Christmas... Are you Ready?

 

Sorry… I know, I said the ‘C’ word!!  But we do need to start thinking about it now.  Over Christmas our routines may change, we may have more visitors, we bring strange things (trees!) into the house, we have presents (with who knows what inside…), we have different, and often more, food in the house.

 

All of this can be incredibly difficult for our dogs. Especially the young, the over excitable, the nervous, the elderly, the quiet….. even the most resilient, calm and even tempered dog can find all of these changes unsettling.

 

So what can we do now to prepare our dogs (and us) to have a calm, enjoyable and stress free Christmas?  (in terms of the dog anyway… I can’t help with burnt turkeys!) 

 

TURKEY TEMPTATIONS

 

Cooking on Christmas Day can be really stressful.  Timing the veg and the roasties, not burning the turkey, keeping the in-laws happy… the very last thing you need is a dog under your feet. Or even worse, counter surfing at every opportunity!

 

Think of it from our dog’s point of view though. Lots of lovely new tasty smells, food everywhere, people everywhere; it can be overwhelming and stressful for them too.

 

So make a start now.  Decide where you’d like your dog when you’re cooking your Christmas meal (a bed in the corner of the kitchen, a different room, in their crate, behind a baby gate, in a puppy pen… what ever works best for you) and make it a really great place for them to be.

 

• Put their bed / mat where you’d like it to be
• Every time you walk past it, drop a few tasty bits of food on it
• Every time your dog CHOOSES to investigate their bed, or gets on their bed reinforce that behaviour
• If they choose to lie down continuously feed them between their legs 
• If they get up at any point the food stops
• Wait and see what they decide to do next. If they choose to go back onto the bed then the food starts appearing between their feet again!  If they don’t, go back to doing what you were doing, but the moment that they CHOOSE to go back on the mat, then the food restarts.
• Once they are regularly choosing to get on their bed you can reinforce that choice really well for 30 seconds or so and then release them (say your release word as you toss them a treat away from their bed, they’ll quickly figure out what it means)
• You can now add your cue word - “Settle” AS they are getting onto their bed (or what ever word you want to use). 
• Reward well (by continuously putting tasty bits of food between their feet), Release and Repeat!

 

 

• Try to do this 3 or 4 times a day for a few minutes at a time
• To make it realistic, wander around the kitchen / make a cup or tea / wipe down the sides etc. as you’re doing it.
• Over time, the rate at which you reinforce with food will decrease
• When you’ve finished put the bed / mat away.  You don’t want you dog to go to their special place and you ignore it, you’ll undo all of your hard work!

 

TREE

 

If this is your dog’s first Christmas with you, please don’t under estimate the strangeness for them of a tree appearing in the living room.  Especially a tree covered in all sorts of exciting looking things.  I’m sure that Sam thinks all his Christmases have come at once when he sees a tree covered in baubles!  But a collie (or any other excited dog) trying to get a bauble  off a Christmas tree could easily end in a huge disaster, not to mention some costly vet bills.

 

Depending on your situation you could…

 

• Think about not having a tree this year, there are some amazing alternatives that are just as decorative.  
• Have a small tree placed on a table that is out of reach of inquisitive paws and teeth
• Put a puppy pen around the bottom of the tree
• Have dog / puppy safe ornaments; some of the traditional decorations, dried orange slices, pine cones etc can look really effective.
• Decorate a tree int he garden instead

 

It can be too much for some dogs to understand what the tree is and that it’s out of bounds.  You can literally make the tree a non-issue, by doing one (or some) of the above.  With everything else that you have going on it can be so worth it.

 

VISITORS

 

Having more people around can be really difficult for some dogs.  You could get them used to it now by thinking about where you’d like them to be when people arrive and get them used to settling in that place.  Often with decorations, trees, presents etc. the layout of our living rooms change slightly, changing that now if it will affect your dog will really help them.  

 

Every time you have someone over take the time to practice the behaviours that you do want from your dog around visitors.  Remember, the biggest part of this is often preventing the behaviours that you don’t want.  To help with this you can

 

• Keep them on lead to prevent them jumping up, running around 
• Have a easy chew or stuffed kong ready
• Practice their settle (as described above)

 

THINKING AHEAD

 

Thinking ahead is key.  Help your dog to succeed by thinking through how Christmas may change their daily routine.  Some things to think about…

 

• Start to alter their routine a couple of weeks ahead so that it isn’t a sudden change
• Make sure that they have somewhere quiet so that they can get away from the hustle and bustle if they want to
• Ensure they’re getting enough sleep
• If your expectations of your dog will change with visitors staying (sofa rules may change, where they sleep may change) get them used to that now

 

And always remember, that your dog may find it difficult. If they’re ‘playing up’, they’re not doing it to give you a hard time. It’s far more likely to be because they are having a hard time.

 

It’s our job to help them feel safe and comfortable.  To show them what we’d like them to do.  To support them when they’re struggling.

 

We know that Christmas can put extra pressure on us at the best of times… help yourself and your dog, by taking the time to get ready now. 

 

Here’s to a calm Christmas!