{"id":400,"date":"2020-12-07T09:47:22","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T09:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/?p=400"},"modified":"2020-12-07T09:47:22","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T09:47:22","slug":"surviving-the-festive-season-with-pets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/?p=400","title":{"rendered":"Surviving the Festive season with Pets!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The season to be jolly is once again upon us!&nbsp; However to quote our wise and wonderful Prime\nMinister it is also the season to be \u201cjolly careful\u201d and I speak of course\nabout our beloved pets (I think we all need a little break from the relentless\ntalk of Covid safety \u2013 so let\u2019s focus on our fur babies this Christmas)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I\nam going to start with what I feel is one of the most important pieces of\nadvice I can give you for the Christmas season.&nbsp;\nPlease be really, really careful where you store and have any products\nthat contain chocolate, sultanas and raisins (i.e mince pies, Christmas cake,\nchocolate tree decorations etc) \u2013 these are extremely poisonous to dogs and the\nlast thing anyone wants over the Christmas period is an emergency trip to the\nvet to induce vomiting, especially after the year we have already had!<\/li><li>Think\nabout where you want to leave any Christmas presents, we all know under the\ntree is the traditional and logical choice.&nbsp;\nHowever just remember if presents are on ground level and accessible to\ncats and dogs they are naturally inquisitive creatures (with a great sense of\nsmell) and they may be tempted to investigate and it could result in the\ndestruction of your beautiful gift wrapping skills and will negate the \u2018do not\nopen before Christmas\u2019 instructions.<\/li><li>Also\nit is worth thinking about how low down on your tree you want to put the lights\nand where any leads and cables will be sitting (this one is especially important\nfor any new puppy parents this Christmas).&nbsp;\nYou don\u2019t want your pup chewing through a cable and making his eyes\nlight up like the decorations!<\/li><li>If\nyou have a lovely real tree in your house then you will be familiar with the\ncurse of the dreaded pine needles constantly falling off, I sometimes feel if\nyou sneeze too close to the tree a cloud of needles drop off.&nbsp; These can prove rather painful if they get\nstuck in your pet\u2019s paws or gums from chewing, so hover up any fallen needles\non a regular basis.<\/li><li>We\nall look forward to our lovely roast turkey Christmas dinner, but please don\u2019t\nbe tempted to treat your dog to some, especially if there are bones!&nbsp; Turkey and chicken bones are very dangerous\nto dogs, they can splinter and cause severe stomach and intestinal damage \u2013\nagain no one wants a trip to the vet!&nbsp;\nGive them a lovely dog friendly treat while you have your Christmas\ndinner!&nbsp; <\/li><li>Now\nthat we are hopefully allowed to visit some friends and family over Christmas\njust be aware that you pets have probably become very accustomed to your constant\npresence in the house this year and they may not take too kindly to being left\nalone for long periods of time.&nbsp; So\nconsider how long you will be away and perhaps leave on some white noise such\nas the radio or television and if you are really unsure about leaving them then\nwhy not contact Friends for Pets \u2013 we can offer visits, day care, boarding and\nmuch more (and many of our pet carers are working over the holidays).<\/li><li>Crackers!&nbsp; We all love a cracker at Christmas, however\nif you have a nervous pet, just be aware they may find the loud bang\ndistressing (the same with party poppers on New Year\u2019s Eve).&nbsp; Also watch out for the little prize inside\nwhich is often small and plastic and could pose a choking and swallowing hazard\nfor many pets.<\/li><li>Fireworks!&nbsp; These are becoming more and more popular and\nnot just at Halloween and Bonfire night \u2013 if you are worried about how to help\nyour dog through this then check out the advice given in our Halloween blog<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/?p=388\">Surviving\nHalloween and fireworks night with Pets! \u2013 Dog Walking blog by Friends for Pets<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>With\nthe colder weather setting in we have already seen some frosty mornings where\nthe car needs defrosting before we can go anywhere.&nbsp; Again just be careful with the use of and\nwhere you store anti-freeze, the smell is very alluring to pets (for some\nstrange reason) and even the smallest amount ingested can prove toxic and\npossibly fatal.&nbsp; So wipe up any spills,\nno matter how small, and store bottles and cans out of reach.&nbsp; This is good advice for children too!<\/li><li>With\nwinter comes cold and soggy walks.&nbsp; Make\nsure you wrap your dog up well before heading out for that walk, and be aware\nthat snow and frozen pavements can be rather chilly on the pads of their feet,\nalso grit can act as an irritant on their paws so be sure to wash their feet\nwhen you get back home.<\/li><li>If\nyou are making the most of being able to have friends and family over again\njust bear in mind your pets have probably become used to having their house to\nthemselves and lots of peace and quiet.&nbsp;\nBe aware that lots of hustle and bustle may cause your pets stress, so\nit is a good idea to provide them with a quiet room they can retreat to if it\nall becomes too much for them.<\/li><li>Chestnuts\nroasting on an open fire&#8230; ah sounds lovely but let\u2019s make sure we don\u2019t roast\nour pets as well.&nbsp; Never leave your pet\nwith an open fire or flame (such as a candle) it poses a significant fire risk.<\/li><li>Be\naware of toxic plants \u2013 Holly, mistletoe and poinsettias are toxic to dogs, so\nthink carefully where you place them, or better still go artificial, they look\njust as nice and are a lot safer for your dog!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>All that\u2019s left to be said is that from everyone here at\nFriends for Pets we hope you have a wonderful and safe Christmas and a very\nhappy New Year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The season to be jolly is once again upon us!&nbsp; However to quote our wise and wonderful Prime Minister it is also the season to be \u201cjolly careful\u201d and I speak of course about our beloved pets (I think we&#8230; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/?p=400\">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":[37,35,34,38,50,43,44,41],"class_list":["post-400","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-doggydaycarebristol","tag-dogwalkerbristol","tag-dogwalkingbristol","tag-south-gloucestershire-doggy-care"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400"}],"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=400"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":401,"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400\/revisions\/401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friendsforpets.co.uk\/dog-walking-blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}