Five potential dangers to your dog on Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and if you’re the type to celebrate with a lot of fanfare to celebrate the day itself with your partner, you’re probably really looking forwards to the day itself!

Whilst may people would prefer to ignore the whole thing entirely or would rather enjoy the day with their dog (and we’ll share some ideas on how to do just this in another article)! If you do intend to push the boat out and make Valentine’s Day this year one your partner will remember, make sure that you factor in keeping your dog safe too!

There is no reason why you can’t enjoy everything you want to plan for Valentine’s Day because you’ve got a dog to care about as well, but when it comes to some of the traditional and stereotypical things that most of us associate with Valentine’s Day, you need to put a little more thought into keeping them away from your dog too.

With this in mind, this article will tell you about five potential dangers your dog might face on Valentine’s Day, which are really easy to avoid when you know about them! Read on to learn more.

Chocolate… Of course!

The first item on the list is one that almost everyone associates with Valentine’s Day, and that almost everyone knows is dangerous to dogs… Chocolate. A huge, impressive box of chocolates might win you the affections of your intended, but make sure it ends up in the right hands, and not the wrong paws!

Christmas and Easter are the two times of year veterinary clinics treat the most cases of chocolate poisoning in dogs, but Valentine’s Day is a close third, so bear this in mind.

This is particularly important if you want to surprise someone with chocolates by leaving them in their home for them to find – or by sending them in the mail, as if they go through the letterbox and the dog gets to them first, the “surprise” might be a trip to the vets and a very stressful evening. Hardly the effect you were hoping to achieve!

Ribbons and gift wrap (and decorations)

Wrapping and gift wraps for Valentine’s Day presents tend to be hugely elaborate, and often involve a lot of bows and ribbons. Ribbons are used in lots of Valentine’s Day decorations too, such as on helium balloons and so on.

Much as is the case at Christmas, take care to clear all gift wrap away promptly and keep an eye on your dog, to make sure that they don’t make off with a ribbon or packaging materials that might be dangerous for them.

If your dog ingests a ribbon this can cause all manner of potentially serious problems, and if you don’t even know that this has happened, it will be more challenging for your vet to diagnose and resolve.

Some types of flowers

Certain types of flowers can be toxic to dogs, so pay some mind to what is going into that large bouquet you’re buying for your partner.

The traditional flowers exchanged on Valentine’s Day are of course roses, and whilst roses aren’t highly toxic to dogs, they do have really sharp thorns that can do your dog an injury. Keep them out of your dog’s reach and particularly, don’t try to be cute by encouraging your dog to carry a rose to your other half!

Candles

Candles help to set the mood for many people’s Valentine’s Day dinner or other celebration, and as long as they’re properly supervised when lit and kept well out of your dog’s way, this is absolutely fine!

However, if you forget about the candles and leave your dog with them unsupervised, particularly if you don’t usually burn candles or have picked special novelty ones that might not come with great holders and bases, they might pose a hazard.

Obviously an unattended candle can be a fire hazard on its own, but factor in an inquisitive dog, and you may well be asking for trouble.

Make sure any candles are put out before you leave the room, or leave your dog alone.

Alcohol

Finally, champagne, pink gin, all manner of sickly cocktails and a number of other often sweet-tasting alcohols are very heavily promoted as essentials for Valentine’s Day celebrations, and these too need to be kept well away from your dog.

Whilst the taste of many types of alcohol are unpalatable to dogs, sweetened alcohols like gin liqueurs alcopops, and various other sweet smelling and tasting drinks might all be very tasty for your dog.

Drinking alcohol can make your dog incredibly sick, as well as making them behave erratically and making them scared and confused.

Make sure you don’t leave discarded or half-finished drinks in reach of your dog, and if you happen to spill any, clean this up promptly too.