How Many Days Until Halloween? 7 Days Left on Oct. 24

One week from today is Halloween. Seven days separate October 24 from October 31, which leaves five weekdays and two weekend days, and no full Saturday before the holiday.

This is the last weekend with usable daylight in it, so the jobs that get done now are the ones that involve being outside or being unhurried. For households with animals, it is also the last good day to find out whether the plan for the night actually works.

The problem the evening creates

Three stressors arrive in the same hour. A doorbell that rings steadily, strangers in costume standing at the door, and shouted conversation in the street. A dog that handles any one of those may not handle all three together, and animal emergency clinics see a spike in visits around October 31 for reasons that are mostly preventable.

Chocolate is the familiar danger, and dark chocolate and baking chocolate are the worst versions because of theobromine. Less familiar is xylitol, used in sugar-free gum and some candies, which is severely toxic to dogs in very small amounts. Raisins, macadamia nuts and alcohol are also on the list, and wrapping protects nothing, since a dog that smells chocolate will chew through foil.

Setting up tonight rather than on Friday

Decide where the animal will be during the trick-or-treat window and make that place normal rather than punitive. A closed room away from the front door, with a television or radio providing continuous sound, masks the doorbell better than silence does. Keep the candy bowl higher than a counter-surfing dog can reach, and empty it into a sealed container before bed rather than leaving it out.

Walk dogs well before dusk, and keep them leashed even in a fenced yard. Costumes and shouting can spook an animal that has never left the property. Cats stay inside for the whole evening.

If the household has both pets and children, the useful division of labor is that one adult works the door while the other manages the animal. One person attempting both at once is how the bowl ends up on the floor and the dog ends up outside.

Choose a room with a door that closes properly rather than one with a curtain, since a determined dog will push through a curtain in about four minutes.

Rehearse it once tonight, at the hour the doorbell will actually rin