Safety Tips

Most of what I’ve learned about animals, I’ve learned from people who keep animals—from pet lovers to zookeepers. Let’s hear from you, whether you’re a pet novice or a veterinarian. What are your best pet safety tips?

No sad stories, please. Give us your learning, not your pain. Let’s stay upbeat, practical, and attentive to all the different types of pets, including fish and ferrets, felines and Floating frogs, in addition to dogs and cats.

Carol’s tip 1: When I’m out for the day, I crate my dogs.
Properly trained, fed, pottied, exercised, and watered, my dogs happily remain in a properly sized crate for up to eight hours. I don’t feel comfortable leaving my dogs unsupervised. They’re too curious.

Carol’s tip 2: I keep the predator (dogs)and the prey animals (parrots) separated by a four foot buffer.
When I’m home and the dogs roam inside, I close the baby gate (as you would use for human babies) set up four feet in front of the indoor bird aviary. The parrots can use the lower portion of their cage without fear. This four-foot safety area I call our “demilitarized zone.” The birds depend on it. The dogs hate it, as the barrier separates them from the food the parrots spill onto the floor.