Halloween is a fun time of year for the whole family - even your dog. Will you be dressing your dog up? Have you come up with a costume idea yet? At Dog Paddling we not only love Halloween we devote a day of hiking to it!! Our "Howl-een" hike is a day of hiking and fun - the best part is our costume contest! All the dogs dress up in their best costumes and prance around and ofcourse prizes are awarded for the most doggone cute costumes!

As fun as Halloween is there are a few tips to keep in mind for your dogs safety:

Halloween Treats

Remember that human treats are not usually good for dogs! Candy - especially chocolate- can be extremely toxic to your dog. Artificially sweetened candy, gum and other goodies may also contain xylitol, a highly toxic substance. Dogs may also ingest food wrappers, causing a risk of choking, upset stomach or gastrointestinal blockage. My suggestion is get some new doggy treats and have them handy to give to your pup while your kids are enjoying their treats! 

Halloween Decorations

Your pup is bound to be curious about new objects around the house, and that includes Halloween decorations. Be sure decorations are not in areas where your dog could ingest them or bump into them. Power cords trip your dog or lead to electrical shock if chewed. Be careful with the placement of jack-o-lanterns - have you ever seen a dog eat a whole pumpkin? Be careful of candles which can be knocked over, potentially burning your dog and/or starting a fire. Have fun and decorate - just think about your pup first!

Trick-or-Treaters

Though many dogs love visitors, some can become fearful of strangers. You may even find your dog will be afraid of people dressed up in costumes (Jessie has been freaked out many times!) The constant ringing of the doorbell can also get your dog over excited or stressed out.  Think about your dog’s typical reaction to visitors and take extra precautions for Halloween.  If your pup seems afraid of guests in costumes, think about taking them to another room or distracting them with a doggy toy! 

My advice is have fun and include your pup in the festivities! We always dress Jessie up (not always sure if she LOVES it) but what she loves is to be part of it all! We even take her out trick-or-treating with us for the first little while, we are lucky a few neighbours even give her doggy treats!!!

Send us your Halloween pics! We would love to see them!!

Happy "Howl-een"   Here is Jessie’s costume from last years hike! 

Thanksgiving weekend is here and as we all plan our special family dinners with loved ones we can’t forget about our favorite furry friends!

Our pups are faithful, friendly and fun and lets face it they make our lives fuller! As we celebrate and give thanks there are many ways to share this holiday with our pups!

HAVE SOME FUN!

We have a long weekend to enjoy, but most of us will be spending a lot of it with family and possibly having to leave our dogs at home.  Get out and enjoy the wonder of this beautiful Fall season for atleast part of the weekend and ofcourse bring your pup along for the fun! Today we packed up the truck and took Jessie for an all day hike, the kids and Jess had a great day!

Here are some fun suggestions!

1) Hide and Seek - use high piles of leaves, if possible!

2) Leaf romps - after you’re done hiding in the leaves, play in them - tossing them, throwing them in a fun way at your dog, rolling in them, etc. Some dogs go nuts when you throw leaves at them (its pretty cute to watch!)

3) Catch with any fun ball or Frisbee.

4) Go for a hike!  Look online for local conservation areas or try a new off leash park.  Try to pick somewhere new that your pup hasn’t been before.  Dog’s love to explore and sniff out new locations.  If you aren’t sure where to go you can always try one of our fall hikes or email us for some suggestions.

5) Take your pup with you to Thanksgiving dinner - our pups love first and foremost to be with us!!!

Enjoy a happy Thanksgiving with your pup!  We plan to spend the long weekend checking out new hiking locations and playing catch with our good buddy Jessie!  Here is how Jessie enjoyed her day!!

 How will you and your pup be spending Thanksgiving? Send us your stories and photos!!!

Kathryn