Whether you are a new pet owner or you have had your pet for a while, there is always something else to learn about being a pet owner. And this time the important thing for you to learn is how to keep your pet safe this Halloween. The reason I assume you need to know that is because you searched for this article so I’m assuming you have some questions at the very least. Check out the article below to get all the essential tips and tricks to keep your pet healthy and happy this Halloween.
Don’t Leave Your Pet Outside
There Are Too Many Risks for Their Safety
This one should feel pretty obvious but it needs to be said in case you haven’t thought of it. But don’t leave your pet outside on Halloween night. Halloween is a night where there is an enormous amount of foot traffic through neighborhoods and leaving your pet outside just increases the risk something might happen to them are astronomically higher on Halloween night. Not only are there an enormous amount of young children who might not know how to interact safely with an animal, but there are also plenty of troublesome teens out on Halloween night as well looking to get into mischief and there is no need to expose your pet to that.
On top of that, for most cats and dogs, not only will you want to keep them indoors, you will want to keep them in a separate room. Not only will this lower the chance that they escape out the front door when people come knocking, but it also keeps them from being exposed to all of the strangers they aren’t used to which will just cause them an enormous amount of unnecessary stress.
Don’t Dress Them Up Unless You Know They Like It
Costumes Can Cause Pets A Lot of Anxiety
It's important that on Halloween you don’t put you pet into a costume unless you know they are ok with it. And not just ok with, but actively enjoy being dressed up. Now there are ways you can teach them to like wearing clothes. Such as giving them praise and treats whenever you put the costume on them. But if you haven’t prepared your pet in advance, then you expect the costume to add an enormous amount of stress to your pet on an already stressful night for them.
On top of that, if you pet is ok with their costume, and seems to enjoy wearing, please make sure the costume is safe. Not only should the costume be comfortable for them, it also needs to be non constrictive. You don’t want it constricting their airways. And keep an eye out for anything that might get caught if they get spooked and run off and try to hide underneath something. You don’t want them to accidentally strangle themselves all because you just had to dress them up. The same rules that apply to collars apply to costumes so make sure you keep them safe and secure.
Don’t Let Your Pets Eat Halloween Treats
If You Want Them To celebrate Get Them Their Own Special Treats
A big part of celebrating and enjoying Halloween is that you get to enjoy all those delicious treats and candies. And since you're here to figure out how to keep your pet safe, you are probably pretty concerned that they deserve to celebrate the holidays as well. Well if that is the case, do not feed your pet human treats. Candy, processed sugar, and especially chocolate can be harmful and outright toxic to your pets. So be sure you don’t feed them a bunch of candy or snacks.
If you feel that they absolutely deserve to have some treats too, go out to the store and buy them a special bag of something you know they love. Or even try out something new that they’ve never had before. After all, your pet is a part of your family, so it's a little unfair to stuff your face with treats (as well as give treats to every stranger who knocks on your door all night) and not share anything with your pet. But since human treats are unsafe you’ll just have to plan ahead and grab them something special next time you are at the pet store oor the supermarket.
There you go, that’s a list of the most important tips and tricks to keeping your pet safe this Halloween.
It's super cute to dress your pet up in an adorable costume (I would know, my girlfriend dresses our cat up all the time) but you have to make sure it isn’t going to completely ruin their night by being forced to wear something they hate. Give them some time to get used to it, and reward them with plenty of treats and positive attention when they have it on at least a couple times before you make them wear it for the evening.
And remember, it’s not only helpful to quarantine your pet because it will reduce the amount of anxiety they experience from strangers coming to the door, but also because keeping them in a room that is separate from the front also keeps them away from the treat bowl. So you won’t have to worry about watching every second of the evening because your pet will be kept in a room where they can’t even try to get at it.
