11/28/2025
The holidays can be stressful on our companion animals. I saw this on FB and wanted to pass it along.
More dog bites happen around/during the holidays than any other time of year. If you have a dog with issues, as owners/fosters it’s OK to put your dog away or put a leash on in the house to provide more guidance for them.
People just don’t really know how to greet dogs 😬
What you should not do when greeting a dog:
❌stand square facing full frontal towards the dog
❌ no direct and prolonged eye contact
❌don’t stick your hand out into their space..especially their face for them to “smell” you (😖I hate this one) dogs can detect illnesses, i promise they could smell you long before you stuck a hand in their face
❌don’t get into their space making weird baby noises or try to get them to come to you
Instead when you first come through the door:
✅ Greet the human and ignore the dog
✅ try and stand at an angle sideways from the dog respecting their space without pressure
✅ if owner gives you a treat to give to the dog, avoid giving with the hand, but toss it instead, even behind the dog so the dog has to come back to you.
*so many times a nervous dog will take the food and immediately realize after the food runs out that they are too close for comfort and may bite.
Be aware, guests and owners, of the dog’s space and don’t accidentally add spatial pressure for nervous dogs in an already kind of chaotic scenario like the holidays.
Watch kids around dogs and make sure they are acting appropriately.
Just because your dogs “tolerate” stuff doesn’t mean they should have to endure it or that one day they won’t decide they’ve had enough. They have bad days too or days where they hurt, especially as they age.
Be responsible.
Set your dogs up for success during the holidays. ♥️
