We love Christmas time and it brings with it plenty of excitement; whether that is the influx of friends and family members to the home, frantic Christmas present wrapping, cooking or bustling parties. Huge fun for us, but it is important to remember that these changes to our environment can be incredibly testing for our dogs. Our canine’s tolerance, patience and behaviour are challenged by the excitement around the home, in some cases reduced exercise, not to mention the sparkly decorations and tempting smelling food!
So in our latest blog Scientific Nutritional Products takes a look at canine care over the Christmas period with our top tips!
Five Top Tips from Scientific Nutritional Products for Canine Care over the Festive Period.
1.) Where possible don't reduce your canine's exercise over the Christmas period. Exercise allows your canine friend to stretch their legs and expend their excess energy ensuring they remain as calm and relaxed as possible in the home. Why not make the dog walk a sociable event, rather than a chore, and invite your friends or family to join a walk in the countryside or the park?
2.) Having more people around the home can be exciting and sometimes stressful for your dog. Out of respect to your canine friend it can be helpful to ensure your house-guests understand your dog's individual need. These may be such as; allowing your dog to retreat to a quiet corner when he needs to, not rewarding them for bad behaviour such as jumping up or for the shy types limiting petting or stroking to a minimum!
3.) Our digestive systems may be able to cope with foodie indulgences over the Christmas period but don't be tempted to provide the same for your dog. Avoid excess treats and too many table scraps but most crucially DO NOT FORGET that some human foods are dangerous to dogs and can cause canine food poisioning. Some of the foods on the list include such as; Nutmeg, Guacamole, Garlic, Chocolate, Grapes, Macadamia nuts and much more! Look up poisonous foodstuffs online so you can be sure of what to avoid or ask your veterinarian.
4.) If you are struggling with dog training tasks over the Christmas period, do not get cross with your canine friend as the environment itself is more challenging. Firstly assess whether your dog is listening to you or distracted by environmental cues and make sure you get your dog's 100% attention before you ask him to complete a task- otherwise the competing distractions may affect our dog's capacity to perform a command.
5.) New Year's Eve brings with it a party-atmosphere for most people but our animals can find some of the activities involved, such as fireworks, highly stressful. It is natural for animals to be afraid of loud noises as our four-legged friends experience the world through their senses — nose, eyes, ears. Stay at home to provide comfort for your dog where possible and take measures such as drawing the curtains, providing a safe ‘den’ for your dog to retreat to and put the radio or TV on to obscure the noise from any fireworks.
Merry Christmas everyone and we hope that the top tips from Scientific Nutritional Products help you and your dogs to enjoy the holiday period! To find out more about the range of supplements including Glucosamine for Dogs available from Scientific Nutritional Products why not visit our website www.horsesupplementsdirect.co.uk
