Pooch Safe Holi: Ensure a Pet-Friendly Holi with These Useful Tips

While we want to celebrate all special occasions with our furry babies, it is also our responsibility to understand that our pets and the strays are different from us and thus, may have different needs. For instance, while many humans love playing Holi with all types of colours available in the market, our darlings pooches may not be able to enjoy the same.

Colours are not good for animals and if they come in contact with colours, they may begin to show symptoms such as rashes, skin irritation, vomiting, nausea, breathing problems, eye infection, fever and so on. Thus, it is extremely important to keep your pet indoors during Holi. Also, try to help the stray dogs around your house to the best of your capabilities as they need your help the most to have a #PoochSafeHoli.

Here are some things to remember while celebrating Holi to ensure that our pets feel safe and happy during the festive season too.

First and foremost, understand that all sorts of colours are unsafe for your pet and for strays. Whether the colour pack says organic, natural, pure, soft gulal or anything else, DO NOT use any colour on your pooch’s skin. Dogs have very sensitive skin and the colours can harm them in more ways than we can imagine. Keep your pets and the strays around your home safe and free of any colours. If you do want to play Holi with your pet, just a little bit of water is your best bet!

Watch out out for water balloons and keep your pets/strays at a safe distance from them. These plastic balloons can hurt the dogs, cause skin allergies or even lead to respiratory problems if brought too close to their mouths.

Pets and strays may have the habit of drinking out of puddles. Keep an eye out for such times and offer the pooches enough clean water so that they do not go towards unattended water bowls/puddles which may have coloured water in them.

Just like humans, apply pure coconut oil to your pets' bodies (before the festivities begin) to protect them in case they come in contact with colour. It will prevent the colour from penetrating into the skin. However, as soon as you notice something like this, give your pet a bath with a mild shampoo that suits him/her.

Holi celebrations are incomplete without Gujiya but the NO SWEETS rule applies to dogs here as well. While you indulge in mouthfuls of Gujiya, do not offer anything sweet to your pet as it is very unhealthy for them. Instead, keep their favourite treats and biscuits handy. 

Last but not the least, keep your pets indoors. Take your dog for a walk early in the day, before Holi celebrations begin. If possible, also allow the stray babies around you house some shelter as that is the safest way for them to stay away from colours on Holi. 

Share this post with everyone if you care for dogs. Also read it out to all the kids in the family to educate them about the same. Here's to celebrating a pet-friendly Holi. Have a #PoochSafeHoli everyone!