Recorded on
Wednesday, Dec 15, 9 PM EST

Set Your Pet Up For Holiday Success

It's the most wonderful time of the year..... or is it?

For many dogs, cats and for us the holidays are an incredibly stressful time of the year.

Think of all the things that you do during the Christmas holidays:

• Preparing and cooking all the holiday meals
• Preparing and baking cookies/treats
• Putting the tree up
• Decorating the tree
• Placing decorations around the house (making sure your toddlers and pets don't eat the decorations)
• Putting lights around the house
• Buying presents when so many of us are strapped for cash during COVID
• Going out with family to Christmas events, markets, seeing Santa (trying to stay safe)

All of the above is very trigger stacking for us humans as there are so many more variables added to our already stressful daily lives- and invariably someone has a meltdown or an argument due to the trigger stacking.....but how about our pets??

One year, my old family dog decided baby Jesus in the family nativity decorations was a chew toy-and the poor infant as been "holy" since then.

All of the hustle, bustle, our own stress, new visitors, deliveries and change to your routines can increase your pet's fear, anxiety and stress levels.

Let's think about what your pet goes through and how they may be trigger stacked during our winter holidays.

• New sounds- playing or singing with Christmas music, toys, or pop of alcohol bottle
• Changes to their environment- presents closing in the space, the tree- your cat and dog might love sitting under the warmth of the tree but it does change their home
• All the decorations- are they toxic to cats and dogs? Like TINSEL, ribbons or plastic!!
• Changes in diet- more fatty foods, fat in turkey, more people foods, more toxic foods and drinks around (alcohol!)
• Potential hazards- your cat or dog can easily ingest a plastic wrapper from a candy cane, a gift wrapped in plastic, staples on deliveries that your dog might chew on, ribbons on gifts, or eat your decorations like the ever so toxic tinsel!
• New people- family might be over and not respect your boundaries on how to act and touch your pets, making your pet very frightened and creating a high probability for bites

There isn't any joy seeing your dog or cat cower in fear during what is supposed to be a the most wonderful time of the year.

So how can we make the holidays less stressful for our pets?

During our Support Group we will discuss solutions on how to help you and your pet during the holidays, by using management, preparation and techniques for those tricky trigger stacking moments and set your pet up for success during the holiday season!

Join us December 15 at 7pm