Hey Woofa’s,

Spring is here and our weather is warming up.

Which means we want to spend more time outside – well I do anyway!

And where I go Billy tends to follow.

He’ll lay on the lawn or nearby while Dean and I are in the garden, trimming shrubs, planting new plants, mowing the lawn and doing the general tidy up.

Which is why it’s important to keep our yards clean, tidy and safe for our dogs, not just during the warmer months but ideally all year round.

Whether your dog is an inside dog or an outside dog or a bit of both, they still need to go outside to go to the toilet, which again, is why it needs to be clean tidy and safe for them.

IDEAS ON HOW TO KEEP YOUR YARD SUMMER SAFE FOR YOUR DOG!

1. Keep your lawns/grass mowed to a short level so no nasty critters, fleas, ticks or reptiles can’t make a home in there.

2. Pick up your dog’s poop as often as you can, so you, your kids and your dog are not treading in it.

3. Keep bushy shrubs trimmed, gardens weeded, rubbish collected and cleared etc so nasty critters and reptiles aren’t about.

4. Make sure you don’t have any plants that are poisonous to dogs.

5. Try to keep your lawn free from Bindis, they not only hurt our bare feet but they can hurt your dog’s paws as well.

6. If you are going to spray anything on your lawn or in your gardens or pot plants please make sure the sprays are pet friendly first.  Some sprays can be toxic to dogs.  15 Homemade organic sprays for your garden.

7. If you have a pool or dam or a large pond or body of water, make sure there’s safety fencing around it or measures taken so your dog cannot fall in and drown.

8. Teach your dog how to swim and get themselves out of the pool or large watering holes etc.

9. Make sure if your dog is outside for most of the day, they have appropriate comfortable shaded areas to lay in, a kennel out of the weather, an outdoor bed under the pergola, a few water bowls around the yard so one is always shaded.

10. Where appropriate make sure your dog is protected from fleas and ticks.

11.  Make sure your dog cannot get out of your yard, all fences are escape proof and gates are closed and locked etc.

12. If your dog wears a collar, make sure it cannot get hooked on something and potentially strangle them.

13. Is your yard safe from your dog being able to jump off high retaining walls, or piles of things or outdoor tables etc or over fences and hurting themselves?

14.  If possible try to keep your dog out of any dirt patches – fleas tend to find dogs that love the dirt.

15. Keep you sheds closed and locked in order to stop your dog from getting in and potentially ingesting something poisonous or injuring themselves on garden tools.

16.  To avoid your dog getting into anything you don’t want them to, provide your dog with fun things to do.  Have toys specifically for them to play with while in the yard.

17.  Make sure toys, shoes or anything you DON’T want your dog chewing on is picked up and put away BEFORE your dog goes outside.

18. When having people over for BBQs and/or to swim in the pool etc make sure your dog is safe, can’t get through pool fencing, if the dog is swimming make sure someone is looking after them.  Make sure people aren’t feeding your dog foods they shouldn’t be etc

You get the idea, the point is to keep your yard (front and back if possible) clean and tidy to prevent any unwanted accidents that could happen to your dog.

Not only that, the warmer weather does bring snakes that like to hide amongst things in the garden.

We want to prevent our dogs being bitten by snakes as well.

WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?

If your dog loves being outside for the Summer, it’s up to us to make sure our Yard is Summer Safe for our Dogs.

Keeping our yards clean, tidy and safe for our dogs is important all year round.

We do tend to spend time outdoors more in summer however, and so do our dogs.

Here’s to keeping them safe.

IN THE COMMENTS BELOW – BILLY WOULD LIKE TO KNOW – WHAT IDEAS YOU HAVE ON KEEPING YOUR YARD SUMMER SAFE FOR YOUR DOG?