Pet Proofing Your Home for the Holiday Season -- Dr. Cookie offers timely tips.

This year, don't let your pet turn your celebrations into ruined memories. Dr. Schwartz offers the following on how to make the holiday season safer for everyone in the family.

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Pet Proofing Your Home for the Holiday Season --
Dr. Cookie offers timely tips.

DATELINE: NORWELL AND WEYMOUTH, MA; NOVEMBER 18, 2002... Can you believe the holidays are already here? This year, don't let your pet turn your celebrations into ruined memories. It's easy to take preventative steps to keep your pet safe and happy and to avoid disasters.

Dr. Stefanie Schwartz -- also known as Dr. Cookie" by many of her clients for her tendency to spoil her patients with pet treats (to reinforce desirable behavior, of course!) -- is a veterinarian and veterinary behavior consultant. She is a Norwell resident and is a staff member of the VCA South Shore Animal Hospital in Weymouth, MA Dr. Schwartz offers the following on how to make the holiday season safer for everyone in the family.

Here are some simple holiday tips for pet owners:

1) Christmas tree decorations can be hazardous. For example, if tinsel or small ornaments are ingested they can cause intestinal obstruction. Cats, ferrets, and puppies are particularly attracted to these items. Beware of glass ornaments that may fall and shatter to cut your pet's paws. To avoid these problems you might discontinue placing shiny tinsel and tiny or fragile ornaments on the lower branches of your tree. You could put up a barrier to block entry to the room where the tree is kept. Electrified mats can be placed around the base of your tree to deliver a mild but aversive foot shock (it feels like static electricity) that should keep inquisitive critters away. At least, rethink the ornaments you use to decorate your tree and your home so that they are pet friendly.

2) Keep children's toys, as well as wrapping ribbons and bows, well out of reach. These too can be ingested and create emergency problems. Give your puppies and dogs attractive rawhide bones to keep their mouths busy with safer distractions.

3) Seasonal plants such as mistletoe and poinsettias may have toxic effects if ingested in sufficient quantity. Young pets in particular like to chew on novel items and pets at any age may have a habit of nibbling on house plants. Elevate seasonal plants so that they remain safely out of your pet's reach.

4) If you are entertaining at home, keep food and appetizers away from pets by serving them from elevated surfaces. Keep that garbage can locked away, too! Or, confine your pets while you entertain your guests without distractions. You can socialize your pets to people at another time...Consider boarding your pets for the day of your party so they are safe and not under foot. A crate or pen can be useful for all pets so they can be confined to a quiet part of your home. Place a 'Do Not Enter' sign on the door to discourage curious adults and consider locking the door to keep out visiting children.

5) If you are traveling from home for a day or several days, ask friends, family, or neighbors to care for your pet cats or pocket pets (such as ferrets, hamsters, rabbits) in your home, if possible. Pets should be confined to a pet proofed room or to their familiar cages in your absence. Dogs should be placed in their pet sitter's home or boarded at a kennel of your choice.

6) Follow your pet's daily routine as closely as possible. We are all creatures of habit and there is a certain comfort to that. Changes in routine are stressful and inevitable, especially around the holidays. Try to compensate for this disruption by spending more quality time with your pet. For example, if you are going to a holiday party in the evening, take your dog for an extra long walk before you get ready to go so they are content to rest while you're gone.

7) If your pets tend to be aggressive or fearful of people, suffer from symptoms of separation anxiety, or have any other behavior problems, this is not the time to attempt to retrain them. There is too much going on to give them the attention they deserve and will require to address issues of misbehavior. Make it your New Year's Resolution to get help for your misbehaving pet. Your pets behavior problems can be dealt with after the holidays are over. For now, avoid the situations that could become disasters. And enjoy the festivities!

8) Around this time of year, it is tempting to acquire a new pet as a gift. Please think about this a thousand times before you adopt a pet on any whim. Statistics show that pets who are given as gifts have a higher rate of turnover to shelters and their owners may be less tolerant of any problems that arise. Pets are living, feeling, and loving creatures who deserve to be cherished for their lifetimes. All too often, acquiring a pet when the timing is not quite right can result in their abandonment or destruction. Pets are not disposable objects. That cute and cuddly Christmas puppy or kitten will require a lot of time and energy to make certain s/he matures into a pet who is loved and appreciated. Perhaps the holidays are not really the best time for that kind of commitment when there are so many other distractions to consider.

Enjoy your pets and keep them safe for the holidays.

LOOKING TO LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR PETS?
Dr. Cookies newest book, Dr. Cookies Guide to Living Happily Ever After with Your Cat" as well as her many earlier books including First Aid for Cats" and Instructions for Veterinary Clients: Canine and Feline Behavior Problems" can be found at better booksellers or online at Amazon.com.

With her own cat family of five, Hershel Walker, Gracie Allen, Teddi Honey, Angelica Darling and Eden Serene, and as one of just 30 board-certified veterinary behavior consultants in the world and a board-certified Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, Dr. Schwartzs goal is to preserve and enrich the bond between pet and owner by resolving undesirable behavior patterns in companion animals. Dr. Schwartz treats behavior problems in pets statewide holding consultations by house call, clinic appointment, telephone consult and E-mail. For more information about Dr. Schwartz, pet behavior and her books, visit www.dr-cookie.com.

ABOUT DR. COOKIE
Dr. Stefanie Schwartz (also known as Dr. Cookie®), veterinarian and veterinary behavior consultant since 1984, offers guidance and support to bewildered, frustrated & outraged pet owners. Veterinary medicine, like human medicine, is becoming increasingly specialized. Veterinary behavior is the equivalent of psychiatry, and goes far above and beyond basic obedience training.

Dr. Schwartz, known as "Dr. Cookie" by many of her clients due to her tendency to spoil her patients with pet treats, is so strongly associated with this endearing nickname that Dr. Cookie® is now her trademark. The award-winning author of many books, book chapters, and dozens of scientific journal articles, Dr. Schwartz continues to contribute new knowledge to the field of veterinary behavior. Her goal is to preserve and enrich the bond between pet and owner by resolving undesirable behavior patterns in companion animals.

Dr. Schwartz treats dogs and cats primarily, but also is successful with pet rabbits, Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs, ferrets, captive wild animals, horses, farm animals and birds. Dr. Schwartz is Director of Behavior Services at VCA South Shore Animal Hospital in Weymouth, MA. She is also Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences at the School of Veterinary Medicine of Tufts University and active in many professional organizations. Additionally, Dr. Schwartz is the veterinary behavior consultant to Antech Laboratories, a national veterinary laboratory headquartered in California that offers specialty consults to practicing veterinarians nationwide. For more information about Dr. Schwartz, pet behavior or her latest books, visit her website at www.dr-cookie.com.