Dogs love us unconditionally, so it’s only fair that we do every bit we can to keep them safe. Ideally, a dog should not be left alone at home, especially not for long durations. However, we do not always live in ideal conditions and at times, such scenarios cannot be completely avoided. To help you keep your dogs safe even when there’s no one at home to look after them, here are five tips that should come in handy.
Use a Playpen
Having a dog playpen is the most reliable way to keep your canine friend safe and make them feel secure while you are away. Nevertheless, do make note of the following before you start shopping for a playpen:
- Make sure the playpen is large enough for your dog to move around in it a bit
- The height of the playpen is also to be considered relative to the height of your dog
- Do not lock the door of the pen when you are going out for a long time because it’s supposed to be a safe place for the dog, not a prison.
Make Food and Water Easily Accessible
Very few things make dogs more anxious than being alone, hungry, and thirsty, so do not ever make the mistake of leaving home without making sure that your pets have easy access to food and water at all times. To prevent careless mistakes from making your dog go hungry, set up multiple bowls of food and water.
Be Sure to Remove All Vulnerable and Dangerous Things from the Pooch’s Access
This rule is quite straightforward; if you don’t want your dogs to access something, keep it out of their reach. Some common examples of stuff that you should put out of your dog’s reach include cleaners, pesticides, insecticides, paints, rat poison, makeup, medicine, glass and other fragile objects, human food, etc.
Keep the Temperature Under Control
Install a thermostat if you don’t have one already, because extreme temperatures can make your dogs uncomfortable when you are not there to turn up the air-conditioning. You need to be particularly mindful of the temperature if you live in one of the warmer states such as Florida or Texas, because when it gets too hot inside, your dog could suffer from fatal dehydration.
Hire a Sitter
If you have a new puppy, it is a bad idea to leave it alone at home because they need a lot of care during their first few weeks. This is when you need a pet sitter to look after the dog while you are not there. Either have a friend or a relative sit in for you or hire a professional pet sitter, but make sure it’s someone who knows how to handle puppies properly.
Aside from these five tips, there’s just one more consideration that you need to make, especially if you live in an apartment building. There’s little that a pet can do if it hears a fire alarm, so install smart smoke alarms that inform you and the local fire department immediately on sensing smoke.
