Make Your Home Safe for Dogs: Dogs are full of energy and a relentless adventurous spirit. Most dogs speed through life, the house, and the backyard without concern for anything. They’ll jump over obstacles and play with just about anything they can hold in their mouth.
While it’s great to see your dog enjoying themselves, there are plenty of hidden dangers lurking around in your house and yard. Even the most well-meaning dog parents sometimes fail to recognize some of these dangers.
If you own a dog, you can’t rely on them to know what’s dangerous, so here’s how to make your home safer for them to enjoy.
1. Keep your open fires up high
Just like humans, dogs are drawn to fire and love lying in front of the fireplace or wood stove to keep warm. Sometimes, they’ll fall asleep and won’t even notice they’re overheated until they wake up from their nap.
If you have open fires in your backyard, like burn piles or bonfires, it’s important to elevate those fires to prevent your dog from getting too close or falling asleep nearby. Not all dogs will walk right into a bonfire, but many will get close enough to be hit with embers.
Instead of having bonfires on the ground, build an elevated fire pit, or buy one that matches your backyard style. Better yet, get a fire pit table. With a fire pit table, your fire will be elevated off the ground, and you’ll also have a table for eating and setting down your drinks.
Burn piles are especially risky since they’re not usually attended and are left to burn/smolder for days at a time. You don’t want your dog to fall asleep near a burn pile that spreads when the wind picks up speed.
If you can’t elevate your burn piles, at least build a container for them so there’s less of a risk of the fire spreading through the grass.
2. Pick up spilled food immediately
Most dogs are notorious for sucking up crumbs before you can even bend down to pick them up. However, not all dogs will do that. Many people train their dogs not to rush in for dropped food.
If you can’t train your dog to resist diving in for food that spills on the floor, it’s important to pick up the food immediately. Get in the habit of grabbing it the second you see it fall, no matter what it is. It only takes a split-second for a dog to grab a mouthful of scrambled eggs with raw onions.
Although some dogs won’t have a major reaction to a small amount of raw onions, it will still damage their organs. You won’t know how your dog will react until they eat toxic food (like onions), and it’s better when it doesn’t happen at all.
3. Don’t put trash bags on the floor inside or out
Even the most well-behaved dogs will get into your trash when they think nobody’s looking. If you have dogs, don’t put your trash bags on the floor at any time. It doesn’t matter if you’re just going to use the restroom or you need to grab something from the car before you take out the trash. Don’t give your dog the opportunity.
It’s not so bad cleaning up a bag of trash that has been destroyed by a dog, but the mess will be the least of your worries. What if your dog eats something in the trash that’s toxic or deadly to their system? What if they choke on a chicken bone? What if they eat a rubber band that gets caught around their intestines and requires surgery to remove?
All of these situations seem unlikely, like they can’t happen. However, they happen all the time when people don’t take precautions. When it comes to your dog’s safety, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Keep your dog safe with common sense
Everyone knows to baby-proof a house when kids are around. The same goes for dogs. Dogs are like babies in many ways. They don’t understand the concept of safety and will get into anything that seems fun and exciting.
For dogs, the main danger is getting into toxic foods. So, make sure you dog-proof your home in every way possible to prevent your furry friend from getting into things that can harm their health.
