Fall is finally here! The weather is pawfect to visit a pumpkin patch near you! Here are a few tips to make your experience fun and safe with your 4 legged friend!
1. The most important one - not all pumpkin patch farms are dog friendly. So be sure to check their website or call to double check before you go
2. There are several pumpkin patch farms that's available. Be sure to do some research before you go. Some pumpkin patch farms may require you to purchase a license if you are taking photos for profit. For example: a photographer goes to the pumpkin patches when a client books them. I don't think this applies if you are just snapping a few photos of your dog to post on Instagram but I would call/email to confirm.
3. Go during off peak hour, such as early mornings and late evenings. Pumpkin patch farms can get very busy. This may stress your dog out and have too many people trying to pet your dog.
4. Don't allow your dog to sit on everything. Some of the displays may not be dog friendly.
5. Be respectful with time- there will be several attractions many people will want to take a photo of. Be sure you are quick and not make people wait.
6. Is your dog trained? Even with the basics of "leave it", "stay" and "off"? You want to make sure your dog knows the basics for the safety of others. There are a lot of little kids there, your dog may think they are trying to say hi to them or maybe not. Be sure your dog knows not to say hi to everyone they see to respect their space. You don't know if the kid is afraid of dogs or allergic to them.
7. Make sure your dog is leashed at all times and keep the leash short. If the pumpkin patch is dog friendly, there will be other dogs there. You may not know if the other dogs are friendly are not. Keeping the leash short will also prevent from people/kids from tripping on your leash and will give you full control.
8. Bring poop bags to clean up after your dog :) no one likes to step into surprises at the pumpkin patch.
9. Don't let your dog eat the smashed pumpkins. Even though they are safe for dogs to eat, you don't know if they are tempered with or rotten. You don't want to have to clean up after that or have to go to the vet.
10. Have fun and know your dog's limits. We don't bring our dog Milly to these type of events because we know this is really stressful for her. Even though she is a Golden Retreiver that doesn't mean she will get along with every dog. Try to pay attention to your dog's body language.
If you attend a pumpkin patch, we would love to see your photos! Tag us @wildsidedoggear or use hashtag #wildsidedog for a chance to get featured on our social media!
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