really need to pay attention to your dog's body language and kind of how they're reacting. You do not want to force them to wear a costume. If your dog is shutting down, getting anxiety growling and it right there, start back over. So just like you want them to get used to your Halloween costume, you want them to get used to theirs. So my suggestion is again, holding the costume letting them approach you with it, rewarding them with their high value treat lots of praise, positive reinforcement.

8:57  
I've even with my cats when I was getting them used to their harness, I left it on the floor kind of near their food bowls. So they would sniff them they roll down them. So when it came time to step to putting them on they were at least used to them being part of their environment. So some guidelines for the costume. It must allow your dog for free movement, all four paws, as well as the head and tail. You need to make sure the costumes not rubbing in the armpit area, the front of the legs or around the genitals. The tail should be completely free. The costume needs to be fitted so the dog can potty very easily. And it needs to be loose enough on the dog but not too loose that if your dog gets anxiety or worked up, they can kind of slip up out of it kind of get a leg stock or get caught on something and please never kennel your dog in a Halloween costume. Just don't do it too much risk involved in terms of costume snagging, and your dog's anxiety rising. So again, you want positive reinforcement. Use high value treats. So, you want to start with small parts of the costume. Dog costumes might come with a hat, maybe start with something like that, you know, put it on your dog, see how they feel, look at their tail? Are they you know, kind of closing down shutting down? Do they seem stressed? Are they growling, but the biggest thing is any step you take, have those high value treats on hand and use positive reinforcement for your dog. So you want to use the same technique with any kind of parts of the costume with a long with the costume itself. Put it on slowly. So maybe your dog's costume goes, you know, you put it on their front paws and it kind of velcros in the back, and their back legs are free. Great. So you want to start put one leg in the costume. Give them the high value treat praise rewards. Good girl, you are the goodness boy, and then move on to the second leg. So you want to do it in stages, stopping anytime your dog feels stressed, and anxious. growls, but again, you know your dog best. So you really have to pay attention to their body language. So once the costume is on, then praise, Praise, praise, tell them how cute they are. smile on your face, happy voice and lots of high value treats. This lets the dog know that this is a positive thing. I'm wearing this costume. And I'm my owners happy, I'm happy because I'm getting my treats. And it's just repetition getting your dog used to it. And positive reinforcement. So I will say you do not want to leave your dog in the costume for too long. You know, this can cause them to become uncomfortable. It just gives them more opportunity to try to get it off themselves, get it caught, start to pull a leg out and then they're stuck kind of hopping around. So long enough as your dog will tolerate it, you know, a time for a few pictures, maybe you know, show them off a little bit. And then it's time to take off the costume. But again, as you're removing it, you want that experience to be as positive as it was putting the costume on your dog. So praise the whole time and at the very end, high value treats.

13:02  
All right, so now we'll talk a little bit about getting your pets. And yes, pets, dogs and cats used to seeing people in face coverings or masks since 2020 has been one heck of a year. And depending on where you are, most likely there are still some kind of restrictions where people need to wear a face mask or some kind of face covering while out in public. And although your dog might not be going out to the grocery store with you or wherever that you may see a majority of people in masks, you know, even just walk around my neighborhood with my dog, I see people wearing masks all the time. So just as you get your dog used to your Halloween costume, their Halloween costume, we're going to apply those same things to getting them used to wearing or seeing you wear a mask. So you know, a good place to start is take the mask, put it near their food bowl and the other bed on the floor somewhere where your dog can see it, come up to it sniff it. The big thing is lay it out the way they would see it on your face. So horizontally, or whichever way now if they don't approach it that way, that's fine. But if you lay next to their bowl, you know lay it out that way. So when they approach it, they see it horizontal there. You never want to just throw your dog right into it. So again, baby steps. The next step would be partially wearing your mask. That can be something as simple as hanging from your ear, pulling it down around your chin pulling it up around your forehead. Something so the dog can still see your face, but also sees the mask on it. So dogs pick up so many cues from our facial expressions, our eyes our mouth All of a sudden restricting some of those cues can be a very stressful situation for them. So again, you never want to go to the next step. If your dog's not ready, take the time, make sure your dog is in is in a calm, relaxed, straight, calm, relaxed state, have the high value treats available, and then Praise, praise praise. So once your dog is comfortable seeing the mask on you, maybe not fully covering your mouth, then you can go to the next step. So then you want to wear the mask, you know, walk into the room with your dog, and let them approach you. So a little bit on a slow pace. Again, you need to look for those stress cues is your dog backing away groundling leaning away trying to escape, that means your dog is not ready, go back to the last step your dog was comfortable with, and continue to work with them until moving on to the next step.

