Keeping your Greyhounds, Whippets, Lurchers, Salukis, Galgos and Sighthounds Happy Over Christmas
Christmas can feel wonderfully exciting for us, yet for many sighthounds it can be quite a confusing time. Routines change, visitors come and go, and the house fills with new scents, decorations and activity. When we look at things from a dog’s point of view, the whole season becomes a little easier for everyone.
Sighthounds often enjoy life when it feels predictable. Newly adopted dogs, including ex racing greyhounds, may still be learning how family life works, so sudden festive changes can feel a little strange.
Why Christmas Trees Are So Interesting
We spend lots of time encouraging our dogs to toilet outside near trees. Then December arrives and we bring one indoors, add lights, cover it in shiny things and expect them to ignore it.
Baubles resemble balls.
Tinsel, let’s face it, looks a bit like a sparkly squirrel tail.
For many dogs, especially those with a natural chase instinct, it makes complete sense to investigate.
The Christmas tree often replaces the spot where the dog bed usually lives, which can feel like quite a change too.
A few gentle steps can help:
• Move furniture gradually if the tree will take their usual space
• Shift the dog bed first, so the new layout feels familiar
• Bring the tree in undecorated for a day or two
• Start with simple decorations and see how your dog responds
• Avoid glass or sentimental ornaments
Some of our members place a small pen around the tree. Others keep the tree in a quieter room and decorate the main living space instead. Some choose not to have a tree at all and use decorations placed higher up. We did this when we adopted Oscar, and it has worked perfectly for us since.
I also have members whose dogs have completely ignored the tree. It really is about what works best for your home and your dog.
Festive Food and Safety
Christmas food is a big part of the celebration, and many of the things we enjoy can be unsafe for dogs.
A few examples include:
• Chocolate
• Raisins and sultanas found in mince pies, stollen and Christmas cake
• Macadamia nuts
• Rich or fatty foods
Drinks left on low tables can be tempting. Wrapping, ribbons, and leftover plates can attract plenty of interest too.
Rawhide often appears in Christmas dog gift boxes, but many trainers choose to avoid it. A quick Google search into how it’s made explains why.
Visitors and Your Dog’s Space
Some sighthounds love visitors. Others find the change a little overwhelming, especially recently adopted dogs or those still building confidence.
A few things can really help:
• A safe space in another room where they can settle
• A cosy, familiar bed or crate
• Gentle enrichment such as scatter feeding or a snuffle mat
As a sighthound-savvy home, we learn a lot, and it becomes second nature. We know if our dogs will see something unattended as fair game, so we naturally keep food and drinks out of reach. Visitors may not think in the same way.
I know many adorable sighthounds who would take full advantage of a visitor placing something just within reach and then looking away. Whippets especially. I’m looking at you.
Many Greyhounds, lurchers and salukis are also the perfect table height to quietly watch and wait. No one wants a Christmas vet dash because someone ate Granny’s mince pie. Preparing visitors, or keeping food in one room, is worth considering.
Walks Over Christmas
Most of us see the same dogs and people on our usual walks. Christmas often changes those patterns. Different times of day, different routes, busier parks and more dogs. For some sighthounds, this can be a lot.
Choosing quieter paths, allowing more sniffing time, secure fields or even road-based walks, on busy days can support confidence.
Enrichment and Easy Games
Gentle enrichment is perfect over Christmas. It gives dogs something enjoyable and calming to do and helps settle the atmosphere.
Ideas include:
• A cardboard box filled with plain paper for supervised shredding
• A toilet-roll inner with a few treats inside, wrapped in paper and twisted at the ends. Izzy and Freddie love this and many of my members’ dogs do too
Avoid shiny or foiled wrapping paper, and only use cardboard if you know your dog won’t ingest it.
The Gift Sighthounds Value Most
Among all the busy moments, the greatest gift you can give your dog is simply time with you. They don’t need constant entertainment or perfect training sessions. Most sighthounds are happiest resting beside you, leaning in or quietly snoozing while life carries on around them.
Those moments when we pause, take a breath and simply sit with our dogs can be some of the most valuable training we ever do.
A Little Extra
Sarah from Barkshire Dog Training and I chatted about Christmas on a Facebook Live back in 2024. It’s available on YouTube if you’d like to watch it. Here is the link.
If you’d like to find out more about my courses running in the new year or ways to work with me, please get in touch.