Like all holidays, Christmas tends to change our normal routines. There may be more people in the house, walks happen at different times, meals become less predictable and there is usually much more food around.
There is no reason our dogs can’t enjoy some festive extras, but it is worth thinking about their diet as a whole. Keeping their usual meals as the nutritional foundation, while being a little more aware of treats, activity and routine, can help keep things balanced throughout the festive period.
A complete and balanced diet is designed to provide the energy and essential nutrients your dog needs each day. That shouldn’t change just because Christmas is approaching. Rather than replacing their normal meals with lots of festive foods, keep their usual diet as the foundation and treat anything extra as exactly that: an extra.
This is particularly useful when there are lots of different foods on offer. A small piece of turkey here and a treat there might not seem significant, but by the end of the day those additions can make up a surprisingly large amount of food (especially for smaller dogs).
Your dog’s energy requirements are influenced by factors including their size, age, body composition, health and activity levels. Christmas can alter the activity side of that equation.
Some dogs may be enjoying longer walks because everyone is off work. Others may spend more time indoors while usual walking or training routines take a break.
There is no need to automatically reduce your dog’s food over Christmas. Instead, keep an eye on the dog in front of you. Their body weight and body condition can help you judge whether their usual portions are still appropriate.
One of the easiest ways for food intake to creep up over Christmas is through treats. We call it “treat creep.”
Imagine your dog gets their normal breakfast and dinner. Someone gives them a treat in the morning. A visitor offers another. They have a chew while everyone eats Christmas dinner, a couple of training treats on their afternoon walk and perhaps a little turkey later.
None of those seems excessive in isolation. Together, however, they can add a considerable amount to the day’s intake.
One simple solution is a daily treat pot. Put the treats and chews your dog can have that day into one container and ask everyone in the house to use those. It’s an easy visual way to keep track, particularly when you have guests who might otherwise all assume they are the only person sneaking the dog a treat.
Food can also provide an activity without always adding extra calories.
Try setting aside part of your dog’s normal daily food allowance and using it for enrichment.
Depending on the type of food you feed, this might mean using some of their meal on a licking mat, putting food into an appropriate enrichment toy or using part of their allowance for a simple searching game around the house.
This can be particularly useful over Christmas when dogs may be spending more time indoors or when a busy household means their normal routine has changed.
It also changes the feeding experience. Rather than an entire meal disappearing from a bowl in a couple of minutes, part of that same food can become something your dog interacts with for longer.
Some individual foods from our Christmas dinner can be suitable for dogs, but that doesn’t mean we should hand over a plate of our own dinner.
Christmas brings plenty of tempting treats, but some festive foods are best kept for humans. Ingredients such as onions, garlic, leeks, shallots and chives can be harmful to dogs, so it’s worth checking foods like stuffing and gravy before sharing. Gravy can also be high in salt.
Grapes, raisins and sultanas, which are often found in mince pies and Christmas pudding, should also be avoided, along with chocolate, alcohol, macadamia nuts and products containing xylitol.
Plain, boneless turkey can make a lovely festive treat, but cooked bones should always be removed, as they can splinter. It’s also best to be careful with leftovers, particularly if they contain rich ingredients or have been left out for a while.
When in doubt, stick to simple, dog-friendly treats so your four-legged friend can still enjoy being part of the celebrations.
So if you want your dog to have something from the Christmas kitchen, it is easier to put a small amount of suitable food aside before adding the ingredients intended for the human table.
Food is only one part of your dog’s Christmas.
Mealtimes, walks, sleep and opportunities to rest may all shift when the house becomes busier. Where possible, keeping some familiar parts of their normal day can provide consistency.
That might simply mean feeding breakfast at roughly the usual time, maintaining their normal morning walk or making sure they have somewhere quiet to settle away from visitors. Regular feeding routines can also make it easier to keep track of what your dog has eaten. When meals remain familiar, the festive extras are much easier to identify.
Keeping your dog’s diet balanced over Christmas doesn’t mean excluding them from everything enjoyable. They can have a special treat. They can have a little plain turkey. Their dinner can become an enrichment activity, and they can absolutely be included in family traditions where it is safe and appropriate. The simplest approach is to keep their complete and balanced diet as the foundation, pay attention to how many extras are creeping in, and adapt portions to their individual activity and body condition.
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