Minimizing Stress for Your Romanian Dogs at Christmas
Meesh Masters 
Christmas & New Year can be a frazzling time for everyone, especially our dogs. Grab some tips on how to make it easier for your Romanian dogs
Christmas is usually a busy time of year for everyone, so much to do and so many people to see!
I thought it might be helpful to give you some tips on how to minimize the stress of it all for your Romanian and overseas rescue dogs - so hopefully they don't end up overwhelmed and behaving in ways that cause more stress for everyone!
This information can of course be applied to any dogs, especially nervous, anxious, or fearful dogs.
Many of our natural world dogs can struggle how busy our lives are at the best of times, so the Christmas period can send them into a real spin!
- Their routine’s get messed up
- There are all sorts of strange looking objects getting put out or put up
- Furniture being moved around
- Trees living inside the house
- And those flashing lights!
- Not to mention the weird and wonderful people that keep floating in and out of the house, some of them even stay for ages! The horror!
The weather is usually shite, and everyone has a million things to do, so walks may be a bit shorter or irregular. They might be left alone for longer periods than they are used to and of course, many of them are super skilled opportunists, and with all that food flying about it can be all too easy for them to get their paws on a whole bunch of stuff that’s not good for them.
Many people are unaware of how all these changes can impact our dogs and that these kinds of things can really ramp up their stress and anxiety levels - which of course impacts on their behaviour.
Whether your dog already has any existing challenges or not, you will want to be looking at providing them with additional support and management over the festive period.
I’ve put together some tips and advice that I hope will help you do just that, and limit, as much as possible, escalations in stress levels (at least for your dog!)
So how do you prevent Your Romanian Dogs escalating up their stress tree while you enjoy the festivities around your Christmas tree?
ROUTINE & PREDICTABILITY
Try to stick to your dog’s normal routine as much as possible. Throughout periods of change and upheaval this is one of the best ways to support them in maintaining some emotional balance.
Aim to stick to usual mealtimes, walk times and periods your dog would normally spend resting to ensure they continue to get their all-important restorative sleep.
Let's face it, we all get grouchy and short fused when we haven't had enough sleep right?
Predictability is a key factor in minimizing stress for our dogs. Helping ensure their lives continue to be as predictable as possible can go a long way in minimizing stress escalation and retaining the tolerance levels to deal with all the unexpected and extra things that may be happening.
CREATE A QUIET SAFE SPACE
Create a safe space out of the way where your dog can go and enjoy some naturally calming enrichment activities in peace (snuffle mats, stuffed bones or chews) or simply have some much-needed quiet rest time without having to worry about being disturbed.
If this isn't something your dog is used to, then just suddenly shutting them away when visitors come could be distressing for them - and that's without the added anxiety and stress if you have a dog that doesn't like strangers being in the home.
A howling, barking dog in the next room is not what you want at Christmas!
If your dog is not used to hanging out in a space away from activity in the house - let’s get them used to that experience now. Practise helping your dog get comfortable being in their safe space it over the next couple of weeks - WITHOUT the added upset/excitement of actual strangers being in the house.
This will make it a lot easier on you all over the festive period. If you find your dog is struggling to cope, you can simply give them a break in their quiet space and know they'll be happy and relaxed.
It can also help to play calming music every time you pop your dogs in there. My ‘go to’ calming music is Solfeggio Healing Frequencies, but your dog may prefer something else.
You can find more info on Solfeggio frequencies HERE and how they work.
You can find a Solfeggio music playlist on our YouTube channel HERE.
REGULAR PRESSURE BREAKS
Even if your dog is fine with visitors and happy to have a busy household – they are likely to still benefit from some regular ‘pressure breaks’ especially if it's a lot more than they’re used to at once.
Just as with children - our dogs can become over stimulated, over aroused, and over tired!
Some dogs may just take themselves off to get some rest – but many won’t.
It’s up to us to support them and ensure they get some down time, so they don’t get stressed and cranky!
This is of course especially important for dogs that are nervous, anxious, or fearful. These dogs will need more breaks and more down time - perhaps some quiet company in their safe area as well, to help them fully relax.
Take them out for a walk, put them in their safe area or take them in the garden for a little while – have a play, do some scatter feeding or set up a treasure hunt and just let them have a lovely mooch round so they can decompress a little from all the excitement and cafuffle.
This little piece of proactive management can go a really long way in helping prevent our Romanian and overseas dogs feeling the pressure of the busier than normal Christmas period.
VISITOR MANAGEMENT
Make sure all your visitors understand very clearly that when your dog is having quiet time - whether you put them in their safe area or whether they take themselves off to lay down THEY ARE TO BE LEFT ALONE.
This is especially important for any visiting children to understand - but everyone needs to know when Fido is resting, he does not want to be touched!
If you have a dog that is not comfortable with visitors, then I recommend you find a way to secure them in their safe area so nobody can accidently encroach on their personal space.
Even if your dog is ok with visitors and doesn’t need to be shut away, it’s important for everyone to clearly understand that if your dog has taken themselves off to lay down, or they’re simply laying quietly in their bed - they are to be LEFT ALONE.
Sorry. I know I keep repeating this, but I literally cannot stress it enough
ALL dogs have their limits.
With all the hustle and bustle of Christmas it can be all too easy for everyone to miss the signals that their dog is starting to struggle.
