It’s that time of year where dog owners unite with torches on, and play is it a leaf or poop game!

The clocks have gone back meaning many of us are forced to be walking our dogs in the dark on an evening. Here are a few tips for keeping you all safe in the dark!

• Make sure you & your dog can be seen. Reflective harnesses, leads, vests, jackets are all available for your dog. Invest in a good torch for yourself.
• Get a USB rechargeable LED collar for your dog to wear as an addition to its main collar.
• Make sure your dog’s collar is fitting well and your ID details are correct.
• If you dogs recall is not reliable then don’t let them off the lead, although dogs can see better than humans in the dark, things that your dog normally sees in the day can look very different and frightening in the dark.
• Watch out for the winter toxic plants that are coming up and also available to buy, Holly, Mistletoe, Poinsettia plants, Pine needles from Christmas trees, Ivy, Amaryllis.

A winter game

A great game for this time of year if you are struggling to get out with your dog or want to have some extra fun is the cardboard box game.

Black Friday is coming, and we are getting ready for Christmas so I’m sure you will have lots of spare cardboard boxes laying round. Start off simple by just putting your dog’s favourite toy or treat in the box and letting them snuffle around for it. You can then add scrunched-up balls of paper/newspaper, so the prize is hidden, and they have to snuffle around to find it. If you have several boxes spare you can have a few boxes out at once but only put the prize in one box meaning they have to work a bit harder to find it!