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Easter is my favorite time of the year, but holidays can also be a little stressful for pet owners if we don't carefully and intentionally set aside time to prepare our pets for them! Focus on church, family, and fun without stressing about your pet with these helpful Easter safety and training tips.
Easter Safety Tips for Pets
Avoid lilies: Various types of lilies are toxic to dogs and cats. Easter Lilies are especially toxic to cats, while other lilies are toxic to dogs. The easiest way to keep your pet safe is to keep all lilies out of your home!
Keep chocolate out of reach: While most pet owners know not to let their pets eat chocolate, Easter presents a lot of opportunities for chocolate to wind up within your pet's reach. If you do indoor egg hunts, make sure that all eggs with candy are found and removed before your pet gets access to the room. Keep Easter baskets and all chocolate closed away so your pet doesn't manage to get into it when you aren't looking!
Avoid sugar-free table scraps: Since Easter falls in the spring and summer weather and beach bodies are just around the bend, many of us opt for healthier foods at Easter time. Unfortunately, while some sugar-free foods may seem healthy, they may contain artificial sweeteners like xylitol (also sometimes listed as birch sugar in ingredient lists) that are toxic to pets. Avoid feeding your pet table scraps to ensure you aren't feeding them something toxic.
Avoid plastic Easter grass: Plastic Easter grass has far more cons than pros.
1. It makes a huge mess!
2. It isn't eco-friendly! Paper grass is biodegradable and won't eventually wind up in our ecosystems.
3. Pets may play with and/or ingest grass. Ingested plastic Easter grass may eventually require surgery due to intestinal perforation.
Easter Training Tips for Pets
Set your pet up for success: Fill and freeze puzzle feeders and toys to give your pet something they can safely "destroy" and munch on during your Easter celebrations. (Need to find some new puzzle feeders and fillable toys? Check out my favorite puzzle feeders Kit!) Giving your pet something positive to pour their energy into will help them avoid naughty behaviors and to avoid some of the Easter dangers listed above.
Increase your pet’s exercise: Even if you don’t have time for an extra walk every day, you might be able to squeeze in a treadmill session, play some tug, or even recall your pet up and down the stairs a few times. You’ll give them an “exercise hangover” that will help them to remain a little more calm during the holidays.
Remind your Easter guests about your pet's training: Politely remind your family and friends that you are working on training with your pet! Let them know any rules they’ll need to follow (ignore your pet until calm, don’t feed table food, etc).
Teach your pet to remain calm around distractions: Working on calming drills like place, behavioral down, and Sit on the Dog can help dogs and cats to remain calmer and more confident during Easter parties AND throughout all of life's other adventures. Head to kingscreatures.com/kcat-club to grab a FREE training guide with photo and video tutorials to help you work on these calming drills with your pet!
How do you celebrate Easter? Do you have plans for a big Easter party at your home? Keep these tips in mind when you're celebrating to help you and your pet have a happy Easter!
ASPCA Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants: Easter Lily
Paws Off! Xylitol is Toxic to Dogs
The Dangers of Easter Grass https://www.parktownvet.com/blog/93126-the-dangers-of-easter-grass
Puzzle Feeders and Slow Feeders
The Ultimate Guide to Actually Enjoying Your Next Adventure with Your Pet