Tips for a Spooktacular Halloween
It’s almost time for the little goblins and ghouls to knock on doors for sweet treats…which means we need to be more diligent about our opportunist dogs. It also may be a stressful night for your dog with all the noise and knocking so I will go over some calming aids that can help.
As you know chocolate is toxic for dogs, the severity of toxic effects depends on the amount of cacao in chocolate and the amount of chocolate the dog has ingested. Two ingredients found in chocolate that are toxic to dogs are theobromine and caffeine.
Let’s quickly go over different chocolates and the amounts of theobromine and caffeine in each:
As you can see the darker the chocolate the higher the amount of theobromine and caffeine.
This is a great chocolate toxicity calculator, if you scroll past the calculator, common candies are listed along with theobromine and caffeine amounts.
https://www.petmd.com/dog/chocolate-toxicity
All the knocking and commotion outside may cause your dog stress and to help reduce the amount of stress your dog is under you can give calming aids. I have used all listed below without any issues with blood glucose levels. Please note that chews typically have flours in them and may elevate blood glucose levels a bit, but you need to weigh the pros and cons when it comes to stress. Elevated BG for a brief period due to ingredients in the calming chews OR elevated blood glucose levels for a period of hours due to trick or treaters.
Bach’s Rescue Remedy Pet – this is a liquid herbal remedy that can be given multiple times per day.
Thundershirt – like swaddling an infant, these Thundershirts use gentle compression to help ease anxiety.
CBD Oil – for some dogs CBD can help with anxiety. There is none to negligeable THC content in CBD products for dogs and it must be given two hours away from other medications. The liver is what processes CBD and many other medications.
Ace bandage wraps – uses compression like the Thundershirts and can help with anxiety. Follow the directions below and remember not to make it too tight.
A couple of tips to help reduce stress:
- Put your dog in a room with soothing music or a television on.
- Leave out a bowl of candy along with a note, “Happy Halloween – please take one!”
- Skip the trick or treaters by turning off your porch lights.
Make sure you get calming aids ahead of time and I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween!
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please start a conversation below.
For a printable version of this blog click here.
Until next week stay comfy, cool and caffeinated!
Michelle Miller-Matlock
AAHA Certified Diabetes Educator
Administrator of Diabetic Dog Owners on Facebook
Founder/Administrator of DDO: Diabetic Dog Owners University
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