Holiday Mayhem

We have officially entered the holiday triad; you know, the time between Halloween, Thanksgiving, and all of the December holidays?  It's a time of chaos with kids ramped up on sugar, over-stimulated pets, and parents and grandparents spread thin. Yee haw.  Really makes you look forward to this time of year, right?

I'm already seeing my social media feeds filled with holiday posts.  I've seen pets in spooky costumes, people feeding their pets festive treats, right alongside pets dressed as pilgrims and Native Americans, and folks already adding Mariah Carey's voice to their early Christmas posts of pets preparing for Santa to arrive.  Hey folks, it's only October 30, I'm not ready for Mariah Carey just yet.  Can we all just slow down for a moment?  What's the rush?

Lest you think I'm just on a rant, there's a really good reason I'm bringing this up now.  You see, all of those social media posts have one thing in common: Perfectly posed pets, seemingly enjoying all of the holiday chaos.  But here's the thing:  Most pets don't enjoy that stuff at all.  And more importantly, a lot of pets find costumes on kids, costumes on themselves, sitting in front of a table of food they can't touch, sparkling/flashing decor, animatronic skeletons, ghosts, santas, etc. quite anxiety-provoking.  There's a problem with social media influencers inundating their followers with this content; they are normalizing this behavior at the expense of their pets and the pets of their followers in the name of entertainment, views, and followers.

You know what I'd like to see normalized?  Pets allowed to be themselves.  Rather than dressing up your anxious dog and forcing him to repeatedly greet strange children at the front door, how about you give him a yummy bone, lick mat filled with goodies, or a frozen Kong and put him in another room with a white noise machine or music blotting out that chaos? Same goes for Thanksgiving: If your pet doesn't like visitors in the house, or can't be trusted around all the food, don't make them do it!  Sure, you can leash your pet to keep them from accosting visitors or wolfing down cocktail onions, but why put them through it in the first place? I know you consider them family and want them to be included, but do they REALLY want to be included, or would they prefer their crate and an interactive toy in a quiet room away from all of that? And your dog who is terrified of new people and doesn't like being in public spaces doesn't need to go to the mall and sit on Santa's lap; you can tell Santa what he wants for Christmas all on your own!

Seriously, folks.  Let's normalize doing right by our pets.  Let's normalize protecting them from what fills them with anxiety and stress.  And if you do have a pet who enjoys the chaos of the holiday season, well, that's great.  Let them enjoy themselves.  But remember: Even the most social, outgoing, life-of-the-party dog will need down time.  Be sure you schedule that for them as well.

Clearly, I'm far from ready for the holidays.  While I do have Halloween candy for the neighborhood kids and I've made rough plans for Thanksgiving, I'm panicking about holiday cards and afraid December will get here before I'm mentally ready for it.  Luckily, I have dogs who enjoy family and friends in our house, don't mess with the holiday decor, and have been trained not to touch food that isn't expressly theirs.  I do, however, make sure they have an exit at all times; crates are always available and I make sure Ozzie, especially, has a quiet place to go when he's had enough hugs and booty scratches and wants to just rest by himself. At my house, we normalize taking a break whether you are a dog or a person.  I hope your pets will be afforded those same opportunities to get away from it all if they need to.

And, as always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.

While unhappy, as we all were, that the San Francisco Giants didn't make it to the World Series this year, the smoothies were still happy to wear their Giants retro shirts in defiance of the Dodgers and Yankees making it there instead!