How To Safely Include Your Pets in Your Holiday Festivities
The holidays are upon us – how quickly time passes! – and we’re all gearing up for a week of delicious food, camaraderie, and celebrating our abundance. Pets are part of the family too, and with some basic preparations, you can easily include them in your holiday festivities. Here’s how.
Preparing for Guests
Are you hosting your friends and family this year? Lucky you! Keep in mind that if your pets aren’t used to large gatherings in your home, they may be a little stressed by all of the activity, noise, and new faces in your home this week. Here are some strategies to employ both before and during your festivities.
- Bathe your dog (and maybe your cat)! No one likes to cuddle up close to a stinky dog. And people especially don’t like to eat near a stinky dog either. Make sure your dog is extra lovable by giving him or her a bath. Bonus – A bath on the day of your event, or the night before will cut down on pet dander and reduce likelihood of your pet triggering allergies in your guests.
- Have an area where your pet(s) can take breaks away from your guests and the household activity. Set up a quiet space in another room with a crate or cozy pet bed and give your dog or cat breaks every couple of hours (or as needed). Set up the space with their favorite toys and make sure they remain undisturbed by guests. You can always bring them back out after they’ve had some time to relax and de-stress.
- Keep pets away while people are eating. If you plan on having a formal dinner where everyone gathers at a table to eat at the time same, this is a prime time to move your pets to the other room for their breaks. To prevent dog fights and dog bites, ask your friends to keep their dogs at home instead of bringing them to your party.
- Make sure your pets are well-fed prior to your guests arriving. Your house will be full of good smells and food, and a satiated pet is easier to manage than a hungry one.
- Introduce guests to your dogs outside if possible. Meeting strangers is usually easiest and least stressful on neutral space, outdoors (especially if your dog is shy or territorial). So, bring your dogs outside to your front porch or driveway (well away from your front door) to greet your guests before they enter your home.
- Be sure to inform your guests about any sensitivities your pets have. For example, ensure that the adults know that children shouldn’t be allowed to tug or sit on the dog. Let them know if your cat hates being pet on his back or tummy. Remember to be your pets’ advocate! They can’t vocalize to your guests what is and isn’t appropriate, so you have to remember to speak on their behalf.
- Use supervision with pets and kids. Always have an adult in the room with the children if there is a dog present. When adults get to drinking alcohol and chatting away with each other, they begin to lose perspective of potential accidents and dangerous situations with dogs.
Thanksgiving and Holiday Meals
Now, let’s not kid ourselves – your guests will want to feed your pets yummy bits of food from your Thanksgiving feast. You can politely ask them not to, but all in likelihood, your dog or cat will give them the “orphan child” look of hunger, and they will be unable to resist. After all, they haven’t had years of practice to build up a resistance to that signature look. So, set your guests up for success by preparing a small batch of pet-friendly treats.
Make some healthy treats and/or provide snacks like carrots or sweet potatoes so that your guests will have something to reach for to feed your pets when they start looking cute.
Provide ways for your guests to engage with your pets in a safe and healthy way, and you’ll be able to avoid accidents and ingestion of the wrong kinds of snacks.
Here’s a recipe you can try.
Turkey Cranberry Pancakes (For Dogs)
Ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup of organic 7 grain waffle mix or organic buckwheat pancake mix
- 1/4 cup ground flax seeds
- 1/3 cup of cooked brown rice, buckwheat, or white rice
- 1 ½ cups of turkey broth (made from turkey bones)
- 4 tablespoons dried cranberries (or substitute blueberries)
- 1 tablespoon of turkey fat dripping
For frying on the griddle or in a pan: Use 1 or 2 tablespoons of organic coconut oil, grape seed oil, or organic sesame seed oil.
Directions:
- Mix the pancake mix, dried cranberries (or blueberries), and ground flax seeds.
- Mix the broth with the rice or buckwheat.
- Combine everything together in a large mixing bowl.
- Use the cooking oils suggested above to lightly fry these pancakes on medium high heat.
- Let cool, and feed to your happy dogs as treats.
What about snacks for cats? Try chopped bits of steamed or boiled chicken. Or, you can get really fancy with this recipe:
Holiday Kitty Snack Recipe – Shrimp Burgers
Ingredients:
- ½ cup of raw hamburger
- ½ teaspoon shrimp paste (see Asian food section of your local grocery store)
- ¼ cup shelled shrimp, washed in hot water, and minced
- ½ teaspoon catnip
Directions:
- Mix shrimp paste with the catnip and then hand work it into the hamburger.
- Add minced shrimp to the hamburger mix and make into little meatballs.
- These can be fed raw, or baked at 425° F for 10 minutes.
Have Fun
Lastly, remember that pets pick up on our own stress, so try not to be stressed about what needs to get cleaned, cooked, or picked up. The holidays are a time of fun and enjoyment with friends and family, and to honor the special relationships we have in our lives.
Here are some final thoughts to consider as you go about your day. Happy Thanksgiving!
A Prayer for the Holidays
May we bestow blessings on the people who prepared and cooked this meal using healthy food to nourish our bodies and souls.
This food we are about to eat is the gift of God and comes from the whole universe—the earth, the sky, and much hard work from the people who grew, prepared and cared for it. We thank every living being plant or animal that was sacrificed to give nourishment to our selves, family and pets.
May we use this food to live life in such a way that promotes good works and contributes harmony to the people in our lives and the community.
With this food, may we transform our unskillful states of mind: greed, anger, ignorance, and transform them into generosity, compassion and wisdom.
We accept this food so that we may realize our Spiritual path and practice.
-Inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh