Involving Your Dog In Turkey Day Celebrations

Topic: Thanksgiving Tips

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One aspect of Thanksgiving that is perhaps the most time-honored and festive is the Thanksgiving dinner. Literally hours of stress and effort are put into creating the perfect meal complete with turkey, ham, breads, potato dishes, salads, vegetables and the traditional pumpkin pie for dessert. It seems that will all this effort in getting the meal together and the house clean and decorated the poor dog often gets left to fend for his or herself.Often the dog becomes anxious with this change in routine and ends up engaging in behaviors that he or she wouldn't normally do. This can include destructive behavior like chewing, digging or barking or anxiety type behaviors such as urinating in the house or running madly from room to room in search of the family.

The biggest reason for all of this weird behavior in your dog is the change in his or her routine and the change in the emotional atmosphere in the house. If at all possible making more time to spend with your dog rather than less in the week or so leading up to the big holiday will help alleviate much of this stress. While you may not have time to just sit down and play with the dog, can you take him or her with you when you run errands or sneak in an extra ten or fifteen minute walk per day to help make things more positive for the dog.

If you have children they can really help the dog in adjusting to the holiday schedule. Often children will have several days off school so they can really be involved both in helping with the festive planning as well as finding some extra time to interact with the dog. The parents need to make sure that the child is mature and responsible enough to take care of the family pet, but usually children enjoy having the responsibility of dog sitting for a couple of days. Kids can take the dog out for walks, to play in the backyard, or even to play in the house out of the way. Both children and the dog will love this additional time together and busy Moms and Dads have time to get the decorations up and the dinner prepared.

Dogs can also help with alleviating the stress of the owners over the holidays. Finding an extra time to walk the dog and enjoying the lovely fall weather is a great stress reducer, plus you can always use a bit of extra exercise over the holiday season. Another great option is to tell your guests that you are planning a Thanksgiving walk either before or after dinner. This way you can take your dog plus allow the guests to take a stroll through your neighborhood all at the same time. If you don't have a good neighborhood for walking, consider going to the local park or reserve, even the beach or a lake for an invigorating outdoor adventure. Keep in mind that some areas are restricted as to having dogs and other areas may only be suited for dogs on leashes. If several guests have dogs you can always make at least the walk a "bring your dog" event. Since this is not typically a busy time of year, you may be pleasantly surprised how much of the park or area you have to yourselves.

Well behaved dogs can always be part of the holiday event, but just keep in mind that not everyone is fond of dogs in the area where they are eating. If you have guests that you know are either non-dog people or are afraid of a dog, it is always the best option to keep your dog in another area of the house to avoid making your guests uncomfortable. Hopefully you would know in advance if anyone that was nervous around dogs was coming and you could then make appropriate plans. In addition make sure people know that you have a dog or other pets as many people have very serious allergies to dogs and cats. If guests arrive that do have allergies to dogs there is little you can do as they are actually allergic to the dander, which is all over your house, no matter how clean you are. Most people with these types of allergies will ask if there is a dog or cat in the house and will either take medication in advance or let you know why they can't attend.

One thing that you have to be very firm on with your guests is that they don't feed table scraps to your dog. Often holiday meals are a literal windfall for dogs that get table scraps, however so much human food is very likely to lead to digestive problems such as excessive gas and diarrhea. Not only are these conditions uncomfortable for the dog, they are also very unpleasant for guests! In addition keep in mind that if each guest slips your dog a bit of turkey, some dressing or even a little bit of dessert your dog is going to be getting a lot of human food. Most guests understand that you don't want your dog eating more than a healthy ration so simply ask up front that no one provide treats to the dog; your guests will understand.

While there are not really a lot of costumes for Thanksgiving, there are some cute doggy clothes that fit the bill for a festive event. Pilgrim style hats and bonnets are available online or at pet stores, as are turkey costumes, Indian costumes and pumpkins and fall colors costumes for a combination of autumn and Thanksgiving. If you are dressing up your dog be sure to make sure that the costume is safe and that your dog is comfortable and not stressed about wearing the costume. You may want to just have the dog in costume as the guests arrive, then allow him or her to change from a great turkey look alike back into a dog for the rest of the evening.

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