Having a dog with you can provide plenty of benefits inside your home. Apart from adding a new ray of sunshine, they may also be a companion you can bring with you anywhere you go. Along with this, you can take them out for their daily walks, allowing you to have the exercise you need for the day. However, some people might think an apartment isn’t the safest place to home a dog, especially if there are dangerous factors around the room.
If you live in an apartment and are looking to home a dog, you should first consider their breed and see if their size would fit inside your home. If you’re in for a smaller breed, like a French Bulldog or Shih Tzu, you’re in for good luck since you don’t have to worry too much, especially if your apartment is small and compact.
Aside from these, here are things you may need to bear in mind to keep your apartment safe for dogs.
1. Secure Your Balcony
dog barking on balcony
An apartment’s balcony is one of the biggest danger factors for your pets, especially if you live on higher floors. Your dog could easily fit in the railings, which could put them at risk of falling. This could be extremely dangerous, especially if you have smaller breeds that don’t have any trouble fitting through the railings.
To secure your balcony, consider adding a thick layer of chicken wires or plastic squares to keep your dog from popping their heads over. You should also try to use high layers if your dog tries to jump to reach the upper part of your railings.
As the basic rule of thumb, it would be best if you could forbid them from going to the balcony by keeping the doors shut all the time. If they ever need to go to your balcony, they should be with a responsible adult to watch over them at all times.
2. Cover Air Vents
If your apartment’s air vents are at the bottom part of your walls, reachable to your pets, consider covering them to prevent your pets from burning or cooling themselves, causing harm or even danger to their skin.
You can purchase air vent covers at your local pet supply store or any hardware store, and you should be able to provide a protective layer to your air vents. By doing this, you could protect your dogs from harming themselves by getting near your air vents. This is also a great solution if you have kids who are just starting to explore your house.
3. Keep Electrical Wirings Away
For your dog, any electrical wiring can look harmless and just another object that might be lying around your floor. However, it could pose dangers and accidents, especially if the device is still plugged in, which may cause electrical issues or trips and falls for your dogs. If your dog is a heavy chewer, it could inflict dangers not only to your pet but also to your house. While you’d be providing your dog a bully stick or chew toy, it would be better if you could keep that from happening.
To keep your pets safe from any electrical wiring and outlet, install an outlet cover that could prevent dogs from getting too close to the outlet, eliminating any possibility of electrocution. For your wires, you can keep them away from your dog by placing everything on the side of the walls and away from the common area.
For maximum safety, it would be helpful if you could unplug any unused devices and keep their wires away. If you have frayed or exposed wires, it’d be best to replace them. Apart from keeping your pets safe, you’d also be practicing safety measures to keep your home out of harm’s way.
4. Get Rid Of Poisonous Indoor Plants
Living inside an apartment might not help bring life inside your home, especially for city living. To allow your apartment to feel homey and closer to nature, you may add indoor plants that could help provide a bit of greenery inside. However, if you’re planning to keep dogs inside your apartment, you should know that some types of indoor plants could be poisonous to your dog, no matter how harmless they look.
Before you invite your dog inside your apartment, try to get rid of any poisonous plants you might have. This includes lilies, aloe vera, ZZ plants, ivy, or jade. You can replace them with other safer alternatives if you still wish to keep some indoor plants inside your house.
Conclusion
Unlike humans, dogs cannot fully understand what’s dangerous and harmful to them. As such, you should take responsibility for keeping them safe inside your apartment. Apart from teaching them the areas of your home they should avoid, you should practice safety measures just to avoid dangers and accidents. This would help guarantee your pet is secure and safe while you’re outside and they’re alone in your apartment. Even if you come home to a messy house, it’d be better if everything’s safe and no harm exists.
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