When they asked me to write this blog, I thought I needed to do some research so I could sound like a professional.

Everything I found involving pets and Christmas paraphernalia tended to be negative....things like pets consuming things they shouldn't, which resulted in diarrhea, vomiting or even worse. Wow! Not a good way to enjoy the holidays.

From a personal standpoint, if our two Shih Tzu's got into something they shouldn’t during the holidays, I would be the one expected to clean up the debris from a good case of diarrhea or vomit. You see, my wife becomes ill at the sight of such nonsense, so I draw the short straw on the deal.

Admittedly, I fall squarely into that stereotype...or so it seems. So when my wife tells me to get the sugar shaker out of the kitchen pantry, she may as well tell me to go look for a 50 dollar bill down at the city park. I just don’t see it. That sugar shaker doesn’t exist.Let me digress for a moment...I've been told since I was a young adult that men can't find anything you send them to retrieve within the house. It could be right in front of their face and they just don’t see it.

Ok, now back to our story around indoor pets and Christmas decorations, popcorn, trees, etc. If I have to clean up the messes following the dogs eating something they shouldn’t, I need to clean up our white carpet with the Stanley Steamer cleaning company before dealing with the Christmas tree decorations, etc.

The way I look at it is this: Knowing my lack of talent in searching for things, if the carpets are clean, the dog "mishaps" will be easier to find.

So for all of you who have pets in your home this holiday season, here are a few tips to help minimize your risk for those pesky "mishaps":

1. Put the Christmas tree in the corner of the room. This will give your pet less access to the tree.
2. Hang all tinsel, lights, garland etc. high enough on the tree to keep it away from your pets.
3. Vacuum all pine needles around your tree to prevent them from becoming “toothpicks” for your pet.
4. Keep all holly, mistletoes, or poinsettias away from your pet. They can be poisonous if ingested.
5. Keep all burning candles out of reach.
6. Some animals get very nervous around crowds of people. Lock them up in another room (not the people...the pets).
7. Rearrange furniture to fit around the tree to decrease the chances of your cat finding a reason to not use the litter box.
8. Don’t feed your pets table scraps! They can cause an upset stomach and bowel problems.As a general rule of thumb...keep that carpet cleaning solution around until after Christmas is over!

But seriously, our pets are our friendly and faithful companions. Please think about them when you do your holiday decorating.

Remember they like routines and remember that your house is their house too. Let's keep it safe for them.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!