Speaker: Kim Meijer, JustAnswer Expert
Kim Meijer: Hi, I'm Doctor Kim. I'm a small animal veterinarian with 13 years of experience.
Kim Meijer: I've been treating chickens. I've been working with JustAnswer for just over a year and I'm really enjoying helping you answer your questions.
Kim Meijer: Today, we will talk about top safety tips for your pets and then especially how to keep your dog safe at home and outdoors.
Kim Meijer: So when leaving your dog home alone, there are some things that we can do to make sure that they are absolutely safe. My main tip would be to make sure that they cannot reach anything that they're not supposed to eat as they like to explore and they like to eat things. And one of the main questions that we get at JustAnswer is things that your dog has ingested, such as vitamins, medication and other things that they shouldn't eat. So while you leave your dog home alone, just make sure that they cannot reach anything that they're not supposed to do. Other things is provide them with fresh water and make sure that they have a toy or something that they can, they can play with when they get bored and also make sure that there is nothing that can fall onto them or if they get stuck in, in cables and they pull it, that nothing can fall onto them, that's gonna keep them safe.
Kim Meijer: Another option when you have to leave your dog home alone is to keep them in the garden. This is another good option as they can do their things. And if they have to go to the bathroom, they can do it. Just the main thing to make sure is that you don't have any plants in your garden that are toxic. So often we get questions about dogs that have been nibbling on leaves, they've been eating flowers, and some of them can be quite toxic. So just make sure that you don't have anything like that in the garden if you leave them, they are unsupervised. The other thing I would recommend is to make sure that they have shade, they have shelter and that they have access to fresh water at all times. Those are more important things, especially in summer, we want to provide shade and in winter, we want to provide them with a sheltered area where they are outside of the element, so they don't get wet all the time. They are not outside in the wind, things like that.
Kim Meijer: When we take our dogs out for a walk and that's usually their favorite time of the day. My dog, she loves it when we go to the park. The main thing to do to keep them safe when we go outside with them is to make sure their microchip details are up to date. You never know what's gonna happen. They might, the leash might break, they might get scared and pull when you let go. But at least if their microchip details are up to date, they have a way to come back to us. The other thing you can do is on their collar or on their harness, place a little tag with your name or your phone number. Well, name and phone number and then you can also add your address if that's more convenient. The other thing to make sure is that if your dog is keen on eating things, make sure that they are not able to eat anything outside. Sometimes people throw chicken bones, there can be medications, there can be other things that they shouldn't eat. So that's something to keep in mind when we are walking our dogs outside.
Kim Meijer: Thank you for watching this video. If you have any questions or concerns about your dog's health, please don't hesitate to reach out. We're here 24/7 and you can access directly with the link in the description. Just click on there and it will take you to our site where we can help you answer all the questions that you might have about your dog. Have a good day and enjoy.