When you miss those often-subtle early indicators - THAT is when a ‘bite comes out of nowhere!’… but it doesn't. Your dog had probably been trying to tell you and your visitors for quite some time how they were feeling.
It is your job as their guardian to help them out and ensure you manage their environment and support them as necessary to keep everyone safe.
If you have a dog who is fearful or reactive to visitors in the home, Christmas really isn’t the time to be trying to do training or visitor habituation with them.
This kind of behaviour modification requires that you be 100% focused on your dog when visitors are present, and nobody wants to be doing that at Christmas.
Have your management protocols strongly in place, support your dog and minimize their stress in any and every way you can, using all these recommendations and then crack on with their training once the holidays are over and it’s quieter.
PLENTY OF SELF-SOOTHING ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES
Have plenty of self-soothing enrichment activities either prepared or readily available to provide your dog with naturally calming things they can do to help them relax.
Sniffing, licking, and chewing are all naturally calming activities for dogs.
Snuffle mats, likkimats, Kongs, chew toys, puzzle toys are all excellent enrichment activities. Get creative and I’m sure you can come up with many of your own DIY versions of these.
Even simply taking them in the garden for a pressure break and tossing a big handful of treats around the garden for them to snuffle up can help them rebalance emotionally and reduce stress build up.
PROVIDE REBALANING SUPPORT
If your dog is going to be in situations that are likely to stress them out or get them really wound up and excited - again get ahead of the game and proactively have a plan in place that will balance these out.
For example, if you know your dog gets a bit unsettled or over aroused when visitors come - once they've spent a little time being the social butterfly:
🐶 Take them for a ‘pressure break’
🐶 Bring them back and pop them in their quiet space for a little while, with something to lick or chew and some calming music playing.
🐶 Let them out again after a short while to come back and join the fun.
🐶 Rinse and repeat as necessary.
Whether your dog gets stressed with visitors around or super excited - once they’ve left, spend a little time doing relaxing activities to help rebalance any elevated stress/arousal levels.
This will help them get into a ready to relax and sleep state, rather than just leaving them all 'buzzed' and expecting them to then go and relax. Think overtired children!
This is something that is especially important if you have a puppy or adolescent dog in the house as they can have a hard time coming down from exciting over stimulating events.
AVOID EXCESSIVE OR OVER AROUSING EXERCISE
It’s a popular misconception that taking a dog out for a super long walk or playing lots of fetch games with them will tire them out.
This is not always the case and can actually have the opposite effect – leaving them amped up, wired, and full of energy but with no outlet for it once they get home.
Scent games, problem-solving games and training activities are great for tiring and calming. Or slow, quiet sniff orientated walks can be something that relaxes your dog more than running them ragged.
Did you know that a dog can't 'scent' and breathe at the same time, which is what makes this activity so effective at tiring them vs fast paced exercise. Research has proven that sniffing and scent collecting has a positive physiological impact on your dog’s breathing rate, heart rate and stress levels.
In addition, sniffing activates a dog’s 'seeking' system in the brain, which is also the part of the brain that releases the neurotransmitter Dopamine. Dopamine is responsible for 'good feeling's' and regulating anxiety,
And if all that wasn't enough, spending time with your dog also provides them with the valuable benefit of one-on-one connected time with you - which they of course love! (and may not get quite so much of over the festive period)
FOOD MANAGEMENT
We are what we eat and so are our dogs - especially our sensitive Romanian and overseas dogs.
Food and diet have a major impact on behaviour (think children on blue smarties and coca cola!) so be sure to have great management in place so your dogs can’t get access to all the Christmas goodies!
Digestive discomfort could result in them becoming hyperactive and even more unsettled or reactive than they normally might be.
Of course, in addition to this, many of the foods we have around over the Christmas period are poisonous to our dogs.
Things like mince pies, Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, chocolate, alcohol, onions, grapes and Xylitol (which is found in many sweets) are all highly toxic for dogs.
So, an even more important reason to make sure your food management is top of the tree! (see what I did there)
**If your dog does ingest any of these food items, please contact your Vet immediately.
DOWNLOAD A PDF HANDOUT OF THIS ARTICLE TOGETHER WITH YOUR CHRISTMAS CHECKLIST POSTER TO SHARE WITH YOUR FAMILY
Don’t forget, The DOG’s Point of View Community Facebook group has lots of tips, information and resources for Romanian Rescue or foreign rescue adopters. You are very welcome to join that group HERE.
If your dog does find having visitors to the house a huge challenge, then you might benefit from signing up for the DOG's Point of View Mini Workshop for Dogs that Overreact to Visitors. Whilst this isn't an in depth training plan by any means, there is a LOT of information in it that will be useful in helping you to make sure you set your dog up right over the Christmas period.
It includes a 2 hour workshop recording, a 30 page PDF workbook and supporting resources to help you implement some of the approaches discussed during the workshop.
Once the festivities are over, then you can focus on working closely with them to help them become more relaxed when you have guests over. 🥰
With All of That Out of The Way, all that Remains is for everyone here at The Dog’s Point of View to Wish You a Very Merry Christmas & A Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year. xxx
Categories: : Fearful Romanian Dogs, Living with Romanian Rescue Dogs, Understanding Your Romanian Dog
