Are you lucky enough to have just welcomed a fur baby into the family home? Congratulations! Now comes the part where you have to turn your home into a pet friendly environment, which also includes toilet training your new baby.
Here are a few handy tips from Potty Plant and Mimi’s Daughters on how to turn your home into a pet-friendly home.
1. Toilet training your pet
Toilet training your pet is no different to training your child – it takes time and patience. Reward-based positive reinforcement training is your best bet. First of all, allow your dog plenty of opportunities to go outside. The second step is to reward your dog immediately after they toilet in the desired area. You can offer praise, a treat or their favourite chew toy as a reward.
If you live in an apartment with no easy outdoor access, toilet training can be a little trickier. Training pups and dogs to toilet on synthetic surfaces such as fake grass and puppy pads encourages bad habits. This teaches your dog that it’s okay to go on surfaces that feel similar to carpets and furniture, which is not ideal.
One way around this is to introduce your pup to real grass in the apartment with a product such as Potty Plant – a real grass dog toilet. The 100% real grass roots absorb the pee preventing pee stench. That is why plastic grass and puppy pads smell so bad – the pee doesn’t go anywhere!
2. Give your cats some toys to destruct
Your kitten will appreciate noisy toys, balls, crunchy fillings or feathers and will keep them entertained. It’s also important to let your kitten explore its inquisitive side and encourage it to stay active.
Tiffany Lowes, founder of pet accessories brand, Mimi’s Daughters, advises to choose toys that take into account the natural behavior of the species. More often than not, simple toys are the best and toys that offer unpredictable, rapid movement and high-pitched sound are likely to provide your cat with hours of entertainment.
Rolled up pieces of paper work very well, provided that you are on hand to move them in an unpredictable and exciting fashion. Cats also like to pick their toys up, so small items are often more attractive than larger ones.
3. Keep fragile and breakable objects out of reach
Keeping plants off the floor and on benches and tables is especially important, as fur babies love to chew and nibble on almost everything. Some plants such as tulips are toxic for pets so making such they are out of reach is very important. It’s also very important to put away all toxic products such as glass cleaner, mosquito spray, toilet cleaner and bleach.
Keep glass and fragile ornaments in a safe place as pets usually run around the house.
It’s also vital to keep all electrical wires neatly out of reach as your fur baby will not understand what it is and could be tempted to chew on it like a toy.
Prevention is your best bet against any nasty pet incidents or accidents in the home.
4. Protect your furniture
Some dogs have a habit of chewing wood and damaging furniture. To prevent this from happening, use a non-toxic spray on your furniture to deter your fur baby from chewing on it. You also need to make sure your fur baby knows who the boss is. Establish this relationship from the very beginning. YouTube is a great resource for dog and cat training videos.
5. Vacuum regularly!
Pet hair can retain an odour in your carpet and fabric lounges, so make sure you vacuum on a regular basis. Use a squeegee mop to go over the tiles after vacuuming, ensuring that you collect most of the pet hair.
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