Uninterrupted play time is essential for your dog’s physical and mental well-being. As a pet owner, it’s important for you to safeguard your dog’s play area all-year round to ensure that they get their much-needed play time at least once a day. While you can give them an area to play indoors, it’s always best to create a dedicated play area outdoors, either in the garden or backyard so that your fur baby doesn’t feel cooped up inside. If you’re a pet owner looking for seasonal weather tips to safeguard your dog’s play area, keep reading.

Seasonal Weather Tips For Safeguarding Your Dog’s Play Area

Here’s a season-by-season breakdown of tips to safeguard your dog’s play area:

Safeguarding Your Dog’s Play Area In Winter

Use A Frost Blanket For Warmth

By using a frost blanket, you can keep your dog’s play area warm and insulated. A good quality frost cloth is best for areas that receive snow falls or chilly temperatures. By using a frost protection blanket, you’ll not only protect your dog’s play area, but also ensure a healthy environment for thriving plants in your garden and backyard.

Reduce The Size Of The Play Area

If your area experiences snowfall, it can make it hard for you to find your dog in the veil of snow. To ensure their safety and avoid them from wandering off too far from home, limit the size of your dog’s play area and if needed, cover it up to add more warmth.

Pay Close Attention To Signs Of Cold

Depending on the size, fat percentage, and breed of your dog, they may be prone to getting cold faster than other dog breeds. So keep a close check on your pooch as they play outside. A good rule of thumb is to check in every 30 minutes and if you see any signs of cold or frostbite, immediately take your dog inside the house.

Safeguarding Your Dog’s Play Area In Summer

Make Hydration A Priority

Summers, especially during the peak season can cause dehydration in your pet, all the more when they’ve been playing outside for a while. To keep your dog’s hydration levels in check, keep a bowl of water near their play area so that they can hydrate anytime they want. If your dog gets too absorbed in playing, training them to drink water can be helpful.

Give Your Dog Cooling Toys To Play With

All the running around can make your dog’s body heat up faster than usual. Combine that with the hot weather and you’ve got yourself a pooch that needs to be calmed down. By using cooler toys such as ice bones, hydrofreeze balls, cooling mats, and a cooling vest, you can keep your dog entertained and safe at the same time.

Use Garden Sprinklers

Garden sprinklers can be a playful way to regulate your pooch’s body temperature. Just remember to introduce your dog to water sprinklers in a gradual manner and aim it away from their face. You can also use hose to spray them down once they get more comfortable with garden sprinklers.

Safeguarding Your Dog’s Play Area In Spring

Remove Toxic Plants Around The Play Area

Spring is a time for flowers and plants to bloom beyond perfection, however it also promotes the growth of toxic plants and flowers in your landscaping space and around your fur baby’s play area. So weed out any plants and flowers that may prove toxic to your dog, or that they might be allergic to. This will ensure that their play time is not interrupted by allergies.

Secure The Play Area To Avoid Escape

Spring is the perfect time for dogs to go outside, but it can also lure them out of the safety of their play area. If you want to avoid your dog from going outside the home, or run after a butterfly, mend the fences and ensure that the gates are locked at all times. You can and should take your dog out on walks in the beautiful weather, but letting them go out alone might not be the best idea.

Use Pesticides To Prevent Springtime Diseases

Apart from grooming your dog for cleanliness, you also need to use pesticides to get your dog ready for spring. Since spring is peak time for fleas, heartworms and other springtime pests, using a dog-friendly pesticide on your dog’s play area as well as your dog can protect them from discomfort and springtime diseases.

Safeguarding Your Dog’s Play Area In Fall

Get The Leaf Piles Out Of The Yard

Much like snow, it’s easy for your dog to play around and get lost in a pile of leaves in your backyard but this might not be a good idea. Leaves can harbour sharp objects such as fragments of glasses or even sharp branches that can injure your dog. To avoid any such accidents, clean out your yard regularly and especially your dog’s play area for longer and safer play time.

Keep The Halloween Decorations Out Of Reach

Fall is the perfect time to decorate your home and outdoors with halloween decorations but these might not be the right fit for your dog. While the big carved pumpkins, and other decorations can be ruined by your dog during their play time, candies and other sweets can be downright dangerous for them if ingested. Keep all the halloween items away from your dog’s reach so that they can play in their play area without getting distracted or hurt.

Encourage Play Time During The Day

Falls precede winters, making the days shorter and nights colder. They also carry pests and rodents with them, which can be hard to see during the night time. To safeguard your dog’s play area, encourage them to play during the day time and come indoors as the sun starts to set. This will keep them safe from the looming dangers outside while giving them plenty of time to enjoy themselves during the day.

Wrapping up

Regular play time is essential for your pooch’s health and happiness. That’s why safeguarding your dog’s play area, irrespective of the season that they want to play in, becomes your priority as a pet owner. By following the play area safeguarding tips given above, you can ensure that your dog is taken care of and enjoys their time outdoors, no matter what the weather.