PhotoBeing a pet owner can really make a difference in your life. It changes your routine, it changes how effective your budget is, and most of all, it can change the way your home looks and works. You might not notice it, but over time your home becomes a pet friendly house filled with toys, beds, and other enrichment equipment!
But this is essentially a good thing; making your home a good place for your pet to be ensures a healthy and happy life is ahead of them! So let’s get a jumpstart on designing your house to be the perfect place for your puppy or kitten to be.
Securing Your Property
Your new pet is going to take any chance they get to break out and experience the outside world. As such, you’ve got to head round your property right now and see where holes and gaps and escape routes might exist. Under the fence or over it, up a tree or behind it, and even just a faulty latch on a gate can be a big problem down the line.
If you need to fix your fence, you can dig down into the hole and line it with chicken wire that’s attached to the main fence. For dogs, you could also use a collar that beeps when the dog goes outside of your garden’s boundary, to alert both you and your canine to the problem at hand.
Creating Space as They Grow
Your pet will grow at an alarming rate, and before you know it they’ll be 3 years old and you’ll wonder where the time has gone! As such, it’s best to make your house accommodating. For example, you can ensure they have plenty of space to explore by just clearing your floor of anything they could chew or get caught on.
Similarly, you may have time now to be at home with your new puppy, but when you start leaving them on their own during the day, installing dog doors for sliding glass doors in your living room will ensure they stay house trained while you’re gone! You may also want to invest in something like a crate for a dog that’s suddenly going to be left alone for a little while each day.
Keeping Dangerous Items Out of Their Reach
Finally, try to keep anything you don’t want them chewing off of the floor and other accessible surfaces. For dogs this can be easy to sort out, but for cats it gets tricky. They can climb, after all, and leaving things out on kitchen counters or bookshelves won’t end well. Instead, try to keep everything you don’t want them to chew in storage boxes. They can’t physically lift a lid that’s clasped down, no matter how dexterous they are!
Final Thoughts
Your home can be pet friendly in no time! Be sure to keep these tips in mind if you’re bringing a new puppy or kitten home.
