“Easing Your Pet's Anxiety during the Howl-idays”

With the howl-idays right around the corner, you may find yourself wondering - “what do we do with the four legged family?”

The pet care providers know just how stressful it can be for you to leave your pets while you travel for the holiday season. Their goal is to make traveling and the holidays stress free for your pets and yourself.

It is very common for pet guardians and pets alike to experience some form of separation anxiety when everyone is out of routine.

You may find yourself wondering:

• Who will be here when I’m gone?

• Who will ensure my pets and home are safe?

• Will they do their best to make the holidays special for my pets while I’m gone?

• Who will keep up with my pet’s routine to make them feel safe and stress free?

All of these can be very debilitating questions when it comes to your pets, the holidays and traveling. We all know how stressful the holidays can be in general; so why should you have that added stress?

I’m here to tell you, you absolutely do not have to struggle when making your traveling decisions for the holidays! Your community is full of amazing pet professionals that are ready and waiting for your call today. One important thing to remember is that professional pet care providers - in your home or theirs - schedules will fill quickly for the holiday seasons. Many professional pet care providers have their holidays booked up months in advance.

All pet care providers can agree that the sooner you reach out, the better.

This will also provide you the opportunity to interview multiple professionals in order to choose the one that is the best fit for your home. Oftentimes, professional pet care providers are a one person team that only allows for a limited number of visits in a given day. Getting connected with multiple professionals will allow for time to secure your perfect provider.

As a pet parent myself, I know just how easy it can be to want to depend on family or friends to care for your pets. Over the holiday season, that can be more difficult as many of those trusted connections can be celebrating themselves. As pet care professionals, they have tailored their schedules to be readily available over the holiday season.

A change in routine may not only be stressful for you, but it can be stressful for your furry family as well. Whether you choose to bring someone into your home or find a boarding option, it’s important to remember that a change in routine can cause some anxiety. Taking the time to choose your perfect provider will allow you the time and understanding to get your pet set up for success. You can ensure that the provider you have chosen follows your pets routine to the best of their abilities, which will result in a stress free experience.

If you choose to board your pet in a facility or home boarding, you should allow yourself trial runs to ensure that everyone is comfortable with the routine. Whether this is temporary daycare for a few hours or a trial overnight run, this can make everyone feel more secure over your travel dates. If you are having an in-home provider and have a highly anxious pet, allowing them multiple visits leading up to the desired travel dates can ease that worry. This will also help your pets feel comfortable with the provider and allows them time to ask questions before you leave for your holiday celebrations.

Easing your pet’s anxiety can be done in a multitude of ways. If you know that your pet will be left alone for any amount of time, it’s important to know how they will respond. Will your pet nap while you’re away or will they need a bit of reassurance? If your pet needs a little boost of confidence, doing trial runs of alone time may be a necessity.

Ease Your Pet's Anxiety

Here are a few examples of ways to ease your pet’s anxiety:

• Kenneling can help your pet feel safe and secure.

• Play low volume relaxing music on Spotify/Amazon Music to drown out any stress inducing noises.

• Play low volume youtube videos/channels.

• Enrichment toys like frozen kongs and licky mats can keep your pets entertained while they’re alone.

Did you know that most platforms have channels/playlists dedicated to animals?

Some with music and some with simple wilderness sounds. You can also supplement with a sound machine to drown out any unwanted noises.

Setting up cameras around your home can also ease your personal anxiety when it comes to leaving your home and pets in the care of someone new. This will help you know that your pet is not overly stressed and that the provider is doing the job they’ve been hired to do.

As an added bonus, you may even find an amazing professional that takes the time to make your pet’s holidays extra special. That may look like fun handmade gifts, photoshoots, and even special excursions to look at holiday light displays. Each provider is different in what they provide, how they provide it and when they are available.

It’s important to remember that the pet care professionals are sacrificing time with their friends or family to ensure that you have a stress free holiday. They do this professionally to ease the stress and anxiety of leaving pets. This extends outside of the holidays as well!

Ultimately, pet care professionals know how stressful it can be to leave your pets at home alone over the holidays.

We’re here to ensure that the process is smooth, enjoyable and full of festive cheer!

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Holiday Pet Sitter Showcase!

October 15th, 6-8PM @ Omaha Dog Bar

🐾 Meet professional sitters face-to-face

🐾 Review their credentials, certifications, and experience

🐾 Collect business cards, flyers, and other resources

🐾 Find the perfect sitter match before your holiday travels

Save the FB event to your calendar!