Halloween—not a pleasant night for dogs

Next to the Fourth of July, Halloween can be the most dangerous night for dogs.

Loud noises and strange costumes can spook the dog. Not a good idea to take it along trick or treating.

The dog should have an up-to-date a pet tag with your identification in case it gets out with the constant opening and closing of the doors.

Constant doorbell ringing and strange creatures at the door may confuse and frighten a dog. It will be safer kept in a room away from the door until the excitement is over.

Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is toxic to animals. Hide it from the dog or send it to me.

Another danger is candy wrappers lying around because dogs don’t know that they shouldn’t eat sweet smelling paper or foil. Dogs can’t digest them and they can cause intestinal blockages.

Comments

[Sue]

Love your ghost!!!! And excellent advice as always. Our dogs will be safely kept at home during Halloween festivities.

[pam]

Daisy's fairly cool about Halloween. But we still can't trust Sammy not to run out the front door. I think we'll put both dogs in the kitchen, with the pet door blocked, for the duration.

Don't think we didn't see that 'or send it to me'. I didn't know this was a public service website. Heh.

[Chandira]

There are times when I really envy dog owners..

(As for the dark chocolate at Halloween, I'll take some too. Great post.)

[Jane Thompson]

Good advice, we had three terrified dogs turned into us last year that had gotten out on Halloween night. One dog was bigger than any child.

[Laura]

My dog loves Halloween. All the visitors coming to see her. Unfortunately, she scares the trick-o-treaters just by being so happy to see them.

I keep my dog in the crate on Halloween. She's not too happy about it but I don't have to hold onto her, hold the door open, calm the kids down that she won't hurt them, and pass out the candy. I just don't have enough hands.

BTW, this is the first dog I've ever had that liked Halloween. All my other dogs hated it. Then again, this dog likes to go to the vet. Go figure.

[jackiesue denney]

oh man...nate loved holloween..he thought they were all coming to visit him and he would jump all over them and try to jerk their costumes off..one year i put a superman's cape on him and he had it chewed off in about 3 minutes...110 lb pit bull's should not wear any sort of costume..one year i made s'mores for the kids..had little fire so they could roast their marshmellows and nate kept snatching them off their sticks..finally had to put him in the house..he was soooo pissed...

[Rhea]

Yeah, the doorbell thing. My dog, a Lhasa apso, is bred as a watchdog so you can imagine...