How to Keep Your Dog Safe on New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve Dog Safety Tips
New Year’s Eve is mostly celebrated with champagne, food and, of course, fireworks. However, fireworks can be very scary for most dogs, so here’s a couple of tips on keeping your dogs safe and relaxed this New Year’s Eve while you’re out celebrating. Now, you’ll need a combination approach for best results, especially if your dog is afraid of fireworks or loud noises.
Freeze Food Stuffed Toys
A couple of days before New Year’s Eve, gather several of your dog’s food stuffed toys (i.e. Kongs), and fill them with a yummy food stuffing. For a holiday stuffing recipe, check out my dog’s favorite here. Once toys are stuffed, pop them into your freezer overnight (preferably freeze for two days), so they’ll last longer while you’re away.
Choose a Room
Next, it’s time to set up the area where your dog will relax while you’re away. My dogs are usually crated; however, if your dog isn’t crate trained, set him up in your bedroom with the door closed. Locate a room farthest away from rowdy neighbors or choose an interior room without windows to keep outdoor sounds to a minimum.
Keep Your Dog Indoors
Please never leave your dog outside on New Year’s Eve. Block access to the doggie door. If you’ll be gone for more than five to six hours, then I highly recommend hiring a professional pet sitter or taking your dog out to potty. This is such a serious issue that I recommend pottying your dogs on leash in your fenced backyard.
It takes just one loud pop for your dog to either go over, under or through your fence. Both of my dogs are microchipped, so I receive email alerts when a microchipped dog is lost in my area. Each description painfully reiterates the above reasons as to why you should keep your dog indoors or walk him on leash on New Year’s Eve. Take the extra step and keep your dog indoors and potty him on a leash.
Download Music
Music will help drown out loud sounds and keep your dog relaxed, so download Through A Dog’s Ear CD to play while you’re away. We live downtown and the sounds during New Year’s Eve most certainly startle me, but having soft music or the TV playing in the background is very soothing, as it’s a predictable sound. Place a wireless speaker in the room you’ll be leaving your dog alone on New Year’s Eve. It doesn’t have to be right next to them, but in the same room at least.
Provide Medication or Supplements
For dogs afraid of loud sounds, such as fireworks, I highly recommend contacting your veterinarian ahead of time for medication. If your vet recommends acepromazine, ask him or her for something else. This article explains why ace is not always best for dogs. Most vets prescribe trazodone or alprazolam (Xanax), which provide great results. However, it’s important to do a test run first by giving him a dose when you’re home and able to monitor his reactions. You don’t want your dog to have a negative reaction.
Supplements work really well too. They should be given at least 20 minutes before you leave home. For the most part, they last two to four hours. For dogs extremely frightened by loud sounds, prescribed medications may be the better choice. I recently found a fabulous supplement that works quickly and effectively. It was recommended by my holistic vet. Kemin Resources Anxiety & Stress contains melatonin and other relaxing herbs in a chewable tablet. While I’ve tried melatonin on its own as a relaxing supplement, this combination approach provided much better results.
Before Heading Out to Celebrate
About an hour before you leave home, it’s time to get your dog set up comfortably. Set up your dog’s room with lots of frozen food stuffed toys and a wireless speaker (or turn on the TV). Before leaving, feed your dogs and take him out to potty.
About 20 minutes before leaving, give your dog her prescribed medications or supplements and bring her out to potty again. Now, turn on the TV or music and adjust the volume to either medium or low. Dogs have excellent hearing, so blaring music can be a bit disjointing. Make sure it’s loud enough to drown out the sounds, but not so loud it’s downright distracting.
Toss a couple of frozen food stuffed toys in your dog’s crate, close the door, lock up the house and enjoy your New Year’s Eve!
Leaving Two or More Dogs Alone
If you’re keeping two dogs together, make sure they have their own separate areas to relax. Never leave two dogs in one crate or dogs loose in a room together when food stuffed toys are involved. Usually, I’ll crate one dog and leave the other loose in the bedroom. You can also separate your dogs into adjoining rooms by using sturdy baby gates.
Enjoy 2016. Hopefully, your dog has a nice and relaxing experience while you’re away. Happy New Year!