Month: September 2016

How much do you love your dog? If you treat your pet like family, you’re probably willing to go the extra mile. This includes adding more toys, dog beds and amenities just for your furry friend. If you really love your dog, you might consider renovating parts of your home to suit the needs of your pet. Check out these easy renovations that your pup is sure to love:

 

#1 Custom Cabinets

Keeping dog food out of reach can be difficult at times. If you put it in the garage, ants could get into it. If you keep it in the laundry room, your dog could gain access to it. Instead, think about a custom cabinet in your kitchen for the food. You can either insert the bag fully or get a plastic container to hold it.

 

#2 Drawers for Doggy Dishes

If you want to have a special space for food and water, you can install pull-out drawers just for your dog. Consider installing them in your kitchen or mudroom. That way it’s easier to keep the mess in one spot rather than all over your floor.

 

#3 Under-Stair Safe Space

If you aren’t using your under-stair closet, consider transforming the space into a safe haven for your dog. A closed-off space to keep your dog’s bed, dishes and toys will keep messes in one area and give your pet a private area of his own.

 

#4 Extra Amenities

If you really want to spoil your dog, consider options like heated flooring, a dog-bed nook or a separate shower area. The best part about these amenities is that they don’t just benefit your dog. Heated flooring in the living room will help keep you and your family — including your dog — toasty during cold weather. A shower/bath space will help you keep fur out of your shower and bathtub and a dog bed nook will keep toys and other pup-related messes in one area.

 

#5 Doggy bedroom

If you are a serious dog parent, you might consider dedicating a room to your dog. Laundry rooms or mudrooms are good candidates for a dog room. Add a crate, dog bed, toys and food and water dishes to the room to keep your dog happy. It’s important that the space you dedicate to your dog is easy to clean. Always avoid converting a carpeted room into a space for your dog.

 

Conclusion

Loving your dog sometimes means going the extra mile for their comfort. While you may not want to redo your entire house to suit your dog, even small gestures like a new dog bed will go a long way.

 

Written contribution by Andrea Davis, Home Advisor.

Dogs are magical beings with four paws.

RedandHowling: Musings on Dogs, Cats & Other Bundles of Love.

 

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A sudden change of schedule can lead to stress in your dog or cat and can cause behavioral problems. Extra attention and/or a new friend may be the solution.

After a summer of playing ball, swimming, catching fireflies and getting lots of attention from his favorite boy or girl, your dog or cat may not be himself when the kids dash off on the first day of the new school year. The sudden disruption to his schedule and special time may cause your pet to eat too much, not want to eat at all or start eating strange objects such as plants, dirt, toys or clothing. This can result in vomiting, diarrhea and skin problems to name a few. Now is the time to give your four-legged family member some extra attention and to bone-up on your Pet First-Aid skills because no matter how hard you try…life happens and you can’t keep any of your family members in a plastic bubble!

 

Back-to-School Tips

Keeping a few things in mind may help the animals in your household adjust and stay safe:

1. When the school bell rings, don’t let your pet go back to school too. A lonely pet may want to tag along. Keep your pet confined when children leave for school, and if you drive, don’t take the pets with you. Animals learn quickly and may find their own way to school later on resulting in them becoming lost or injured. For severe separation anxiety, place the t-shirt your child slept in the night before in your pet’s bed — as long as he doesn’t rip it to shreds, it will make him feel like his boy or girl is there with him.

2. Now that mom or dad may be experiencing a little “empty nesting,” it’s a great time to spend extra quality time with the family pet. Embark on an exercise and training program for your dog. A tired dog is a good dog who will wait patiently for his “kids” to come home from school.  This is prime time to teach or refresh doggie obedience and kitty manners by getting involved in an exercise and training program – yes, cats too can learn new tricks!

3. Love and attention is a bow wow wonderful thing, but when training is done for the day and you need a little time to yourself, you won’t want Fido or Fluffy acting like a velcro pet, sticking to your side every second of the day.  Interest dogs in interactive toys to entertain themselves.  Toys filled with treats, tennis ball launchers and chicken scented bubble machines are just a few novelties on the market.   For cats there are electronic mice, bungee cord and laser light toys.  Just know your pet and supervise him.  Don’t believe labels claiming products are indestructible!

4. If your cat is seeming bored with the kids away…consider adopting a second cat to keep him company. They will play and exercise together and you will have saved a life.

Dogs and cats are part of the family too, so make sure you focus extra attention on them when their world has suddenly turned upside down.

 

For 16 years Denise Fleck’s Sunny-dog Ink motto has been “Helping people to help their pets,” and she has…teaching more than 10,000 pet lovers animal life-saving skills and millions more on national television segments, yet better pet parenting is still a secret in many communities.  In the Spring of 2017, in her role as Pet Safety Crusader™, Denise will journey across the Southern U.S. to “Be the one who makes a difference” by helping large numbers of people help their pets in one concerted effort!  Pet First Aid classes, Pet Disaster Preparedness training and readings of her children’s books will be part of the fun as she travels 10,000 miles to 18 cities — from California to Florida, north to Virginia, across to Tennessee, down to Arkansas and back across the Southwest.  Super hero sponsors are needed to be the ‘wheels beneath her RV.’ Learn more about this epic adventure, Denise’s line of Pet First-Aid Kits, books and instructional posters at www.sunnydogink.com