What a beautiful time of year! The holidays mean guests, food, and gifts. The house gets spruced up, friends come over for snacks and cocktails, and extended family join us for dinner and gift exchange.

Our pets sense the excitement in the air, they smell the food, and are curious about the indoor tree and everything that is on and under it. Is it any wonder that they sometimes misbehave during this season?

An excited, ‘enthusiastic’ dog can send china and holiday decorations crashing to the floor. An indoor tree may seem a lot like an outdoor tree to a dog when his usual routine is disrupted. And who hasn’t heard the stories about dogs being injured by eating presents, gift wrapping and goodies, or being shocked while chewing on light strings?

Here are a few tips to help keep your pet safe and your home in one un-chewed piece during this season’s festivities.

▪       Maintain your pet’s eating and exercise routine. If your dog is used to an afternoon walk, find time to take her, or enlist a visiting dog lover to give her that needed outdoor time. Cesar Millan recommends that you give your dog extra exercise to tire her out before the guests arrive — a good preventative measure.

▪       People food given to a pet can give them the idea that they are welcome to help themselves to the same food when it’s on the kitchen counter or dinner table. Discourage your guests from feeding the dog, or if they can’t resist, provide them with some of the dog’s usual treats.

▪         Never leave a dog (or any pet), alone in a room with a burning candle or other open flame.

▪         Lay wires against baseboards or snug against walls where possible and/or run them through a protective sleeve. Bundle excess wires and tuck them out of sight.

▪       Make sure your pets have a quiet place to retreat if the confusion of a gathering makes them anxious. If you know that your pet is prone to anxiety around people, consider investing in a Thunder Shirt or asking your veterinarian about medications to help your pet stay calm.

▪       Keep presents, ornaments, and other decorations out of reach, or establish a boundary around those tempting objects. Scroll down to see DogWatch® Hidden Fences’ lineup of indoor boundary systems.

▪       Hang tinsel high and make sure it is out of reach, or avoid it altogether.

▪       Make sure pets cannot access the water in the Christmas tree stand. The stagnant water may contain harmful bacteria, fertilizer or toxic additives to help preserve the tree.

▪       Keep your pets away from pine needles, as they can be responsible for punctured intestines.

▪       Choose ribbon or yarn to hang ornaments instead of metal ornament hooks.

DogWatch Hidden Fences’ indoor hidden pet boundaries make it easy to unobtrusively keep any area of your home pet-free. Simply place the battery-operated wireless IB-100 transmitter under your tree to create an 8-foot diameter zone that protects the tree and all that’s on and under it from pet incursion, and assures that your pet won’t disrupt (or eat!) decorations and gifts that could be dangerous to him.

Expand your boundary with the IB-200 transmitter, which can be used with or without a boundary wire. Without a wire, it will protect an area 10 feet in diameter; used with a wire, larger specific boundaries can be defined.

Scoot!® is an extra small transmitter that is used with a boundary wire that is easily hidden along the edge of a cabinet or around a piece of furniture.

Eliminate worries about your pets this holiday season. Contact your local DogWatch Dealer to learn more about how our hidden dog and cat fences can create pet containment zones both inside and outside your home.

Photo credits
Top: K P via Flickr
Bottom: David J Laporte via Flickr