We’ve entered the ‘ber’ months. So here’s my advice to ease your way through it

This is MY time of year, although I reserve the right to complain about the weather!

As much as I love it, I’m well aware that it can be a tricky time of year if you’re a dog. Everything looks and sounds a bit different and no one can explain it to you. So, here’s a little guide of things you might not have considered, as well as a few tips and tricks to help your dog cope.

Halloween, love it or hate it, it’s getting bigger and bigger in the UK, so we need to think really carefully about our dogs. Think about whether you decorate the front or outside of your house, do you want to encourage trick or treaters? Maybe you don’t mind them, but would rather they don’t knock on. Could you leave a bowl of treats outside the front door for them to help themselves?

Perhaps the sound of a door knocker doesn’t upset your dog, so you’re happy to answer the door, make sure your dog is safely away from the front door. If you have multiple people knocking on throughout the evening, it’s just not worth the risk of having your dog manage to get out. Make sure they are behind a door or a baby gate. Remember that the people on the other side of the door are going to be in costumes and will probably look very strange to your dog, this makes it likely that their behaviour around the front door may not be as reliably good as usual.

On that note, costumes. Bare in mind that the whole point of dressing up is to not look like yourself anymore. Be aware that your dog could be spooked by costumes.

Now, where there are tricks, there are treats. Make sure sweets and chocolate are kept out of reach of your four-legged friends. Sweets often contain xylitol and chocolate contains theobromine, both of which are toxic to dogs.

Now we’ve got Halloween out of the way, it’s bonfire night, well more likely week. I’ll caveat this by saying, even if your dog has absolutely no issue with fireworks, some of these are still worth implementing.

An absolute must would be walking in daylight for a week, maybe two, around bonfire night. This is obviously important for dogs who are worried about fireworks, but for those who seem indifferent, why risk frightening them? I’d also say stick to onlead walks or using secure fields for firework season too. We all know there’ll be some bangs going off in the daylight too, don’t get me started on why that happens, but if your dog is spooked when they are off lead, there’s a chance they could bolt and run away.

Once you’re home and getting settled for the night, make sure to keep all the windows and curtains closed and have the TV or radio playing louder than usual to muffle some of the noise. Create a den for your dog. You could put a blanket over a table for them to lie under, or maybe even make the bottom of your wardrobe comfy for them to snuggle in, somewhere they can hide if they want to. If your dog isn’t too stressed, just maybe a little unsettled, it could be worth giving them lots of food enrichment puzzles to play with, something for them to focus on, plus the action of chewing, licking or snuffling for food will help to de-stress them.

Most important for dogs who are worried about fireworks, let them decide what they need from you, some dogs want to hide away, some will want to snuggle tight with their human. If your dog is seeking reassurance and affection, please give it to them. I often hear people saying they don’t want to cuddle their dog when they’re scared because they think it will reinforce the fear response. You cannot reinforce the emotion. If they are asking for a cuddle, it will help them, to ignore them when they are asking for reassurance from you would only add to their stresses.

If fireworks are something that are a big problem for your dog, your vet can sometimes prescribe medication that can help. With these dogs, I would recommend contacting a trainer once firework season is over. With careful training, there are ways we can help very fearful dogs to cope, it’s too late to fix it for this year, but with the right training plan, you could see a significant improvement by next year. It’s not fair to do nothing all year round, knowing your dog will struggle every year.

I started with weather talk, so I may as well finish with it. Be mindful that rain changes everything. It can make the ground more sniffy and it almost definitely makes the sound of traffic worse. Let’s not forget it’s going to be darker earlier and earlier, heavy rain and bright car headlights can look really strange and be disorientating. Some dogs won’t mind, but some would definitely ask to walk in daylight if they could.

These are just some of the things to think about with seasonal changes, some really simple ways that we can help our dogs to adjust and not find this time of year too stressful. Have a think about your dog, what can you do to make their days a little bit easier through a tricky time of year?