Q & A: What Security Measures Should I Take To Protect My Dog While They Are Home Alone?

“What Security Measures Should I Take To Protect My Dog While They Are Home Alone?

It depends: Are we dealing with a trained or an untrained dog? Is the dog housebroken? Is the dog past the chewing phase? Does the dog have separation anxiety? Is the dog being left indoors, outdoors or with access to both? There are a lot of potential variables to consider but let’s see if we can at least do a general safety overview.

If your dog is mature, trained and trustworthy, you really don’t need a whole bunch in the way of security measures. Probably just a quick check for hazards or temptations such as food on the counter, exposed garbage bins, children’s toys, loose boards in the fence, unlatched gates, etc. Just enough to keep an honest dog honest, if you know what I mean. 

On the other hand, what if you have a young or untrained dog that is not housebroken, chews, digs, jumps fences, etc.? In that case, you will need to keep the dog somewhere that is inescapable and indestructible or in a room that you don’t mind getting dirty or damaged. The most common solution for brief time periods is a crate or kennel but that can be overly restrictive for long durations. Options for longer time periods might be the garage or laundry room or a dog run on the side of the house with extra high, extra secure fencing. If the dog is being left outdoors, there should be plenty of shade and some sort of shelter to protect the dog from extreme heat, cold, wind, rain, etc. It should go without saying that the dog should always have access to clean drinking water. 

Monitoring Systems

As stated in the intro, the details can vary significantly depending on a million potential variables but, regardless of the details of your given situation, you may want to purchase some sort of audio/video monitoring system so you can check in on your dog while you are away. There are many options on the market, some of which are made especially for dogs. Some can even spit out treats at the push of a button from your cell phone. Pretty cool, right? 

Another monitoring option is to have your dog wear some sort of GPS system on their collar. These will track your dog’s activity and ping your phone if they leave your property. Again, there are a variety of options on the market.  

Conclusion

Clearly this is just a “quick tip” article and not a comprehensive list of every possible security measure. With that in mind, I hope there were some useful ideas in there for you to explore. At the end of the day, training your dogs and conditioning them to be calm when left alone would be my recommendation as priority number one.