16:07  
So once your dog is comfortable seeing you with a mask on. Now, we as humans need to take it a step further. Since the dogs are losing a lot of their ways of reading our emotions, reading our cues from our face, we need to implement some other things. So some things you can do is think about how owners communicate with Deaf dogs, maybe teach them a few hand cues for good dog, Good boy, good girl, or even their name something that gets them excited. So when they see that signal, you know, they get the same kind of feeling they get when they see you smile. Another way is focusing on the emotion in your eyes. And I know that sounds kind of silly. But if you've ever heard the phrase smile with your eyes, when you're answering a phone, that is the concept. When you smile, your eyes make a certain shape, and the dogs can see that. And you want to reinforce these positive cues for your dog, especially with your face covered. So that once your dog gets used to you wearing a mask, great, now it's time to move on to other family members. You want all your family members to go through the same steps with the dog. You know, you can even have your kids wear the mat their masks while they're having some play time. You can wear it while you're cuddling with your dog, just so they get used to seeing you. Now, I will never recommend taking your dog to a crowded space where everyone's wearing a face covering and just being like, Alright, get used to it because that is not the way but typically in this particular timeframe of 2020, where we should also be socially distancing. You know, your dog may not approach strangers with masks. One recommendation I've heard of is maybe take your dog to the grocery store parking lot, park in the back, get out of the car with your dog, have them sit next to you and just watch people with masks on from a distance. So they're, you know, they feel comfortable because they are far enough away from the strangers with their faces covered. They're with you and they feel really comfortable. But they can at least kind of get used to seeing Oh, okay, well that person's got their face covered. But you know, they just walked past. Again, just slow steps. If at any point your dog seems overly stressed, agitated, stop immediately go back to the step that they did feel comfortable on, and then start the process over. Now when we first started talking about face masks, I did mention pets as in dogs and cats. I do have a little bit of a story. So my boyfriend and I spent so much time desensitizing our dog to face masks. So if we had to have somebody come over do something in our home, or if we were out on a walk, she was good to go. But we didn't think about Regina and Phoebe. And let me tell you this funny story. So someone came over to our home and they were wearing their mask. We were wearing our masks we needed you know to have a little bit of work done. So there was someone in our home. So right before the person came up to the door, I saw them in the driveway, I put my mask on turned around and Regina just stopped,

