New Years Tips for You and Your Pets!

Sydney is a rescue dog adopted by trainers, Suzanne & Trevor Mackay. Together they help other dogs and their owners achieve a more balanced and enjoyable relationship.

Dear Sydney:

My owners said they are having a New Years Eve and New Years Day party at our house and there’s going to be fireworks and lots of booze too. Doors get left open, people get loud—it’s not much fun for me.

Yikes.. last year I became destructo-mutt when the people started coming, getting loud and then the fireworks started. I tore up my owner's favorite stuffed animal and broke all the houseblinds (my owners were really mad at first then very worried once they saw how scared I was).

The cats just hid—they were soooo scared. Our neighbors cat got out, thankfully he was wearing an ID collar and was microchipped, but I hear the shelters are full of lost animals and it’s very scary. Help! The fireworks are really scary—my owners aren’t sure what to do to help keep me safe.

I’d really like to give my owners some tips of how to have a safe and happy New Year—and make me more comfortable. I love them, they just aren’t sure what to do.

Signed, Buster the Lab Mix, and Timber & Achoo the kitty cats.

Dear Buster, Timber and Achoo:

There’s only a couple celebrations that include fireworks – Fourth of July and New

Years. Fireworks can startle and frighten many pets. There are lots of things your owners can do to keep you safe and ease your anxiety:

During and after the holidays shelters are filled with lost pets. Make sure your collar (and any other pets in the house) has an identification tag with your phone number on it. As another precaution, have your vet microchip you.

• Have your owner make a nice safe space for you, a crate or bedroom that you can’t get out of. Lots of toys and talk radio mixed with pop music (happy 80’s music)/TV shows (relatively loud) will help keep you entertained during the fireworks. (Kongs with peanutbutter are my favorite).The cats can have their own area too and have lots of kitty play toys.

• If you are really tired, you will be less anxious. Have your owners give you a really good walk, go to doggie daycare or play fetch. For the kitties, grab a kitty toy-feather and have you owners play with them too. Tired animals are happy animals.

• If you are still a scardy cat dog, have your owners consult your vet. There are medications and supplements that can ease your nervousness.

If your owners plan to leave you alone on New Year's Eve and you know you will conduct a search and destroy mission in the house, tell your owners you want to go to Sunny Dog Place (www.sunnydogplace.com). There’s always someone there to watch you, and Sunny Dog Place has cage-free daycare and boarding all year round. Here you can play with all your friends - 2 and 4 legged alike. Just give us a call we’d like to meet you!

I also know from my other doggie friends owners can get really busy around the holidays and distracted by their guests, so if that's the case, have them bring you to a doggie daycare or boarding facility for some fun of your own. You can have a good time playing with your doggie pals and no one will get into trouble this year. Have a safe and fun holiday and New Years!