Don’t Play With That Please: Your Guide For Improving Your Pets’ Safety Part 6 of 9

Two golden retriever puppies having fun and playing with each other on the leaves outside.

Just like how a gardener takes careful measures to give the best soil for a seedling, we, as pet owners, need to give our pets the best environment where they can nurture to their full potential and be safe at the same time. Safety isn't just about taking out the sharp things around, hiding the 'must not reach' chemicals that may do harm to your pets or keeping them caged so they wont do any damage. 

Being safe is a mind-set, the way you think. What's the point of taking all of those things if you don't have follow-up. What else would happen? If I really do this will it help? If I buy this 'safe food' or 'safe toy' can it really help the safety of my pet or is just a waste of money? Keeping you pets safe doesn't end in the house or in the yard, it's never-ending. Here is a guide to keeping your best friends safe:

Household Dangers

Pets are a lot like babies in the sense that they’re curious and that they don’t know a lot about the world they’re living in. They don’t know what is good for them and what’s not or what they can eat and what they can’t. It’s your job as their caretaker to make sure they don’t have access to anything that can be harmful to their health in your home.

Some common household items that can cause serious harm to your pets include batteries, medicine, insecticides, detergents, rat poison, razors, exposed electrical cords, etc; the list goes on. The general rule of thumb is that don’t let your pets put anything in their mouths that you wouldn’t put in your mouth. Chances are that if it’s harmful to you, it’s harmful to them as well. To ensure your pet is safe, keep these hazardous items out of reach from them.

Not So Good Foods

When you’re really hungry, you go into your kitchen looking for anything and everything you can eat. Pets don’t have that luxury. They have many restrictions on what foods they can and can’t eat. One wrong food can lead to one expensive hospital bill.

These foods that are harmful to your pets include, but are not limited to, alcohol, mushrooms, fatty foods, garlic, chocolate, and grapes. According to the according to American Kennel Club, feeding your dogs chocolates and grapes can actually kill them. Please think twice before giving your pets scraps from the dinner table, even if they give you those irresistibly cute puppy eyes.

Pet Proofing Your Home

Now that you are well-informed about some things that can cause serious harm to your pets, the next step is prevention. Here are some tips to pet-proof your home:

1. Garbage cans are like treasure chests to dogs. They hold what they think is the greatest thing ever: “lots and lots of food”. To make sure they don’t have access to your garbage, try buying those garbage cans with lids on them.
2. Put child locks on kitchen cabinets to prevent pets from accessing harmful items you have stored inside.
3. As a human, we all know how harmful electrical cords can be. We have been taught to never play with them because it carries electricity. Pets, on the other hand, think electrical cords are super fun to play with. Try taping wires to the walls so that your pets are less enticed to play with them.

Your Pet is Part of Your Family

Pets are such an important part of your life. Treat them like you would treat your younger brother or sister. Keep harmful things out of their reach and don’t feed them things that you know could potentially harm them. Take the necessary precautions to make sure your pets don’t get hurt. In the end, you will be rewarded with love and companionship.