Did you know 85 million families in the United States have a pet? And the most favorite pet animal is a dog. According to a recent survey, 44 percent of all the homeowners own a dog. A total number of 89.7 million dogs live in America as household pets as of 2018. Do you also own a dog?
If you do or intend to have a dog, make sure you provide good care and love to this new family member. While it is true that dog can safeguard you and your property and family; but don’t expect him to be a ‘super dog’ or a super being. Here is why:
Limitation in Providing Defense
A survey conducted on a small group of students at a University in 2017 showed 30 percent of the people think dogs can provide good defense and he is enough to deter the criminals. But this depends on two main factors: the dog’s breed and the criminal type.
Dog’s Breed
There are special breeds of dogs that are called “Guard Dogs”. They are good for providing defense. The guard dog types include:
- German Shephard
- Great Dane
- Boxer
- Dobermann
- Bullmastiff
Criminal & Incident Type
Imagine a scenario, an armed robber attempts to enter your house from the backyard. You have a Great Dane sitting in your lounge or living room, the robber from the backyard window, before even entering the house, aims at the dog and shoots it. How would the dog be able to guard you or your family?
So, expecting that dogs can always provide home defense is not true. If the dog is able to scare away the criminal he might be able to guard your house. However, if your enemy is over-efficient, aggressive and more experienced, he would know to tackle your favorite animal.
Secondly, the incident type also matters here. If it is a home fire, a dog won’t be able to do anything. In fact, the National Fire Protection Association statistics show 40,000 US dogs suffer from home fires annually.
Another fact is acts of cruelty to pet animals are also common in the country. Violent crimes are prevalent in the country. Dog napping cases are also reported every day. Under these conditions, our families and pets both need strong safety and security measures.
Safety Measures for the Pets
- To protect your dog against home fires and other fire-related accidents at home, install and activate your smoke detector. Smoke detectors trigger the alarm in case there is a fire threat in the house. Hearing the alarm sound, you can call help or evacuate with your pet.
- Make sure your dog is not exposed to poisonous household items/materials at home. Onions, coffee, macadamia nuts, alcohol, cleaning products are some of the examples of this.
- Train your dog to socialize with others well. If you have a guard dog at home, make sure he does not bite everyone in the neighborhood.
- You are not always near your pet for his safety. Install the best home security alarm system to ensure your dog is well-protected against all types of threats including dog napping, pet abuse and home invasions.