Getting your pet comfy in costume

With Halloween coming up, it’s the right time to find the perfect costume for your pet. However, dressing up your pet could cause a few problems. What happens if your dog absolutely hates the costume, and they end up shaking and shimming their way out of it? 

 

The answer is quite simple, prep your pet and desensitize them to the costume before they wear it for Halloween. If you follow these few simple steps, your pooch can proudly prance in their Halloween costume, and be comfortable while doing so!

1. Don’t force your dog to put on the costume the first time you present it to them. Start easy, present the costume to the dog with food on top of it. This gives the dog a positive introduction to the costume without being too invasive. Leave the costume on the floor or somewhere your dog can approach it freely and continue to reward them with food for any interaction with the costume. If they sniff it or approach it on their own, feed them. If you can get to the point where your dog sticks their head in the costume, that would be wonderful! They should be greatly rewarded for this behavior. 

2. Put your dog’s costume on for short periods of time once they grow comfortable around it. A great time to put the costume on would be when your pooch is about to eat dinner. When putting the costume over your dog’s head, always make sure you lure them and reward them with treats. Putting on a costume can be stressful for your dog, so do everything possible in order keep the experience positive. If you have a toy motivated dog, you can put the dog’s costume on and play with them. 

3. Reward, reward, reward. Once your dog gets used to wearing the costume for short time periods, you can start leaving it on for longer periods of time. Remember to always supervise your dog when they are wearing their costume. You never know what they could choose to eat off their costume or whether or not they may get stuck and hurt themselves.

Be sure to recognize when the costume is not working.  Don’t force your dog to wear something that they absolutely hate. If you try to get your dog acclimated to a costume and they still can’t seem to stand wearing it, don’t force them to wear it for your own satisfaction.

Remember to be safe and always watch over on your pooch on Halloween. Halloween can be fun and adorable for your dog, but all the activity can be scary and rambunctious, so keep an eye on your dog while you have trick-or-treaters.

Fall Festival Safety Tips

Come out this Sunday, October 20th from 12 – 4 pm and join the celebrations as we host our 3rd annual Tip, Tricks and Tails Fall Festival at Morris K9 Campus! But, before you come out and enjoy the festivities, here are some dos and don’ts to keep everyone, both humans and four-legged friends, safe. 

Do use the right equipment. Getting your dog on the proper no pull equipment can make events, such as the fall festival, easier for both you and your dog. With the correct equipment, you can easily have control over your dog throughout the day. Don’t have a no pull harness, but you’re curious and wanting to try one on your dog? Stop by our no pull station outside at the festival and get your dog fitted by one of our dog trainers!

Don’t come with your pooch on a flexi leash. While flexis can be appropriate in certain situations, the hustle and bustle of the fall festival, as well as the amount of people and dogs, can make flexis dangerous. Make sure you come to the fall festival with your dog on a short leash no longer than 6 feet, in order to insure the safety of everyone and every dog there.

Do keep an eye on your dog when you are looking at vendors or talking to people. As distracting as it can be when you are shopping at one of the many vendors or watching the agility match, make sure you keep a constant eye on your pooch to make sure they aren’t misbehaving. 

Don’t assume just because your dog is friendly and wants to meet everyone, that every other dog is friendly and wants to meet your dog.  Keep an eye on your dog and don’t let your pooch bombard another dog. Always ask before your dog approaches another dog, and make sure you watch your dog’s body language in order to make sure they are enjoying the situation. If you aren’t sure what good dog body language looks like, check out a post we wrote about reading your dog correctly

Do bring treats and reward your dog for good behavior. What a great environment this can be for training! The festival atmosphere can be overwhelming to any dog, so make sure that you are rewarding your dog for doing the right thing.

Don’t get frustrated with your dog. Remember this situation is new, so don’t take any frustration out on your dog. Instead of punishing your dog for poor behavior, change their behavior by asking them for a sit or grabbing their attention with a cookie and reward them for the good behavior. The fall festival is all about fun, so make sure your set your dog up for success and make this festival a great time for them!

Do have fun! Of course there are some easy rules to follow in order to keep the fall festival safe for everyone, but above all, have fun! The fall festival is the perfect place to do some shopping, learn more about our new specialty classes, have your pooch participate in a costume parade, adopt a dog or cat, check out our agility match and much more!

Remember that the festival is FREE but we will be collecting food donations, both dry and canned food, for the local shelters in the area participating in the event. We are looking forward to see you and your pooch on Sunday!