Simply having a backyard does not always impress your pet, even if it’s a big backyard! It’s quality rather than quantity when it comes to creating a space that your pet can enjoy their time. Here are some tips on how to turn your backyard into a pet’s paradise, thanks to Chloe Smith….
How to Turn Your Backyard Into a Pet Paradise
Those of us lucky enough to own a house with a backyard often use this as an opportunity to bring in a couple of pets into the family. While keeping a pet in an apartment has its charms, nothing quite beats having an animal companion dwelling comfortably in your backyard. After all, animals are people too, in that they require adequate living arrangements in order to lead a happy and healthy life. This is not to say that any yard will simply do as a home for your creature companion. Far too often, people assume that simply releasing an animal into your backyard is enough to guarantee its comfort and well-being. If your yard isn’t modified to suit the needs of your pet, you will quickly end up with overturned flower beds, holes dug under the fence, scratches and bite marks on the walls, a whole lot of manure everywhere, and one unhappy animal.
Luckily, it doesn’t take much effort to turn your backyard into a space where an animal would love to live. The biggest difficulty is having a yard in the first place, and the rest is just having good ideas, proper planning, and the willingness to treat your animal companion well. However, if you are still stuck not knowing how to get the most out of your backyard in terms of pet-friendliness, take a peek at our short guide.
Shade and Shelter
The first thing you need to consider when renovating your backyard for its new inhabitants is protection from the elements. Common household pets are not suited for living in an open field and require some form of shelter. During summertime months, shade is mandatory for preventing your companions from overheating. If you live in an area with plenty of rainfall, having a waterproof corner somewhere in the yard will ensure your pets will stay dry and healthy. Even if you have a pet that is well suited for winter climate, you should still provide some for enclosed space in cases of harsh weather.
Safety tips for your pet paradise
Photo by Max Boettinger on Unsplash
Equally important to having your pet protected from environmental conditions, are general safety measures. Animals like to explore their environment just as much as people do, but they can also get hurt doing it, or cause damage to the surroundings. The first step is to do a thorough rubbish removal job. Unused building materials, rusty equipment, and other assorted junk should be cleared from the premises, either by being thrown out or getting moved to a storage space. Next comes the implementation of various safety measures for protecting your pet, your yard, and your neighborhood. Your yard should be surrounded by fences to prevent your pet from wandering, and the same goes for your backyard elements such as flower beds.
Hygiene in your backyard pet paradise
Animals get sick as much as people do, and there are some ailments which can get transferred between the two. Therefore, upholding proper preventive measures is mandatory for any healthy household that includes animals. The prime culprit when it comes to threatening hygiene is manure and other animal waste-products. These can contain bacteria, parasites, and other potential health hazards, so it is extremely important that it gets disposed of in a safe manner. Training your pet to perform physiological functions in a specially designated part of the yard is the first step for maintaining hygiene. It makes cleaning easier, and enables your pet to develop a useful habit. Furthermore, having access to clean running water somewhere in the yard is essential for keeping your pets as clean.
Play Areas
Photo by Alvan Nee on Unsplash
Now that we have covered the bare necessities for housing an animal in your backyard pet paradise, we can move on to more general quality-of-life improvements which you can introduce. Animals are curious creatures and they love to play around their environment, so why not provide some means of entertainment? Setting up an obstacle course will engage your pet for hours, and it is a great way to keep them in shape as well. Providing hiding spots will allow pets to have their alone time. Having various kinds of toys around can be very stimulating for animals, especially younger ones. They allow them to exercise their wits in addition to their bodies, and you can easily play along.
Conclusion
For some people, creating a pet-friendly backyard can seem like a daunting task. In many ways, it is like setting up a new apartment, and we all know how stressful that can get. Fortunately, animals are not burdened with by an endless desire for new things, so once you set up their living space properly, you will only need to concern yourself with periodic maintenance. The upside is of course that your pets will get to lead a comfortable life, which is both rewarding in itself and helps to enrich our own lives as well.
About the author
Chloe Smith is a business consultant for a rubbish removal company from Sydney, a cycling enthusiast and a part-time writer always willing to share tidbits of advice. She believes that passion, courage and, above all, knowledge breed success. When she’s not working, she’s probably somewhere cuddled up with a good book, and a cup of lemongrass tea (or more honestly binge-watching the newest Netflix hit show).
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