It’s Halloween Time - But is it a Trick or Treat for your Dog?
Halloween is always a time to have a bit of fun and to ‘spice up your life’ but while some aspects can be fun for your canine friend, others can play havoc!
Wanting the best for your dog at all times and for them to join in the Halloween frivolities - here are a few words of advice and things to consider.
Trick or Treat Time
Just as at Christmas, our homes are now festooned with chocolate treats of all varieties over the Halloween period but these tasty morsels must only be for humans!
Is chocolate toxic to dogs?
While rarely fatal, chocolate is toxic to dogs and ingestion can result in significant illness. Chocolate is toxic because it contains a chemical called theobromine, as well as caffeine.
Symptoms of chocolate poisoning normally start within 6 to 12 hours after the chocolate has been eaten. Some of the signs you may see if your dog has eaten chocolate include vomiting and diarrhoea.
Keeping Halloween treats away from dogs in the first place is important and will prevent unnecessary heartache.
Do you and your family carve a pumpkin at Halloween?
If so did you know pumpkin is actually beneficial for dogs?
Our canine friends actually have a liking for sweet flavours, making pumpkin an ideal treat without the sugar.
If you carve a pumpkin and want to make use of the flesh there are a number of ways it can make a tasty treat for your dog.
It’s a fun ingredient for homemade dog treats and can in fact act as a digestive aid to treat ailments such as diarrhoea and constipation.
Pumpkin also contains a mixture of vitamins, like vitamin A, E and C, as well as iron and potassium and can simply be mixed into your pet’s food.
How to make canine-friendly pumpkin treats
For a tasty frozen treat pumpkin can be mixed with plain yogurt in a 1-to-1 ratio and placed in the freezer.
It will be ready after 24 hours, when it can be given as a reward or treat. Why not add some turmeric too?
If you want to make pumpkin dog cookies mix pumpkin with flour and ‘dog friendly’ peanut butter (2 cups flour, 1 cup pumpkin, ½ cup peanut butter) and bake at 180°C for 10-15 minutes. Just make sure the peanut butter is free of xylitol, an artificial sweetener that is toxic to dogs.
Bake some fruity dog-friendly snacks. Combine canned pumpkin with flour, eggs and banana (3 cups flour, 2 eggs, 1 cup pumpkin and 1 banana) and bake at 180°C for 20 minutes for a delicious and fibre-filled canine snack.
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