Dear Miss Behavin’:
With Halloween around the corner, is there anything I should be concerned with as far as keeping my dog safe?
That is a great question! For many dogs this can be a scary time because of everyone dressing up in costume. If this is your dog’s first Halloween with you, you will want to make sure they have a fun and safe one.
If your dog is startled easily, then this can be a very scary time for them. Look at it from the dog’s perspective, they thought they knew who lived with them, but now there are all these little people walking around with scary masks on or funny clothes. For some dogs that can cause them to be scared and bark at family members. If this is your dog, try to make the night easier for them by having costumes out ahead of time so they can check them out. Maybe give a few treats when they go and check out to costume.
Candy that is gathered on Halloween is not good for your dog and can really harm them. Please be sure to keep these out of reach and educate kids in the house who love to share that the candy is poisonous to the dog.
Lastly if you stay home to pass out the candy you will most likely have lots of door bells ringing through the night. For some dogs this is nothing, but if you have a dog that likes to alert you of all the visitors, you will have a noisy evening. I would recommend that you put your pup somewhere safe like a back bedroom with a really yummy chew toy to occupy their time for the night and turn on a TV or radio in the room to buffer some of the outside noise. I also recommend the same if you have a dog that likes to over greet everyone or dash out the door. This will ensure that everyone is safe!
If you have further questions about how to have a safe holiday you can call our Behavior Helpline.