Posts Tagged ‘safety’
Halloween and Your Pet
Halloween and Holiday Safety for Pets
Everyone loves to have fun for Halloween and sometimes we want to include our pets in our festivities, but we must be careful because our pets can be “spooked” by all the noises, strange costumes and visitors coming to the door. Plan ahead for the holiday, if your pet is prone to bolt out the door, then confinement to a back bedroom may be necessary. Be safe by making sure your pet has an ID tag, microchip or even a GPS tracker in case he escapes or gets lost.
Halloween has the highest incidence of lost dogs, injuries from car accidents, and accidental poisoinings than any other holiday. Halloween also has an elevated number of dog bites to children and people the dog is normally social around. You are responsible for controlling your pet and protecting him from escape or biting the little ghouls and goblins that come knocking at your door.
Halloween costumes can be scary to or pets. Be careful that your dog won’t be scared or try to attack the stranger in the costume. Masks or hats can sometimes confuse your dog or trigger territorial instincts even if they are normally familiar with that person. My dog Jake, did not like the Monster that swallowed my son and tried his very best to pull the costume off my son. We had to take our son with the coustume in a bag to his friends house to change and go trick or treating. We also tried to put a costume on Jake, and he did not tolerate that well either. Some dogs love it and some dogs loathe it.
If you want your dog to wear a costume for Halloween, make sure he is comfortable at all times. Do not use any costumes that use rubber bands or can constrict circulation or breathing. Be watchfull for any toxic paints or dyes. You may want to dress him up a few days earlier to get him used to the idea rather than wait for Halloween when all the excitment is at its highest. If your pet is uncomfortable in any way, get a quick picture, then let him “Trick or Treat” in his “birthday suit”.
When your child returns with their treats, be sure to put the goodies far out of reach of your pet. Not only is chocolate toxic to dogs, but they can also consume the wrappers and sticks. Also, watch your treat bowl. An unguarded treat bowl brimming with goodies is tempting to your dog. Nothing ruins a Halloween festivity than a trip to the animal emergency hospital with a sick pet.
Halloween can be fun for you and your pet with a little safety planning and protecting him from escape, injury or accidental poisoning.
Dogs and Car Travel
Unless you are lucky enough to live out in the countryside with lots of private grounds you will have to travel to get your dog to a space open enough to give it a good run. If there is a dog friendly park nearby within walking distance you need only pop on a lead but for some dog owners living in a city or busy town centre the only option is to travel by car.
It is important your dog feels comfortable and safe for necessary car journeys of any length. This is a list of car accessories for dogs
Dog Safety
Dog car crates or cages specially adapted for cars not only makes your car journey safer for you but also for your dog, it also helps the dog feel more secure. Imagine how frightening it might be to your dog looking out the windows of a moving car!
It could be there is no room for a travel cage or that maybe your dog is taken out in more than one car, in which case a dog harness with seat belt adaptor is a good alternative. This is a highly recommended multi purpose accessory for your dog!
Word of warning: For those who think these are extreme, imagine what would happen if you were to have a car accident. If unsecured, your frightened dog could easily jump out of a car and run right onto a busy road.
Dog Comfort
A car boot isn’t designed to be comfortable so if your pet has to travel in the car a dog bed is much nicer to sleep on.
It is also a good idea to keep a dog blanket in your car especially if you are planning a long journey in the colder months. (Keep a blanket for yourself too in case of break downs!)
Food and Water
Your dog will get hungry and thirsty during a long car journey and will certainly need to quench his or her thirst after a long run. It is essental to keep water handy and for the bowl, consider disposable or re-usable material travel bowls that fold up neatly instead of the standard bowls that are bulky and take up more space.
Tip: Your car engine might need water too! Keep a supply of water in your car for both dog and car engine especially during the hotter months. Large plastic milk or juice bottles are ideal for this. If you are out in the country you can re-fill at a fresh water river or stream.
Shade from the sun
Drivers and human passengers have visors to protect them from the glare of the sun so don’t forget your dog and fit a car window shade where appropriate.
Handy hint: Families with small children may already have car window shades which as perfect for pets too!
Dog Ramps
A dog car ramp can be a godsend! You can lift smaller dogs into the car but what if you have had a particularly muddy run or if you have an older heavier dog that can’t jump up? You can choose from a number of dog car ramps that will fold away neatly when not in use.
Pet First Aid
As exciting as running in the countryside can be for your dog, there can also hazards including barbed wire, broken glass and sharp sticks. If your dog is unfortunate to obtain a nasty cut when you are out in the middle of nowhere, first aid can be vital. Pet travel first aid kits usually come with bandages, gauzes and sterile wipes and are small enough for your glove compartment.
Swellpets.co.uk has many more great products for dogs. Give it a whirl.co.uk
Ionic Air Purifiers – User Safety Is Top Priority
User safety must be top priority in the selection of an ionic air purifier for use in the home, office, factory or school.
Existing ionic air purifier technology, regardless of whether they originate in North America, Europe, Japan or China produce a primary beneficial reactive agent. These reactive agents may be negative ions, bipolar ions, plasmacluster ions and so on. Their prime objective is to eliminate contaminants in the air we breathe. There is much research on the efficacy of these reactive agents in destroying contaminants. What we do not know is whether these same potent reactive agents also cause harm to fragile human tissues such as those that line our breathing passages from the trachea to the lungs.
Whether by design or otherwise, there is also an information void about whether there are other by-products and if these are harmful to fragile human tissues as well. However, in the industry, it is known that current ionic air purifier technology results in the inadvertent production of by-products. In sufficient concentrations, these may prove harmful to human tissue. One of the main by-products is the infamous ozone, which in high concentrations has been tested to be harmful to human tissues.
In the light of the above, the issue of safety for the user of an ionic air purifier has to be addressed from these two perspectives:
(1) Potential harm from the beneficial reactive agents, and
(2) Potential harm from the unintended by-products.
Our intensive though by no means exhaustive research on these two perspectives have been condensed into two detailed write-ups that are featured on Ezinearticles.com.
Don’t miss these 2 in-depth Ezine articles. To read, click on the Ezine Author Badge on The Ionic Air Purifier Blog.
Ezinearticles.com, within their terms and conditions, allows publishers to freely reproduce these two articles. So help yourself, publish the two articles on your websites as a complete set, via these links:
(1) Beneficial reactive agents
In addition, keep updated with our progress as we research other aspects of the very broad and exciting field of ionic air purifier technologies.