Trick or Treat: Tips for Dressing Your Dog for Halloween

Halloween is a time to be silly (or scary, of course) and have fun. If you don’t want to leave your best furry friend out of the fun, don’t worry. There is now a wide variety of fun costumes for your pet, allowing you to dress your dog as anything from a dapper little sailor to a buzzing bumblebee. Here are some tips that will help you do this safely and to ensure that both human and canine have a spooky and terrific time on Halloween.

•When choosing the costume, make sure you pick one that is made for dogs. Some people try to adjust a child’s costume but this doesn’t accommodate four legs and a tail. It will also be quite uncomfortable for your pet.
•Choose your costume early and then let your dog wear it from time to time. This allows him to become familiar with and comfortable in the costume. It will also, hopefully, decrease his interest in “exploring” all the new features.
•Make sure your pup is warm enough but not too warm in his costume.
•Dress up right before you go trick-or-treating or right before you go into a party.
•Don’t make your dog dress up. If he doesn’t want to, forcing him will not be fun for either of you. If he won’t wear a costume, try wrapping an orange and black bandana around his collar or get a glow-in-the-dark leash. A leash with LED lights is a good idea anyway for safety reasons.
•Likewise, listen to your dog. If he can’t endure hours in a costume, make your appearance at a party, trick-or-treat a few houses, or snap your picture, and then take off his costume. Other dogs, however, will love dressing up. Just pay attention to your pooch.
•Don’t tempt your dog with ornamentation. If it can be chewed off, it will be. Make sure there is nothing your dog could swallow.
•Make sure you have your pet ID tags.
•Have fun! Remember to praise your dog often, give him a canine treat or two, and keep him away from the candy!

It’s a Dog’s Life – But Is it an Optimistic One?

Do you see your glass as half full or half empty? We may consider ourselves to be more optimistic or pessimistic, but we don’t typically think of our canine friends as having such a philosophical bent. But they do, according to research conducted at the University of Bristol. Dogs don’t care if their glasses are half full – but an optimistic or pessimistic attitude may determine how they respond to stressors, such as being left alone.

The British researchers studied separation anxiety in a sample of 24 dogs. Each dog was treated to 20 minutes of playtime with a researcher in an isolated room. They were then placed into a room by themselves for five minutes. Some dogs behaved well, while others engaged in behaviors such as barking, scratching at the door, or jumping. This is thought to be a clue as to their optimistic or pessimistic personalities.

To study this further, the researchers turned to food. They put a bowl containing food in a certain spot in the room. They put a bowl with no food in another area. They then put the bowls in different locations between the “positive and negative positions.”

Researcher Dr. Mike Mendl says, “Dogs that ran fast to these ambiguous locations as if expecting the positive food reward were classed as making relatively ‘optimistic’ decisions. Interesting, these dogs tended to be the ones who also showed least anxiety-like behavior when left alone for a short time.”
So what if you have a pessimistic dog? Studies have shown that many dogs are given up because of separation anxiety behaviors, such as barking, chewing, whining, scratching, and more. Samantha Gaines, deputy head of the Companion Animal Department at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, says that the study “suggests that at least some of these dogs may have underlying negative emotional states, and owners are encouraged to seek treatment to enhance the welfare of their dogs and minimize the need to relinquish their pet.”

Treatment for separation anxiety can be as simple as making sure to exercise your dog and give him attention when you are home. Many people advocate crate training, as well, to give your dog a sense of security. You can find great tips online or from your vet – but the important thing is not to ignore anxiety behaviors. Not only do they make you less likely to enjoy having a dog, it makes his glass seem even less full.

Do You Follow Your Dog on Twitter?

Can your dog tell everyone that he’s taken a walk, gone to the dog park, eaten a meal of kibble, and is now relaxing on his doggie bed? In under 140 characters? He can now! Mattel has introduced Puppy Tweets, a fun gadget for tech-savvy dogs. Ok, your dog doesn’t have to be tech-savvy, and he doesn’t need to fit his Tweets into 140 characters or less. Mattel takes care of all of that for him because, after all, “tweets are the new barks.”

So what is Puppy Tweets? Do you have to continually update your Tweets to clue your followers in on what the pup is up to? Not at all; in fact, your pet actually sends the tweets with the Puppy Tweets tag, which affixes to your dog’s collar (also included are USB dongle and battery – and yes, you can get them to suit your dog’s fashion senses. They’re available in pink and blue). Every time your pet makes a move or barks, the Tweets tag sends a wireless signal to your computer, which results in a Twitter feed for you.

There are over 500 phrases pre-programmed into Puppy Tweets. If your dog is barking, for instance, his tweet may read, ““I bark because I miss you. There I said it. Now hurry home.” Don’t be surprised if he asks you to pick up some Milk Bones – or a fabulous Christian Audigier hoodie - on your way home.

If you love Twitter, you can have a little fun and connect with your pet while you’re away from home.

Exercise is for the Dogs – and You

A well-known statistic in our country is that two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese. We might not know, though, that about forty to fifty percent of all dogs are. This is largely due to our good intentions: we hate to hear our pets whimper or whine and we hate to think we’re starving them. After all, we can grab a snack from the fridge, why shouldn’t they get one too? The problem is, though, that appetites expand and weight creeps up. That’s for both dog and owner! A new exercise program developed by Mars Petcare is designed to get you and your couch pet-tato up and moving.

The Power of Pets program will launch in five US cities this year: Portland, Oregon, Washington, D.C., Nashville, Tennessee, Chicago, Illinois, and Brooklyn, New York and will include pet-friendly health and exercise education and programming. In conjunction with YMCA, the Power of Pets will help pets and owners shed a few pounds and create a happier life. Debra Fair, VP of corporate affairs says
“Mars Petcare . . . has long been a leader in researching the meaningful physical, psychological and social benefits that pets bring to individuals and communities. The Power of Pets program is the perfect way for us to share this research and really bring these benefits to life. Pets make us healthier and happier so we believe it’s our responsibility to make the world a better place for pets.”
More than half of pet owners would rather exercise with their furry buddies than alone. This program will allow them to do just that in owner-dog yoga classes, obstacle events, Frisbee tosses, and walking challenges. But you don’t need a YMCA class to get fit with your pet. Talking a brisk walk outside, jogging, swimming, hiking, playing fetch or Frisbee in the backyard can give both of your some much-needed activity.

Don’t let excuses stop you. Turn off the TV for a half hour and play. Put on a great raincoat, a winter parka, or some boots (for your dog, of course), and step out into the puddles. It will make you both more healthy and happy.