Throughout the year there are many holiday gatherings and parties that bring family and friends together. Some occasions bring new foods and drinks to the discriminating nose of your pup, but a common theme at many parties is alcoholic beverages – especially on St. Patrick’s Day.
While you can choose your favorite beverage of choice – whether a nice mimosa on the morning of St. Patrick’s Day to a few beers in the afternoon or a Bloody Mary at night to wind down – what needs to remain clear as day is that your pup should not consume any alcohol at all.
We all know that accidents do happen – a beer tips over or a glass is knocked down by a wagging tail. When that does happen, though, you should make sure that Fido is not the first one on the scene to help with the clean-up process. Unlike a few scattered table scraps or a dumped bowl of Cheerios, alcohol consumption can have serious repercussions for dogs.
Why can’t dogs have any alcohol, you ask? In particular, the problem lies in the main ingredients in alcoholic beverages – plants that are toxic or poisonous to dogs. In wine, for example, grapes are the poisonous ingredient, while the hops in beer are toxic to dogs.
If your beloved pet drinks alcohol by accident, you may begin to see immediate reactions such as vomiting, fluctuations in body temperature and labored breathing. Alcohol can even have some of same effects on dogs that it does on humans. They can become confused, disorientated, show signs of impaired motor skills or all of the above. Plus, these changes can happen in a faster time than with humans because of dogs’ smaller stature and inability to process the alcoholic content.
Keep your animals safe this St. Patrick’s Day by making sure that you and your guests keep the alcoholic drinks to yourselves. If you do fear that your four-legged friend will get into the adult beverages without any human assistance, consider boarding them for the day to keep them safe. Plus, if your pup is being watched by someone else, you don’t have to worry about your dog accidentally getting away or running out of food while you revel in the day with friends and family. Have a fun and safe St. Patrick’s Day!