Are you and cat person or a dog person? These days it’s common to be both and have your house full of activity. Pets are great for families who just need to fill in the gap of wanting another family member but not quite ready for another child. They’re also great with children who need to learn how to be gentle with other living creatures. Dogs and cats have been domesticated for centuries so although you will have to train them; they just fit in with the home. Well, almost; they do need to be catered for because homes are designed for humans, not our furry friends. Pretty soon after bringing the new four-legged friend home, you’ll start to see some unusual activity. Everywhere you look, there are little gnawing marks on the furniture and anything made of wood is positively consumed by them. We love them with all our heart, but they can get right up your nose sometimes. Here are a few suggestions that will help to protect your home from their undesirable habits.
Unwanted chewing
Much like babies, dogs and cats put almost anything in their mouths. Be kind to them and try not to get frustrated when they put things in their mouths they shouldn’t. It’s really how they learn because they can feel the texture, toughness, taste, and size of objects when they lick and bite on them. However, when you have an expensive leather sofa, the last thing you want is chunks taken out of it. To fix this, you need to play good cop bad cop. Encourage appropriate chewing such as on toys, get them dental sticks, give them a bone to munch on and play with balls designed for pets. However, when you see they chewing things you don’t want them to you have to be assertive immediately. Scold them for it and move them away from the object physically.
Dragging the garden in
Pets play rough, it doesn’t seem like it to them, but for regular human beings, they do like a bit of rough and tumble. What can you expect when their bodies are made out of more muscle proportionally to our bodies. However, when the dog or cats been playing in the garden, they do have a tendency to drag the garden in with them. We civilized humans wipe our feet before we come in, but our pets don’t think like us. To them, the home is just another part of their territory, and cats especially feel like they can do whatever they please. So to stop their paws leaving marks all over your carpets, install a patio that’s like their gateway into the home. Here are some tips to make your patio pet-friendly and also provide them with some room outside where they can sit safely.
Allowing dogs and cats to become part of our family unit, we know already what might happen. We accept the risks and hail on the fact that they will do things that drive us up the wall. But rather than living in a home that slowly gets filled with scratches, scrapes and soil marks, simply adjust to their behavior.
*This is a collaborative post*