Dog Training Nation

In Dogs We Trust

You are here: Home / Archives for halloween puppy

Trick-or-Treating With Your Dog

by

Trick-or-Treating Safety Tips for Dog

Dog Costume
liukov/Deposit Photos

As Halloween festivities begin to pick up, it’s time to decide if your dog will be attending these festivities too. Should you bring your dog along on Halloween trick or treating? Should your dog take part in answering the ringing doorbell for monster and goblin trick or treaters? Let’s discuss simple Halloween safety tips for dogs.

It’s best to keep dogs at home. Dogs can react to small children wearing odd costumes and masks or children and adults stumbling around in the darkness. If your dog is fearful and has any type of anxiety, it’s best to leave him at home. If you’re leaving your dog alone at home, I recommend reading this article. If you do decide to bring your dog along, take a few precautions.

Dog wears a collar with a current ID tag

I know you’ve heard this before, but make sure your dog is wearing a flat buckle collar with a current ID tag attached to the collar. You never know what can happen. If your dog is frightened, his ID tag will identify him when found.

Always leashed, and a parent is holding the leash

Keep your dog leashed at all times, and a parent should hold the other end of the leash not a child. This will prevent your dog from bolting if he becomes afraid, such as when children walk up really fast in strange costumes.

Keep a safe distance

When trick or treaters knock on neighbors’ doors, keep a safe distance with your dog. Sometimes, the door will open with several loud people wearing costumes or your neighbor will try to scare the children. Other times, neighbors will open the door and their pets may not be friendly. When in doubt, keep your leashed dog about 6 feet from the front door.

Simple is best for costumes

Dogs have a difficult time walking in many costumes, either store bought or homemade. If you insist on dressing up your dog, keep it simple, such as a festive Halloween bandana with reflective tape (a black dog is hard to see at night). They want to have fun too so keep the lavish Halloween costumes for you and the children. 🙂

Happy Halloween!

Opening the Door for Halloween Goblins

by

Halloween Safety Tips for Dogs

Dog Costume
Artranq/Deposit Photos

You’ve decided not to trick or treat this year, no worries. You’ll be home handing out candy to scary goblins and ghosts–how fun! Should your dog accompany you to the front door of horror? Muahaha. Sorry, I could not resist. 🙂 If so, read these tips before you answer your door.

Put a flat buckle collar with current ID tags on your dog

If your dog runs out the front door, their ID tags will identify him and his address for safe return. Make sure ID tags are current before Halloween night. Many large pet retail chains have ID tag kiosks, which instantly create them while you wait.

Keep your dog leashed

Attach a leash to your dog and make sure you securely hold or step on the other end of the leash. Remember, children are enthusiastically screaming “Trick or treat,” which can startle even the friendliest dog. Also, while handing out candy, you want to prevent your dog from sneaking out the front door.

Keep candy and treats away from your dog

Keep the candy bowl up high so your dog can’t steal bits of Halloween treats. Chocolate and xylitol (very common sugar substitute) can be fatal to dogs so instead provide him with a luscious and festive food stuffed toy. Check out my favorite Halloween food stuffing recipe here.

Keep costumes simple

Yes, it’s adorable seeing a Rottweiler wearing a pumpkin hat or devil horns. I will admit it! But, if your dog is uncomfortable wearing a costume, then remove it. Instead, tie a Halloween bandana around his neck. Some even glow in the dark! There are Halloween flat collars too. Just don’t forget to attach a current ID tag to it. 🙂

Refrain from scaring your dog

If your dog becomes frightened at anytime, give him a place to calm down, such as his crate or back room. Constantly exposing your dog to frightening things will not cause him to get over it. In fact, it will make it much worse.

When in doubt, give your dog a place to chill out

If all the festivities are tiring your dog out, give him a calm and quiet place to relax.

Happy Halloween! Be safe and have tons of fun!

Leaving Your Dog Home

by

Dog Halloween Tips

Dog Halloween Tips
*Yawn* I’ll stay home. Have fun!

Many of us have plans for Halloween night either trick or treating with children, handing out candy or attending a party so it’s time to make plans for your dog. Learn one of the most important safety dog Halloween tips if you decide to keep your dog home.

Crate Your Dog

While Halloween is fun, some dogs are uncomfortable with the doorbell ringing constantly, knocks on the door, children running around with strange costumes, loud “Trick or treat” being randomly screamed, and even fireworks. Halloween is a big deal!

RELATED: Training Dogs Polite Greeting Behavior

To keep your dog safe from all the Halloween shenanigans, it’s best to crate your dog for Halloween night if you intend to partake in all the Halloween fun. Even if you’re hosting a party, it’s nice for dogs to meet and greet everyone, then give them some relaxing time to themselves in their crates. If you prefer not to crate your dog, then at least confine him to one room far away from all the distractions with doors securely closed.

Before the Halloween festivities begin:

  1.  Walk your dog for 30 minutes before trick or treating begins (usually before dusk).
  2. Give your dog his evening meal and potty him before festivities begin.
  3. Fill a food stuffed toy. See my favorite Halloween Kong stuffing recipe here. Hint: It’s Halloween Pumpkin Spice!
  4. Choose a classical radio station or CD, and turn the volume to 1/3 of the way up. You should easily be able to hear the music without it being too loud. Dogs have very sensitive hearing  so, when in doubt, turn it down a bit 🙂
  5. Turn on a lamp or nightlight so you can peep in and make sure everything is okay without turning on the main lights. This works well too if flashing lights from fireworks frighten your dog.
  6. Give your dog a Halloween food stuffed toy to enjoy inside his securely closed crate. Make sure to crate your dog indoors in a room farthest from the front door so he’s not disturbed by the local trick or treaters ringing the doorbell.
  7. Enjoy Halloween!

When you return home, if Halloween madness is still in full swing, potty your dog on leash. Many pet parents frown at this safety suggestion, as they have an enclosed backyard, but I’ve seen many dogs become spooked by loud fireworks, screams or Halloween toys jumping up and making noises, which has caused numerous dogs to jump over fences or crash through gates.

For Halloween, let’s take a bit more precaution. 🙂

Happy Halloween! Tell me about your Halloween plans. I’d love to hear from you!

You may also like: Halloween Safety Tips for Dogs

Dog Training Nation is a dog training blog for pet owners and dog lovers. We cover a range of topics from puppy socialization tips to dog aggression to dog health. It is our hope you share our content to make the world a better place for dogs.

Dog Training Nation

Quick Links

Dog Training
Dog Behavior
Dog Training Videos
Become a Dog Trainer
About
Contact Us