Anyone who has been around a dog long enough knows that they’re very curious animals – the sensitive nose of a dog is particularly good at finding interesting scents that can occasionally land them into hot water, particularly if it involves them finding something dangerous. This is even more pronounced in puppies due to their relative inexperience with the world around them and a curiosity that is even more pronounced. The good news is that this is for the most part preventable with some careful home dog-proofing tactics – in this article, we take a look at a few of these to get you well on your way to a dog-proofed home.
Why you should be dog-proofing your home
Why spend the time and money to ensure that your home is dog-proofed? For starters, dog-proofing your home is an ideal way to ensure that your best pet insurance premium doesn’t skyrocket, but it also ensure that no harm comes to your dog. With this in mind, one of the best places to start is with plants, both indoors and out. There are a significant amount of very common plants that can be quite poisonous to dogs, so understanding what these are before they do damage is important. common plants that are poisonous to dogs include the bulbs of flowers such as daffodils, narcissus, hyacinth, and iris, in addition to other plants like azaleas, hydrangea, oleander, English ivy and jasmine, plus you’ll need to keep an eye out for any mushrooms that sprout in your front or backyard. If you find you have some of these plants after doing some research and don’t want to remove them completely, there are a few avenues available to you – you can either place them out of reach in hanging baskets, secure them behind dog-proof barriers, or just ensure that you take very good care to properly supervise your dog when they’re around the plants. A
Other common dangers to keep in mind
It is commonly known that chocolate can pose a threat to dogs, so make sure there is never any chocolate that you leave laying about anywhere. It’s the theobromine and caffeine in chocolate that is harmful to dogs, so the more pure the chocolate, the more potential for ingestion to be deadly. If you believe your dog has eaten chocolate, there are a few symptoms you can look out for – these include rapid heartbeat, muscle tremors, vomiting, and seizures, which can lead into a coma and death – if you haven’t already been able to tell, chocolate is serious business. In addition to chocolate, it’s also highly recommended that common sense items like medicines and poisons (such as rat poison or snail bait) are kept in difficult to reach places. In the case of some perfumed cleaners and solvents, the scent may incentivise a dog to ingest them believing them to be food, which can have disastrous results.
Staying aware of your curious dog
While it may seem obvious for us to not ingest cleaning products due to their attractive fragrance, this is not at all the case with dogs. Dog-proofing your home is a good way to prevent this, ensuring they don’t discover something deadly and eat it due to mistaking it for food. A little bit of through can ensure this is will never happen, though – dog-proof your home today if you haven’t already!
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