19:52  
got wide eyed and started to lean back. And I just was like oh my gosh We didn't think about the cats. And it is not funny. But I did laugh because I'm like, Oh my gosh, we were so worried about the dog. I didn't think about the cats. But here's the thing, the same thing goes for the cats. So after that moment, and she came out from underneath the couch, we started the process of desensitizing. The cats to us wearing masks, they did very well. Obviously, they learned to wear their harnesses really quick, I wasn't too worried about the masks, but it was something that I didn't necessarily think about. And for you as a pet owner, who may have you know, cat, maybe even a rabbit, some birds are a little thrown off, if people have their faces covered. So you know, these kind of tips can really be applied to all paths. So now let's talk about pets and Halloween candy. Now, it doesn't have to be specifically Halloween candy. If you're listening to this in December, maybe it's holiday candy, Easter candy. Or maybe it's just the bag of peanut butter m&ms that you have in the cabinet almost all year round. But let's talk a little bit specifically about the week of Halloween. So calls to veterinarians at the pet poison hotline during the week of Halloween increased by 12%. What that means is that makes that hotline the busiest hour that makes that week the busiest time of the year for the pet poison hotline. So the four most common food Halloween hazards for pets are chocolate, candy overindulgence, raisins, and candy wrappers might be something you didn't think about fully. But first we'll talk a little bit about Chocolate. Chocolate is one of the most toxic food items to pets. And dogs naturally gravitate towards the center of chocolate. So that's really what makes it so hazardous. Now, the darker the chocolate, the more bitter the chocolate, the more dangerous it is to dogs. Things in chocolate that are very similar to caffeine are however, more heavily concentrated in darker chocolate. So a 50 pound dog can be very second by even just one ounce of Baker's chocolate. So you know, this is very serious. Now, I did have a dog once that got into a Twix, you know, one of the many ones It was around Halloween, of course. And I called the vet and I said what do we do? Should we bring him in? And she said, Well, was it the dark chocolate? Or was it the milk chocolate? And I said Oh, it was the milk chocolate Twix, you know, with caramel. And she said, Okay, here's things you need to monitor for, and gave us a long list of things like diarrhea, your dog being overly lethargic at agitated,

23:14  
increased thirst, elevated heart rate, and you know, kind of keeping out on a seizure watch as well. Now, thankfully, none of those things happened to our dog. And he was fine. But you know, it was a little bit of a scary moment. Alright, so we talked a little bit about chocolate now we'll move on to my type, my favorite type of candy anything but chocolate Sour Patch Kids Skittles Starburst, I'm in. But all of those high sugar, high fat items can be extremely dangerous to dogs, it can cause pancreatitis, and that is very painful for the dogs are can be very painful. And even scarier, it might not show up. Or your dog might not start showing symptoms for up to four to five days after they adjusted the candy. Symptoms include decreased appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and even potentially kidney failure. Now, most dogs won't unwrap the candy before they ingest it. So candy wrappers is another, you know, potential danger for your patent. I know that I've come home to find wrappers, you know, shredded or whatever. And I'm like, Okay, well, at least the wrapper wasn't eaten. You know, maybe my dog got into a piece of cheese or something like that. I'm like, Well, you know, she might not feel great, but at least shouldn't eat the wrapper. And that's because candy wrappers can cause internal blockages and that can be very dangerous. Your pet. Symptoms of that will include, you know, lack of appetite, vomiting up their food or water when they do eat or drink diarrhea and just you know, not being themselves. Now let's talk about xylitol. xylitol is an artificial sweetener made from alcohol, sugar, and it is very, very, very toxic to dogs. This can be found in lots of items, sugar free gum, sugar free candy, sugar free sugar substitutes. Any time you see a food item that says sugar free 99% of the time, there's xylitol in it, and you want to at all costs, keep those items away from your dog. Even one piece of chewing gum could kill an 80 pound dog, it is that poisonous to their system. And that is because when a non primate so an animal other than humans, in just xylitol, it's immediately absorbed into the bloodstream. And when this happens, that animal's pancreas immediately starts, you know, excluding insulin to regulate the blood sugar level. And this can be extremely hazardous to your dog with this rapid release of insulin. So I mentioned sugar free candy, sugar free gum, but please check your peanut butter. This is something that not everyone knows a lot of house brand peanut butters have xylitol in it to sweeten the peanut butter. Please double check that before giving that to your dog. It's something that, you know, you might not even think about. There are tons of peanut butters out there that also don't have xylitol. So if your dog is like mine, who, anytime I make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, sits at my feet and looks at me like Mom, can I lick the spoon? I you know, I have to make sure I get the peanut butter that she can have. I don't want to disappoint. Now if you if you're putting in just any kind of candy, or any other substance and you're not quite sure what the next step is, you can always call the animal Poison Control Center at 888-426-4435. Well, I just want to thank everyone for joining us for our second episode of the pet podcast. I hope you learned some new things. You're going to all desensitize your dogs to face coverings and masks. And I hope everyone has a boo-ti- full Halloween.

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Thank you for joining us for another episode of the pet podcast.

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