How many of you love having your dogs take part in holiday festivities? If your family is anything like ours, the dogs are involved in just about … well … everything. They love taking part in food, decorating, food, opening presents, and of course, the food. Our dogs especially love when they can help either of their grandmas in the kitchen since neither are very good at saying no when it comes to begging (though, mom and dad have also trained them well with accepting that they can’t have certain foods). While the holidays do come with lots of fun, they also come with some unique holiday dangers for dogs.
Before I go any further, let me make one thing clear – I’m not saying keep your dogs away from everything. We tried that once and believe me, with two bouncy, happy malamutes, it doesn’t usually last for long. What we can do though is make sure to make everything as safe as possible for our girls by avoiding typical holiday dangers for dogs and exchanging them with healthier alternatives or behaviors.
Top 6 Holiday Food Dangers for Dogs
- Sweets
- Fatty Foods
- Raisins
- Xylitol
- Alcoholic Beverages
- Christmas Trees
Table Food Alternatives
While we typically try keeping table food or scraps to a minimum, the holidays are one of those times when things can become rather challenging. While we stay away from potentially dangerous foods, that doesn’t mean our girls aren’t begging for garlic-filled food, raisin cookies, or turkey (Ivi loves turkey but with her allergy, it doesn’t love her). Rather than encouraging begging in our household, we usually go for healthier alternatives that keep the girls entertained and happy while all of us humans enjoy holiday meals. One of the things we have done that has made the holidays so much easier is introducing brand new treats and especially natural bones just before we sit down to a holiday meal.
When it comes to bones though, there is only one brand we truly trust – Jones Natural Chews. They make 100% meat and bone treats for dogs that are not just made in the United States (and US certified) but contain no artificial ingredients, with their treats primarily being single ingredient treats. While mom loves that they are healthy, our girls love that their treats taste great and leave them begging for more. Unlike other bones, I know if I’m tossing one of their bones, it is because they are too small to be safe, not splintering or losing interest (hard to believe it but this does happen – dogs know the good stuff!).
For example, to keep the girls occupied for Thanksgiving, they enjoyed their own Jones Natural Chews Crown Knuckles. Not only did these brand new knuckles keep them occupied, they stopped all begging, leaving two happy malamutes that weren’t begging for table food, but were enjoying themselves just as much as the humans. We have also used their Dino Bones in the past as well, which Ivi especially loves and is happy to chew on for weeks! This year, Rylie got her first Dino bone, which was absolutely precious to watch her enjoy. With puppies, we especially think it is good to start good habits early and do what we can to stop them from begging.
If you aren’t someone who goes for bones, our girls also enjoy some Jones Natural Chews holiday treat packs. These treats are wrapped in a fun stocking or in a fun flying disk containing beef chews, woofermen, and more! Just don’t be surprised if your dogs are happy to just go in a corner and relax with their new treats while the humans enjoy their own holiday fun!
About the Author
Susan Bewley is a professional writer & blogger at Budget Earth who has been writing content online & in print format for over 10 years. As well, she is an alumni of the University of Louisville with a Masters Degree in Special Education. When not working at Budget Earth, she can be found working on her own novel or more importantly, playing with her two Alaskan Malmautes – Ivi and Rylie. Like her dogs, she is always happy to make new friends on her blog or out and about as she teaches other how to live a natural lifestyle with their furry family friends.
