One of the things we know we as San Diego Mobile pet groomers is that our clients love to include the furry family members in all of the holiday festivities. However, that isn’t always easy or as enjoyable as we think for our sweet fluff family.
If you have furry family members, there is much more to do to get ready for the holidays than prepare food, wrap gifts and make sure the stockings are hung by the chimney with care. Pet friendly homes also need to prepare the pet for unfamiliar visitors, sights, smells, and objects t, as well as ensure the safety of Fluffy and Fido while at the same time making guests comfortable in the home who may not be pet friendly, or bring their own fur family along for the fun. All of these things need special considerations, and a little extra planning.
Here are some tips for keeping the holidays merry and memorable for friendly homes.
Schedule a Professional Grooming Before Guests
Before the onslaught of holiday guests it is important to make your little fluff muffin as clean and fresh as possible. Not only will having a mobile pet groomer come to your home save you time, it will save your cat or dog undue stress during an already stressful time. A professional groomer will also use high quality shampoo and conditioner that will help improve the coat and skin condition which will reduce their scratching which can kick up fur and bother guests. A professional groomer can also de-shed Fluffy or Fido to reduce the amount of loose fur that is able to escape to the floor, furniture, and clothing or become a problem for guests.
Use a De-shedding Tool
Even with regular professional mobile pet grooming, shedding can be a real problem for some pets. It never hurts to have a high quality de-shedding tool available for last minute touch-ups before guest arrive. If you guests that stay for an extend time over the holidays having a de-shedding tool will go a long way in controlling the excess fur that is around the house. This will not only keep things more comfortable for your guests, it will cut down on your cleaning tasks. Awesome Doggies Mobile Pet Grooming highly recommends using the FURminator between mobile pet grooming appointments.
Have a Quiet Place Ready for Pets to Retreat
The holidays bring a lot of extra commotion, so be sure to provide a quiet and safe place for your furry family members to go if the need to get away from it all. Try making one room off limits to all but Fido, or have a crate ready in a quiet corner. For cats, provide a safe place up high, or tucked away in a room with all of their creature comforts.
De-shed the Home
One of the pitfalls of having a pet is having fur just about everywhere you look. Help guests with allergies or sensitivities feel comfortable by getting rid of the pet hair in your home and consider keeping some areas temporarily off limits to cats and dogs.
Remember the Door
With Extra guests and holiday deliveries, the door to your home and gate to your yard may be open more frequently or left open inadvertently. Set up a safety gate or impose some other system to keep dogs and cat contained.
Keep Candy and Decorations Out of the Reach of Pets
We do not often think of I t but many holiday decorations and candies can be dangerous to pets. Make sure things like lighting cords, tinsel, chocolate, and hard candies are all out of the way of pets that might tend to chew and swallow them.
Keep Them Occupied
All of the commotion can cause our pets a lot of stress. Avoid having them act out in unpleasant ways by providing mentally and physically stimulating activities. Consider giving active or puzzle toys as gift to keep them busy and make them happy at the same time!
Consider Daycare
If the holidays will take you away from home to attend parties and other long events, consider hiring a pet sitter to help your dogs or cats manage loneliness and stay active. Options such as dog walkers, pet sitters, and daycares all provide different levels of activity and distraction that will help keep your fur family safe, happy, and healthy.
For those of us in San Diego that have dogs and cats as part of the family never mind a little extra effort for our treasured friends. We are simply returning the favor of friendship.
