Dog-Friendly Holiday Week: Holiday Fun and Safety

Today is the first day of my first-ever Holiday Week! Check back every day because, in addition to holiday-themed posts (including a super awesome guest post), I have a giveaway every single day this week!

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I love everything about the holidays – especially twinkling lights, rosy cheeks, sugar cookies, and all the festive flair!

Last Christmas, like every Christmas, we decorated our entire house. The stockings were hung; the tree was a-glow. It was cold and snowy out but warm in front of our fire. We were going to a holiday party that night, and I ran upstairs to take a shower. When I emerged, there was Emmett, chowing down on a holiday ornament: a cranberry-scented, holly-berry wreath/candle thing that was the centerpiece of our coffee table. It was a conglomeration of metal wires tying together plastic holly berries and leaves, topped with a scented candle. It was a gift from someone the previous Christmas, and now, most of it was in Emmett’s belly.

Before I had the chance to have a heart attack, Emmett started throwing up. I tried to mentally reassemble the decoration from the pieces that emerged, but there was no way to tell if it was all there. So off to the emergency room we went. The conclusion? The metal wires were (miraculously) flexible enough that they bent as they traveled through him, and he was able to pass everything without a problem over the next couple of days.

The moral of the story? No matter how diligent you try to be, decorations can be really hazardous to pets.

Cats and tinsel. Dogs and baked goods. Ornaments that look like toys. Decor that is scented to smell like food. Dangling cords that look like ropes.

My number one piece of advice? This might sound weird, but when you finish decorating, sit on the floor and look around. You’ll be at the approximate height of your dog (depending on his and your size, of course!), so you’ll be able to spot – and move or remove – items at his eye level that may tempt him.

On that note, for today’s giveaway, I have a copy of A Dog’s Purpose, which I reviewed here. I loved this book for a lot of reasons, but one of my favorite parts? Throughout the book, the dog mentions that it was time for “Merry Christmas” again! I love that he calls it “Merry Christmas.” So cute.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of A Dog’s Purpose! I’d love to know: What holiday mischief has your dog encountered??

I’ll use random.org to select winners of all five giveaways, and all winners will be announced on Saturday. Each winner will have one week to claim his or her prize or I’ll select another winner.

Image: George Deputee