Halloween

[Josh Adams]

This is our first Halloween with Sam, our 9-month pup. He’s very sensitive to sounds. Especially outside noises, including knocking and doorbells (see the previous discussion here). We’ve come a long way with the behavior modification and training but we still have a ways to go. 

Halloween is BIG in our neighborhood. I am debating whether we hand out candy this year due to Sam’s sound sensitivity.  Our behaviorist said it could be a good training opportunity, or it can be a setback if he overreacts at first.

I am leaning towards not doing it this year ... also because the costumes can be quite scary for them too!

For those interested, I can go into detail of the recommended training involved, but I am curious to hear what are other people’s experiences are with Halloween. Thank you!

[Wendy and Myla]

Personally, I hate Hallowe'en.  I honestly have no idea why anyone would want to subject their dog to the constant doorbells, strangers at your door, scary costumes and eerie lights not to mention fireworks, unless they are totally socialized to everything.  If you are in the middle of training, there is no way that I would jeopardize all of the work that you have put in.  To me, there are lots of other avenues that you can use as training opportunities and when you are totally secure that your dog is trained, then do Hallowe'en :)

[Josh Adams]

Thanks, Wendy. I totally agree. We've decided to skip Halloween this year. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

The way we did it with Luna was to just sit outside with the bowl of candy with her - that way she wouldn't have the constant doorbells driving her insane (and us!).  When our daughter started trick-o-treating we took Luna too (it was short since DD was so little) then she'd help dad hand out candy for the next hour or so. 

With Riley (she'll be about 14 weeks old at Hallowe'en) we'll take her trick-o-treating with us since our street isn't ready for handing out candy yet (about 2/3 of the houses are still under construction).  We'll probably just sit outside once we do get visitors though... most areas of our neighborhood get 100-200 kids every year so that's just way too many doorbells for us, let alone the dog lol.

Also, Riley is getting a costume, I'm making her a beanie baby tag something like this:

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

J, your suggestion addressed the problem. Socialization is key to everything. That’s exactly what they should try. IF that is simply too stressful, then our suggestions of not giving out candy and keeping the front of the house dark is appropriate. I’m all about socializing, I’m embarrassed to say it didn’t even occur to me :-(

[Josh Adams]

Socialization is key. For dogs with noise phobias or extreme sensitivity to sound such as our Sam, you have to go very slowly. "Flooding" them with too much at once, which may happen on Halloween, can set you back tremendously. For that reason, we've decided not to do Halloween this year.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

You know your dog so I’m sure you are making the right choice. Going slowly is key. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I would not give out candy this year. 

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Leave your light off and do not give out candy. Hallloween is not my favorite either.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

We've also had to sit outside to avoid the doorbell. They started to settle down after hearing us talking to the kids and we allowed them to sit at the closed screen door to watch if they were quiet. It was a way to ease them into it without the doorbells. 

Basically it's never been my favorite holiday either.  I feel children eat way too much sugar anyway and this just complicates it for those families that are trying to teach their children to make smart choices with foods and sweets. Not to mention it's on a school night more times than on a weekend and teachers just dread the next day for obvious reasons. 

We are now in a gated community with only about 50 homes and there are no children here so we won't be participating anyway....problem solved. Good luck.