Bark Out Loud: Trick-or-Treaters – Adorable or Your Dog’s Worst Nightmare?
We’ve been getting super hyped for Halloween over here (costume roundups and zombie feet — oh my!), but as the holiday gets closer it has me thinking of survival strategies — for my dogs. You see, they’re not super fond of the doorbell. More precisely, they’re not fond of a steady stream of masked strangers ringing the doorbell over and over for hours. We’ve ultimately resorted to just not participating in the Trick-or-Treat tradition, but a few still see a dark porch, void of pumpkins, and think there’s a chance some candy awaits (wrong).
So, Dog Milkers, I wanna know:
How do you keep your dog(s) calm and stress-free on Halloween night? Any ideas for keeping them happy and still handing out candy?
Photo: “Pug in a Pug Costume” by DaPuglet
With two hyperanxious rescues from abuse, Hallowe’en is a nightmare. We put up a sign saying “Sorry, no treats,” but we can’t do anything about screaming children, illegal fireworks, or wandering parties. It is the same July 1, Canada Day: we stay up all night with our dogs, and it takes a month for them to recover from the terrors. So, folks, have a great time, but, please, be sensitive to others, and keep it down!
Aw, poor pups! Any holiday with fireworks is a bad time for our dogs, too.
On the vet’s advice: Benadryl. Knocks the edge off just enough that we can keep our two beloved border collie mixes in the bedroom and quiet. We also do it for Halloween.
Interesting! How do you know how much to administer? I’d be scared of accidentally overdosing my dogs!
I asked my vet
My dogs are in the 35–45 pound range and one calms them for the evening with no after effects the next day
My Pup is not a huge fan but once it’s on her she forgets about it!
This is totally off topic but does anyone know where I could buy this Pug costume?