Halloween\u2019s a fun holiday \u2026 especially for children. But it\u2019s not so great for dogs, who can find it scary and stressful. And it\u2019s not just on Halloween night when the trick-or-treaters are out. So what can you do to manage your dog\u2019s Halloween anxiety through the season? <\/p>\n
Here are some tips that can help your dog stay calm at Halloween. <\/p>\n
Halloween decorations in the neighborhood can be an alarming sight for your dog \u2026 and you\u2019ll see those throughout the month of October. Your dog may be scared by giant inflatables that sway in the breeze, or witches, ghosts and ghouls on your neighbors\u2019 front lawns, often with eerie sound effects. <\/p>\n
If your dog\u2019s frightened of these displays, let him keep a safe distance \u2026 and then reward him with lots of praise and special treats when he stays calm. This will help him learn that good things happen when he sees the monsters \u2026 and over time he may learn to walk by calmly. But it\u2019s also okay to let him cross the street if that helps him relax on his walks. Walks should be fun for your dog, so don\u2019t force him to walk close to the scary stuff. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s It\u2019s hard for dogs to be calm when trick-or-treaters are ringing the doorbell every couple of minutes. So encourage your dog to find a comfortable place to hang out for the evening. This will probably mean he needs to be far from windows and the front door, in a quiet area away from the fray. If he\u2019s crate trained, his crate can be a nice cozy den to relax in. <\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve ever seen a dog really get engrossed in gnawing on a big bone, you\u2019ll know that something delicious to chew on can really help your dog forget what\u2019s going on around him. So give him a nice recreational bone that\u2019ll keep him entertained and distract him from all the commotion. By the time he\u2019s done with that, he may just fall asleep for a nice post-chew nap. <\/p>\n
Research shows music can be calming for dogs (1). Most dogs find classical music soothing, but some may enjoy different genres. A Scottish study (2) found some dogs responded best to soft rock or reggae. So \u2026 experiment with your dog (prefereably for a few days or weeks before the holiday) and find out his favorite musical taste for relaxation. <\/p>\n
If your dog needs more help with his Halloween anxiety, here are a few more tricks to have up your sleeve. <\/p>\n
There are several herbs that can help manage your dog\u2019s anxiety, including \u2026 <\/p>\n
These can help with many types of dog anxiety or stress and can be helpful at Halloween too. You can find dosing and other information about these herbs at the link below. <\/p>\n
RELATED:<\/strong> Read about calming herbs for dogs and how to use them \u2026<\/p>\n Bach flower essences (3) are gentle plant extracts that can really your dog with many emotional issues. And for Halloween, the Rescue Remedy blend is a great choice. <\/p>\n Rescue Remedy is a blend of 5 Bach flower remedies that can help both people and pets with fear and anxiety. Rescue Remedy contains \u2026<\/p>\n You can buy this popular blend in a pet formula in glycerin instead of alcohol, in just about any health store or even a pharmacy. But for most dogs, the alcohol version is fine too and won\u2019t harm your dog. <\/p>\n Flower essences are very safe and nontoxic. Certified Bach Flower Practitioner Kelly Holland Azzaro RA, CCAP, CBFP, LMT explains that these plant essences are created by sunlight infusion. They\u2019re so mild, they won\u2019t interfere with any other medications and they have no side effects. Even in multi-pet households, you can put them in the water bowl, because they won\u2019t have any effect on an animal who doesn\u2019t need them. <\/p>\n There are several ways to give Rescue Remedy to your dog. <\/p>\n Note: If you dose directly in the mouth, it\u2019s a good idea to use a separate dropper to dose, so you keep the bottle dropper clean. Otherwise, if the dropper touches his mouth, it could contaminate the remedy when you put it back in the bottle. <\/em><\/p>\n During busy trick-or-treat times on Halloween, you can give Rescue Remedy every 15 minutes until your dog feels calm.<\/p>\n You can buy different types of pressure wraps, like the Thundershirt or Anxiety Wrap. TTouch founder Linda Tellington-Jones also designed a way to make a DIY wrap with an elastic bandage. Search online (YouTube is a good place to look) for \u201cTTouch Wrap\u201d to find a demo of how to do this. <\/p>\n All these tight wraps apply even pressure to your dog\u2019s body (4). Dogs find it very calming \u2026 it\u2019s a lot like swaddling a baby. Some fearful dogs will relax so much they fall asleep during storms or fireworks \u2026 and it could be very soothing for your dog on Halloween. <\/p>\n Essential oils are a natural but powerful medicine. It\u2019s important to get high-quality oils that are safe for dogs. <\/p>\n Diffusion is great for stress. Lavender oil can calm to your dog\u2019s environment and work wonders for anxiety. One Japanese study (5) found dogs\u2019 heart rates slowed when treated with lavender oil. But if you diffuse oils, you must allow your dog (and other pets) a way to leave the room if they feel uncomfortable. <\/p>\n Here\u2019s a recipe from Registered Aromatherapist and Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Practitioner Kelly Holland Azzaro RA CCAP CBFP LMT.<\/p>\n This mixture contains neroli, petitgrain, and lavender in a carrier oil that\u2019s safe for topical use. Mix really well. <\/p>\n Start with a carrier base such as:<\/p>\n Add suggested essential oils:<\/p>\n Spray lightly onto the back of your dog\u2019s neck or rub on his collar. <\/p>\n Note: usually it\u2019s safest to avoid putting essential oils on your dog\u2019s skin or coat, where he could lick it and get an unintended oral dose. But this diluted recipe was developed to be safe for topical use. <\/em><\/p>\n RELATED:<\/strong> How to use essential oils safely for your dog \u2026<\/p>\n You and your human family might love Halloween, but if it upsets your dog, now you have some tools to help him get through the holiday. <\/p>\n ,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Halloween\u2019s a fun holiday \u2026 especially for children. But it\u2019s not so great for dogs, who can find it scary and stressful. And it\u2019s not just on Halloween night when<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-natural-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}#6 Try Bach Flower Essences<\/h3>\n
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#7 Add A Pressure Wrap<\/h3>\n
#8 Use Essential Oils<\/h3>\n
Recipe For General Fear or Anxiety<\/h4>\n
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References<\/span><\/summary>\n
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