— Sarah Archer
You might be emotionally ready for a dog to come into your life. Maybe you’ve done all the research and figured out what breed is most compatible for your lifestyle. You’ve even visited your new furry friend at a shelter and decided it’s time to bring them home. But is your home ready for them to arrive? Have you made sure that nothing poisonous is available for them to get into.
Certain plants can be poisonous to dogs if eaten so it’s important to do some research on which might be generally bad to keep in the house. For example, azaleas or tulip bulbs are toxic for dogs and while you don’t think your dog would eat those things, they just might. You’ll want to check your yard for illness causing elements as well including, foxtails which can be very bad for dogs if they consume them.
Household products you might not expect to have to worry about may make your dog sick if they ingest them. Dryer sheets, for example, and detergent in general needs to be stowed where dogs cannot get at them. In addition, for outdoor material, make sure you switch to fertilizers, weed killers, and ice melt products that are safe for animals.
When it comes to human food, there are a number of items that are just fine for people but poisonous for dogs. In particular, caffeine and chocolate are pretty well known as making dogs ill, but other items like grapes, onions, and anything with the sweetener xylitol (which is in mints and gum) should be avoided for health reasons.
There are many ways to make sure a dog is comfortable in your home but securing your shelves and cabinets to be certain that they are not able to consume something that will injure them is a huge priority. Give some thought to how you will reorganize the house to make sure that they can never come in contact with something that will make them ill.
If this seems at all overwhelming, there are some good sites that have checklists to help you make sure your home is one hundred percent dog ready. Look below some further tips from Your Best Digs on how to keep your furry friend safe on arrival.
Sarah Archer
Sarah is a Content and PR manager at Your Best Digs. She’s passionate about evaluating everyday home products to help customers save time and money. When she’s not putting a product’s promise to the test, you’ll find her hiking a local trail or collecting stamps in her passport.
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