Doubtless, you want your family to be happy. That means paying attention to them and spending time with them. If you want your kids to know that you love them, you need to make sure that you dedicate time out of every day to play with them, read to them, cook for them, or anything else that makes them happy.
It’s not uncommon for kids to ask for a dog at some point during their childhood. Kids love pets, and dogs are the quintessential family animal (AKC). They are loyal and loving, and they will protect your children and property as well.
If you decide that your children are old enough to have a dog and care for it, then you can figure out which one to get and purchase it. You may want to consider adopting a shelter dog since these animals need a loving home.
You need to care for the dog once you have the dog. That means keeping it away from any dangers that could injure or even kill it. Let’s look at some possible canine hazards for which you should be on the lookout if you add a new pet to the family’s ranks this year.
Hot Cars
Both dogs and children can find hot cars to be very dangerous. Experts say that warm temperatures kill about 37 children every year if their parents leave them inside a vehicle states the experts at lawampm.com.
The average parent knows not to leave their child in the car, even if they crack a window. Rather than leaving them in the vehicle alone, you need to take your children into the grocery store with you, or anywhere else you’re visiting.
You need to do the same for dogs, though. If you leave a dog in the car on a hot summer day, that car’s interior can heat up very quickly, even if you leave a window partially open. When you leave a vehicle in direct sunlight, and you leave a thermometer in there, you can see the temperature jump 32 degrees in about 12 minutes, or even more in some parts of the country.
If you’re going to go for a drive, and you know that you’re going to stop somewhere that does not allow dogs inside, leave the animal safely at home. That’s the best way to avoid a tragedy and possibly an animal abuse charge.
Poison
It’s horrible to think that someone might attempt to poison a dog intentionally, but it does happen. The most common scenario is if you have a cruel neighbor who does not want the animal coming onto their property. Perhaps your dog got into their trash before, and they’re willing to do just about anything to stop that from happening again.
They might put poison-laced food items in the trash or leave them lying around their yard. If the dog gets onto their property and eats the poisoned item, they could die. The neighbor will say that they were within their rights to act as they did since they told you to restrain the animal.
The best way to avoid this is to keep your dog behind a fence on your property or to keep them chained up. You shouldn’t allow them to roam about the neighborhood, so something like this never happens.
Traffic
You should also restrain your pet because you might live in an area with lots of traffic. If you live right off a street with a double yellow line and lots of cars going past at all hours, you need to keep both your children and the family pet out of the road.
Again, the answer is to keep the dog behind a sturdy fence. Make sure that it is tall enough so that the animal cannot leap over it.
You might also create a dog run and keep the animal tied up there. This gives them a chance to run back and forth and get some exercise, though they will not be able to leave the yard.
Other Dogs
You might need to take your dog to obedience training to know how to act when other dogs are close by, suggests Pets MD. If you take the dog out for a walk and see another animal coming toward it, it might not react well if you have not taken it to obedience training.
If you train a dog properly, it should know how to conduct itself when you approach another animal. You can give it a verbal command or a visual cue, which should calm it down if you have trained it effectively.
If you have a dog that simply doesn’t like other animals because of experiences in its past, you can keep it away from other dogs when you go out for walks. If you see another dog coming, you can pull your pet to the side and make sure to keep them separated until the other animal has passed.
Ticks
Ticks can spread Lyme disease, proving fatal if a dog gets it (CDC). It’s no picnic for humans, either, which is why you should watch out for ticks every chance you get.
There are times of the year when ticks are more prevalent, and there are also some parts of the country where you’ll see more of them. For the most part, you’ll see ticks where there’s long grass through which you and your dog might walk. You might also encounter some in wooded areas such as public parks.
You can check for ticks after you finish your walk. Take a look at some pictures online to see what they resemble. If you see a tick anywhere on your dog, you can quickly remove it.
You might also give your dog a topical flea and tick preventative medication. You can buy them in pet stores or online via Amazon or similar sites.