Tongue Out Tuesday Halloween Tips

Halloween is exactly one week away.  Aside from the usual, “Keep all candy away from your dogs,” here are a few tips from A+ Dog Training:

  • Walk your dog before nightfall. Take your dog on a long walk to get their energy out.  A calm dog will be less likely to bark or bolt out the door.
  • Keep your dog on a leash when answering the door.
  • With all of the excitement of trick-or-treaters, be prepared by holding onto your dog with a short leash. Practice Sit Stay as you swing the door open and adore the costumes.  Keep saying Stay as you pass out candy.  Once the door is closed, say OK (or give your dog a release command) then praise them with a treat of their own!
  • If your dog is a barker (and you’ve already given them a nice, long walk before dusk), see if you could have another person at the house hold onto the leash as you greet the trick-or-treaters. This way, the handler can walk the dog towards the door so that your dog could see the trick-or-treaters.  But, if your dog barks the handler could remove your dog away from viewing the excitement quickly.  By removing your dog from the doorway when they bark, it lets them know that barking causes them to be away from the fun.  If your dog stops barking before the trick-or-treaters are gone, bring them back to view the fun.  The more trick-or-treaters you have, the more practice your dog will get.

A non-retractable leash that you could keep short will be your favorite tool this Halloween.  It will help keep your dog in control and joining in on the fun with manners.  Stay safe this Tuesday and we hope to see you ringing our doorbell in Turlock!

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