Bringing in the New Year is plenty of reason to celebrate, especially these days! However, for your dog, New Year festivities can be a time of stress and cause for alarm. Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be this way. Here are some tips to keep calm and party on while welcoming the New Year with your PUP.
Take A Hike
Your dog will experience much less anxiety if they are in a rested state. A day of activity will help to relax your PUP. Take your PUP for a walk or to the dog park to visit their friends on New Years Eve Day. Would you like to make it extra special? Take your PUP to a new or less frequented location. The less familiar sights, sounds and smells provide increased stimulation.
Set Up A Soothing Sanctuary
Keeping your dog indoors on New Year's Eve is the way to go. Think about soothing all your PUPs senses.
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Sound: Calming music, a fountain, fan or white noise machine. For dogs with severe noise anxiety, look for wearable noise-reduction products.
- Scent: Pheromone sprays or plug-ins to bring a sense of calm to your home. Pheromones made for dogs can mimic chemicals produced by mommy dogs that are comforting.
- Taste: Certain foods with health benefits can have a calming effect on your dog. Several foods, such as blueberries, sweet potatoes, turkey, oily fish, and whole brown rice may help in calming dogs down.
- Touch: Compression garments can have a soothing effect. Even just sliding on your SafetyPUP XD Reflective Vest may be enough. While it doesn’t provide compression, your SafetyPUP XD is associated with so many good experiences for your PUP that it is also calming. Even if you choose to use a compression garment you may want to put your SafetyPUP XD Reflective Vest over top or use the SafetyPUP XD Bandana in case your PUP gets loose.
- Sight: Minimize flashes and flickering from fireworks by blocking windows or providing your dog a space with limited views of the outdoors. You can also keep the lights on in the home to decrease the contrast of light changes coming from outside.
Dogs & Fireworks Don’t Mix
Your PUP is most likely not going to be comfortable at a fireworks celebration, so leave them home if fireworks are in the plan. Give your dog a walk and potty breaks early in the evening then keep them inside when the fireworks are likely to start. While there may not be any planned shows in the area, you just never know what the festivities might include for the surrounding neighbors.
If your dog does get out there are steps you can take now to ensure your PUP is returned to you safely.
- Keep your PUP in their SafetyPUP XD Reflective Vest so they are SUPER VISIBLE wherever they may wander off to.
- Make sure your PUP has an ID tag and that the information is up to date.
- If your PUP has a microchip, make sure the information on file is up to date as well.
- If they don’t know your PUP already, as you're out in the neighborhood, introduce your PUP to people you come across. Having a community of friendlies familiar with your PUP is super helpful should your PUP get out.
If your dog has hidden away, do not attempt to pull them out of hiding. A fearful dog can bite if cornered or confronted. Even if your dog will not bite you under any circumstance, there is a better way than force. Gently encourage your dog to come out of their own accord with a treat or a toy. If the hiding space is safe, like in your secured yard or a room of the house, you may just want to let them stay there until they feel safe to come out.
Train Your Guests
It is true that often our dogs are better behaved than most humans. If you are bringing in the New Year with family and friends then consider training your guests. Don’t just assume everyone understands how to behave around your dog. Even fellow dog lovers have different expectations to accommodate their dogs needs and do not know yours.
You may want to remind people to watch the doors as they are coming and going. Do you want them to refrain from feeding your PUP? Should they be interacting with your PUP in a specific way?
If you enjoyed these fear free New Year tips, please share with a fellow dog lover. Let’s all celebrate a fear free New Year with our PUPs. From our family to yours, HAPPY NEW YEAR!