Are you thinking about introducing a pet into your family? If so, then you do need to be prepared for the challenges that it will bring. A pet provides many advantages. For instance, it can be great for teaching a child responsibilities. But you do need to be prepared for the potential mess. Some pets will make it more difficult to keep your home in good order. So, let’s explore some of the steps that you can take to tackle the issue head on and ensure that they don’t lead to headaches in your life.
Picking The Right Pet
First, you should think carefully about choosing the right pet for you. There are numerous pets to explore and some aren’t as messy as others. Arguably, the pet that will cause the least mess is going to be a fish or multiple fish that you can store in a tank. However, a low level of mess doesn’t mean that you’re not going to have any issues with this type of pet. They will require quite a lot of maintenance and depending on the fish, you could require an expensive initial set up as well.
Another pet that can cause lower levels of mess is going to be a hamster or gerbil. An option like this will mean that you don’t have to worry about a pet causing a lot of mess because they are only little. Much of the mess will be confined to their cage which is always going to be quite useful.
Pets that cause the most mess include cats and dogs. Dogs can be quite destructive and cause damage to your property. But we are going to explore steps that you can take to help avoid issues here.
Dealing With Odors
Next, you need to think about the odors that a pet will bring into your home and how to deal with them the right way. You might think that a pet is only going to smell if they are unclean. Cleaning your pet regularly can help with smells, however, you do need to make sure that you are thinking about the specific breed or animal that you have. For instance, some breeds of dog do not need to be cleaned as regularly because they have a naturally oily coat that needs to be kept in the right condition. Other breeds will benefit from regular baths because they have a thicker undercoat. By understanding your pet, you can make sure that you do run into issues with keeping them in the right condition.
Some animals do have a natural smell that can be rather unpleasant around your home or even in your car. For instance, the wet dog smell can be a particular pain on rainy days. To handle this, you should think about investing in some air fresheners for your home. Customized air fresheners can also help guarantee that your home continues to smell beautiful and fresh, covering up the scent of your animal.
Flooring Choices
You might also want to consider exploring different flooring options for your home. The right flooring option will make it easier to keep your home clean, neat and tidy. For instance, you might want to consider laminate flooring for your property. The big benefit of laminate flooring is that you can clean it and remove stains or issues in a matter of minutes. Laminate flooring will also fit into virtually any budget that you might be working with and is easily one of the cheapest flooring solutions.
This is also a great choice if you do want to avoid the odors in your home. Flooring like carpet will trap the odors that exist in your property. In contrast, if you opt for laminate flooring, then they will disappear when you give the floor a surface clean. This is going to save you from a lot of headaches. Don’t forget, some animals are more likely to leave stains on your floor. It’s almost impossible to avoid at least a few stains when you are toilet training either a young pup or kitten. The good news is that this is all part of the experience of bringing a pet into your home.
Hair Trouble
Next, you should think about hair trouble that you can encounter when you bring a pet into your home. Some pets, particularly dogs, shed far more than others. If you want to ensure that you don’t end up cleaning up mountains of hair every weekend, then we recommend that you do research which pets don’t shed as much as others.
There are other ways to deal with shedding too. For instance, you can plan for regular trips to the groomers. Or, you might want to think about ensuring that you are brushing your pet down. Special brushes that you can wear are available which are sure to make this process a total breeze.
Keeping Your Pup Entertained
If you are seeing certain levels of disruption around your property, then there’s a strong possibility that the reason is that an animal like a dog is bored. If a dog is bored, then they are always going to become more destructive overtime. They could end up tearing pieces out of your furniture or destroying the carpets in your home. This is another reason why you might be better off switching to an option like laminate flooring instead here.
If you want to make sure that you can keep your animal entertained, then you should consider buying them plenty of toys. You might be leaving your pet alone throughout the day. This is understandable if you have a busy schedule. There are tech options these days that can help keep your animal entertained even if you are away from the home. These range from allowing you to interact directly with your pet and engaging with them to throwing a ball or a treat out for them on an automated timer. Do be aware that this is still not a great substitute for actual time with your pet.
Training Solutions
Finally, if you are worried that your pet is destroying your home, then you might want to consider providing them with more training. It’s often assumed that if you bring an older animal into your home, it’s always going to be impossible to train them up and provide them with the right support. But this isn’t the case and, despite the age old saying, you can teach an older animal new tricks. You just need to make sure that you are approaching this challenge from the right angle. It will take a considerable amount of patience. If you have a younger animal, then they are going to be easier to train even in the short term.
Don’t forget, there are specialist classes available that can help with training your animal. This means that you won’t need to complete the work yourself and will gain the right results.
We hope this helps you understand some of the key points that you should consider to ensure that your home and the rest of your life does remain in good order when you bring a pet into your home. Remember, this should always start with choosing the right animal. Some animals are always going to create more issues with mess compared to others and you should be prepared for this. If you’re not ready for the mess that an animal like a dog is going to bring, then you should probably think twice about introducing one into your family.
What do you think?