Happy (and Paw-sitively Safe)Holidays!

So your dog ate the glass ornament! (or staples…). Don’t panic!
1. Inspect his mouth. Remove any glass shards or pieces that might be present. A damp cloth might help stick to them to remove them.
2. CALL THE VET! Get advice on what to do – do what your vet says first!
3. If you are unable to get a vet on the phone, get out your COTTON balls (no man-made imitations, make sure they are COTTON). Soak them in water and wring out a little. Break them up into pieces for small or medium sized dogs. Feed them to your dog (no, I’m not kidding). You can also soak them in half-and-half instead of water. I would feed probably 2-4 balls depending on your dog’s size. Now, find some HIGH FIBER bread and give him about ˝ loaf (big dog) to 1/8 to Ľ loaf (smaller dogs). Alternatively, a little wheat germ might do the trick. The cotton balls will absorb the shards and the fiber will encourage a bowel movement. Now, you have to inspect his poop – you don’t want bloody poop and you should see the cotton balls come back out.
4. AND, of course, GET IN CONTACT WITH YOUR VET ASAP, no matter what!

If you are reading this before the holidays, good for you! Get together a doggie safety kit!

If you are planning to travel with the dogs, make sure you are prepared. Call ahead and find a local vet who will be around during the holidays.
Pack a doggie emergency kit with:
COTTON balls,
doggie bandages (even Petsmart sells these, so no excuses) or sterile gauze rolls,
some antiseptic cream (neosporin is okay),
tweezers,
a bottle of water (sealed, spring for the store bought here).
Enclose your doggie first aid book that you read (what! You haven’t bought or read one! – go see my reading list or get to your bookstore ASAP).
A little penlight or small flashlight
Tape – medical, adhesive tape or masking tape
Scissors
washcloth
Blanket
Vet’s phone number where you will be staying and your own vet’s number, plus your dog’s medical history – what meds he takes, allergic to, etc…
the number to the Poison control center (go to my references page)

Of course, this is in no way a great first aid kit, the one in your house should be much more comprehensive than this. But, we are looking to be able to treat a dog that ate the ornament, got a shard in his eye or paw pad… So, we need something to flush and bandage, plus something to put in his tummy to absorb the shards.

HAPPY PAW-LIDAYS and SAFE TRAVELING!

Decorating for the Dogs

I am terrified to think about decorations. Let’s face it – they can be DEADLY to our dogs! Are you surprised? Okay, lets consider this: anything that resembles a string looks pretty exciting to your dog – tinsel, garlands, lights, ribbons… All these things can be ingested and could get stuck and cause deadly infections. Ornaments are also attractive to dogs (Scout says especially the shiny ones where he can admire his reflection). Well, I don’t think most manufacturers care whether or not they are doggie digestible. Glass shards from broken ornaments (or lights) and ornament hooks can easily perforate an organ and KILL your dog. If you’re visiting relatives will you even know where to take him??? HOLLY and MISTLE-TOE are POISONOUS. Christmas lights can be chomped on (and electrocute your pet). Pine needles get lodged where they don’t belong. Oh what to do!!!!

Stay calm and follow these tips:

Do you really need a big tree? If not, get a small one and put it up on a table. Otherwise, make sure you have a good tree skirt. Not only might your spraying male be tempted to anoint your tree, drinking the water from the tree stand can cause diarrhea. So, NO TREE WATER ADDITIVES EITHER!
Similarly, keep those pine needles picked up (besides when your pooch wakes you up at 3 a.m. barking at the tree and your barefoot spouse runs in only to step on a pine needle, you will have to pick them out of his foot with tweezers anyway – sweeping is a much easier task)
Analyze each ornament for its danger
Keep the ornaments and lights above nosing level
Keep any packages with ribbon up and away from the dog
Keep toys picked up – sorry kids – batteries are dangerous
Keep the wrapping supplies put up.
Make all the extra electric cords inaccessible somehow. A great idea is buying some PVC pipe and just running the cords through them. Later you can cut the pipe and make fetch toys out of it.
Only decorate with plants that are either 1)Doggie Safe or 2)If the earth shook, a tornado hit, and hell froze over the dog still couldn’t get to. Hehe…Kira said “tough luck” (I guess no nasty plants for us, we actually use Rosemary)
None of that tree flocking (unless it says doggie edible).
No edible ornaments – too munch temptation here – besides, anything that preserves that long seems kind of scary if you ask me. Watch out for those homemade dough ornaments we have all made; there is a lot of salt in these, which can be bad.
Make sure your dog wears the most important decoration of all – his I.D. TAG! Like we said, doggies can get nervous and might try to run. And since many of us will be traveling this time of year, proper identification could save your poochie. If you haven’t done so already, get your dog microchipped (Kira and Scout both have AVID chips).

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