Halloween Care Tips

Halloween is a favorite holiday for many pet owners. While it's fun to include your pet in the festivities, it's important to keep safety pet safety in mind. It may not seem like it, but this holiday can be a very stressful and dangerous time for pets. When planning your Halloween festivities, use our tips to keep your furry friends safe!

• Ensure that your dog has proper identification including your name, address, and contact number just in case your dog slips out a door. 
  
  
• Don’t leave your pet out in the yard on Halloween: there are too many risks for their safety. 
  
  
• Halloween candies are not for pets: chocolate is poisonous to many animals, and tin foil and cellophane candy wrappers can be hazardous if swallowed.
  
  
• Be careful of pets around candle-lit pumpkins: animal could knock into them and cause a fire, or run the risk of getting burned.
  
  
• Don’t dress your animal in costume unless you somehow know they love it. Costumes can put a lot of stress on animals.
  
  
• If you do dress up your animal, make sure the costume isn’t constricting, annoying or unsafe.
  
  
• Be careful not to obstruct their vision; even the sweetest animals can get anxious when they can’t see what’s going on around them.
  
  
• All but the most social dogs should be kept in a separate room during trick-or-treat hours; too many strangers in strange garb can be scary for a dog.
  
  
• Be careful your animal doesn’t dart out through an open door.

Of course this list is not extensive and doesn't cover all of the possible dangers to dogs. Only you know your pets, how they react, and what types of mischief they like to get into. Remember, they can be unpredictable in stressful situations. We at America's VetDogs hope you enjoy your Halloween festivities while keeping your dogs' safety in mind. Happy Halloween!