Pets can be your great friends. They help you live stress-free at home and also keep you fit. But you need to keep them safe. One of the grossly overlooked aspects of pet safety is the problems due to electrical cables and components. Chewing wires could cause shocks and injuries to the animal. At times it could even lead to electrocution. Moreover, replacing damaged parts could be a daunting and expensive task too. Imagine that television wire or cable of your coffee maker is cut off; you feel irritated and at times, angry too. So pet-proofing household is essential. Little efforts could make the day happy and safe both for you and your pet.
Train your pet to avoid the cords:
Every time your dog goes near the cable, you should give it something interesting to do, like a Kong toy filled with peanut butter. You can also spray water from a bottle to distract and interrupt it. Another option is to have electronic collars. It is similar to training your dogs to avoid furniture or crossing a busy road. You can create a command so that the pup leaves chewing. You can give some rewards for dropping the wire. If you consistently bring the animals to the same spot or room in the house, they will understand that the place is meant for them. So you can safeguard the pet spot from cords and wires.
Provide healthy activities for your pet:
The best way to keep your pets out of trouble is to keep them engaged. Involve all the members of the family to play with it. You should take them for walks and introduce them to the people in the neighborhood. You should buy doggy board games or canine puzzles to keep their minds active. If they get bored due to one toy, then it is time for a new one. In due course, you can rotate the toys. You should take them to pet shops and let them meet and make friends too.
Regular engagement your pet could stop them from getting bored, and they, in turn, will stop over-chewing. Involve the pets in your daily chores. They will be happy and excited to experience a new atmosphere. So you can take them even when you have to go to a car wash shop.
Fix the cords:
Animals love to hunt and find their prey. It is their intrinsic nature. Loosely hanging and dangling wires attract them a lot. They tend to jump higher to reach and pull it. You should fix them on the wall and could also make cable drawings too. It also serves as a way to decorate your home. You can stick the cables using adhesive cord clips in matching or contrasting colors. You can use spiral cable wraps. With these, you can bundle adjacent wires and prevents them from getting tangled. The wrapping material is made of hard plastic like PVC (polyvinyl chloride), which the pet animal cannot chew.
Block your pet’s access to cords:
You can put long cables and adapters in a basket or tray and push then inside the cupboard. You can hide the electrical wires at the back of the furniture so that they are not easily visible. Similarly, lamp cords and printer wires, etc. could be stapled under the table. You can have power strip and keep them and electronic items like phones inside the table drawer. You can have rain gutter storage where the excess cables could be placed. You could conceal routers in decorative boxes. In this age of IoT (internet of things) devices, you could go wireless too. Just like us, the concept: out of sight, out of mind, works for the pet animals also.
Make cords unappealing:
You can get paintable cables and fix them to the wall or furniture. You can paint them with the same color as that of the wall so that the pets cannot distinguish them. Small cords, especially the vertical ones, can be put inside a hollow rod and fixed. These disguising techniques can deter the animal from chewing the cord. One could also use repulsive sprays on the cables. Flavors like bitter apple, paprika, and pepper can keep the pets away from the wire. You also get unscented sprays in the market and online shops.
Pets have an inherent urge to chew and suck objects. It is their way of exploring the world. A dental activity like getting a new tooth could increase the chewing time. They chew more when they get bored. It is also a form of stress-buster and pacifier. But you should be careful that the chewing habit does not become obsessive and destructive. The reasons could be many like metabolic issues, over-grooming, etc. It is your responsibility to take care of the pet and provide proper medication. You should also teach children to become friendly and compassionate towards animals. Please refrain from inhuman activities like caging them for long periods or using duct tapes to hold their mouths closed.
