Halloween & Dogs: How to make costumes less scary for pets

Halloween can be a scary time… for dogs! But it can also be a time to think about how to use training to reduce fears and overcome challenges. In this episode, Annie discusses, among other things: -Ideas for low stress, easy costumes that most dogs can wear without anxiety. -Acclimating a dog to a costume by creating good associations with it over time. -Teaching your dog to wear costumes made out of muzzles, cones, and other things you actually may want to train him or her to feel okay about wearing. -Noticing stress signals your dog, or other dogs, may display to show their discomfort. Have an idea for an easy, low stress dog costume? Tag us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group, or share it by emailing Podcast@SchoolForTheDogs.com . Notes: The psychological torment of a dog on Halloween - Dog candy corn bandana - Ty Tag costume - Or make your own - Superhero Bandanas - Cowboy harness costume - Jockey harness costume - Pet Paint - Dog nail polish - Creative grooming (Vice video produced by Annie) Dog muzzle “costumes” - https://amzn.to/2yHptX6 - https://amzn.to/2yGUrPd - https://amzn.to/2yIs03g - https://amzn.to/2yGUwCv Dog cone “costumes” https://amzn.to/2yE03tw - https://amzn.to/2yE9b1p - Rubie’s “Disney” line of princess costumes et al Make sure to join our Facebook Group ! --- Partial Transcript: Annie: Hello human listeners, and dog friends. So I want you to take a moment to imagine a scenario where you are a foreign exchange student and you just arrived in this new country where you don't speak the language. And you've been placed with a family and they're pretty nice to you. You generally like them. You don't understand what's going on a lot of the time, but they're pretty kind to you and they tend to help you figure out what's what, where to be, what to do. And over time you pick up little things here and there and you get really good at just sort of reading situations in order to figure out what's happening. And then one day they take off all your clothing and they don't let you put other clothing on. And they don't seem to be doing this for any kind of sexual reason, but they seem to be getting a real kick out of it. And they begin taking your photo. They take you on a long walk throughout the city. Maybe they even take you to a park where there are a lot of other families who have foreign exchange students who are also naked and they don't speak your language either. And all you can kind of do is look at these other poor souls and feel great empathy and discomfort because everyone around you is staring at you and really enjoying the fact that you are naked. Now you have no idea whether or not they're ever going to give you back your clothes, or if this nudity situation is the new normal. You aren't clear why all of these other foreign exchange students also don't have any clothes... Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts Get full access to Don't Be a Dick to Your Dog at dogtraining.substack.com/subscribe