{"id":358,"date":"2020-09-29T12:36:06","date_gmt":"2020-09-29T12:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/?p=358"},"modified":"2020-09-29T12:36:06","modified_gmt":"2020-09-29T12:36:06","slug":"top-10-tips-for-autumn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/?p=358","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 Tips for Autumn!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Now that the last few warm days of summer are slipping away,\nthe nights are drawing in and we have just passed the equinox on 21<sup>st<\/sup>\nSeptember, autumn is definitely on its way!&nbsp;\nSo brace yourself for those chillier evenings, and a bit more rain which\nof course means the soggy walk season!&nbsp;\nAnd since it is not just us humans that notice the change in seasons,\nFriends for Pets have put together a few tips to get you and your dog through\nthe coming months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Keep\non top of your flea treatments!&nbsp; This is\nthe time of year that fleas breed the most, so unfortunately the population\nincreases around autumn time.&nbsp; Also this\nis the time when many of us begin to turn our central heating back on, and as\nfleas love the warmth they will start to come inside too, laying eggs\neverywhere you do not want them to!<\/li><li>Who\ndoesn\u2019t love a crisp walk through the lovely autumn leaves?&nbsp; Just be careful if you see oak leaves or\nacorns lying on the ground or in puddles \u2013 do not let your dog drink out of\nthese puddles as oak leaves or acorns are toxic and can give your dog a very\nbad belly!&nbsp; No one wants the poops after\na lovely autumn walk!!!<\/li><li>Stay\nvisible!&nbsp; With the evenings closing in\nour pooches still need the same amount of exercise so unfortunately that means\nmore walks in the dark.&nbsp; It is always\nworth wearing some reflective gear (especially if you are not walking along a\nfootpath) and don\u2019t forget Fido \u2013 invest in a light for his collar, well worth\nthe money if you are walking in a park and still let them off lead.<\/li><li>Stay\nwarm!&nbsp; Not only do you find the change in\ntemperatures require an extra layer but your pup might also, especially the\nshorter haired breeds such as whippets and greyhounds, so why not think about\ninvesting in a nice little coat for the winter, it will also help keep them dry\non those rainy day walks.<\/li><li>Autumn\n= Comfort Foods!!&nbsp; We all love this time\nof year for the warm comforting stews, roast dinners, crumbles and apple\npies.&nbsp; But don\u2019t be tempted to give your\npet too many tit bits and table scraps, especially if they are really fatty \u2013\nit doesn\u2019t take much before some breeds will start to put on a few extra\npounds.&nbsp; Also remember turkey and chicken\nbones can splinter so NEVER let your dog have them, they can be a severe\nchoking hazard.<\/li><li>Maintain\na healthy weight (and for full disclosure Friends for Pets are merely advising\nthis for the dogs!!!&nbsp; Humans you are free\nto put on as much \u2018winter weight\u2019 as you want!).&nbsp; With the walking weather never being as\npredictable as that in the summer it is always tricky to maintain a healthy\nweight for your dog.&nbsp; So why not consider\nsome lower calorie treats such as raw carrots, or creating some indoor games\n(this will also help to keep their mind active too \u2013 so they are less likely to\nbecome bored and destructive \u2013 I recommend our Kong stuffing blog for ideas).<\/li><li>Keep\nan eye out in your garden.&nbsp; No I am not\nappealing to the ardent gardener among you all but rather prompting you to keep\na watch out for winter visitors in your back yard.&nbsp; This is the time of year that many animals\nsuch as hedgehogs look for a nice cosy place to hibernate and it is advisable\nthat you discourage any signs of interest your dog may show towards them, not\nonly can the spikes prove painful to Fido\u2019s snout but hedgehogs are also well\nknown for carrying a great number of fleas.&nbsp;\nAlso be on the lookout for other animals such as foxes and badgers\nlooking for food in your garden or yards, you do not want an altercation\nbetween wild animals and your pet.<\/li><li>Trick\nor Treat?&nbsp; As Halloween fast approaches\nthis is the time for sweets and other treats, many of which prove very harmful\nto dogs \u2013 never let your dog eat chocolate or raisins and if they do contact your\nvet for advice immediately.&nbsp; Keep an eye\nout for our upcoming blog on how to survive Halloween and bonfire night with\nyour pets.<\/li><li>More\ndangers \u2013 now that the temperature is dropping you may wake up to the\noccasional frosty car window.&nbsp; Antifreeze\nis really dangerous for your dog; it can cause acute kidney failure or even\ndeath.&nbsp; For some reason many pets\n(especially cats) are quite partial to the taste of antifreeze, so just make\nsure you store it out of reach and when defrosting the car keep your pets inside.&nbsp; Incidentally road grit can also be very\nharmful to your dog, so be aware when you walk on gritted footpaths and ensure\nyou wipe their feet when you get back from your walk.<\/li><li>&nbsp;Scratch, scratch, scratch?&nbsp; Allergies can increase at this time of year,\nso if you notice your dog scratching more don\u2019t automatically think that they\nmust have fleas.&nbsp; Perhaps a nice warm\nbath will help and if not then book them in for a quick check up with the vet\nin case they need some medication to soothe that infernal itch!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s our top 10 tips for\napproaching the autumn.&nbsp; I just have one\nfinal piece of advice for this time of year&#8230;&nbsp;\nDon\u2019t forget to enjoy the colder, darker evenings by snuggling up and\nenjoying lots of lovely cuddles with your dog!!&nbsp;\nTreat yourself to a nice new throw and share it with your fur baby!&nbsp; Enjoy!&nbsp;\nFrom all here at Friends for Pets!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Now that the last few warm days of summer are slipping away, the nights are drawing in and we have just passed the equinox on 21st September, autumn is definitely on its way!&nbsp; So brace yourself for those chillier evenings,&#8230; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/?p=358\">Continue Reading &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[37,35,34,38,32,11,49,51,13,50,43,33,44,39,40,42,41],"class_list":["post-358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bristol-dog-day-care","tag-bristol-dog-walker","tag-bristol-dog-walking","tag-bristol-doggy-day-care","tag-dog-health","tag-dog-walking","tag-dogdaycarebristol","tag-doggiedaycarebristol","tag-doggy-day-care","tag-doggydaycarebristol","tag-dogwalkerbristol","tag-dogwalking","tag-dogwalkingbristol","tag-south-gloucestershire-dog-walker","tag-south-gloucestershire-dog-walking","tag-south-gloucestershire-dog-walks","tag-south-gloucestershire-doggy-care"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=358"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":359,"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358\/revisions\/359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}