A pet gate is more than just a barrier

Your family pet is exactly that, a member of your family. Your pet misses you when you’re away, just as much as you miss it while you’re away. It’s also 100 percent guaranteed that her smiley face will greet you every night when you come home.

Their presence in your home provides many moments of fun, laughter, and love. There is never any doubt that your pet is an important part of your daily life. However, as with any child, it is our responsibility to keep our pets safe.

As safe as we think our homes are, there are actually quite a few hidden dangers your pet can get into, especially when you’re not around.

Although cabinets may seem safe, pets are smart, and when their curiosity gets the best of them, or when a smell attracts them, they’ll go to great lengths to try and open those cabinets to see what’s inside. We all know that in many cases, our cabinets are used to store medicines, chemicals, garbage, and many other items that are dangerous if eaten by our pets.

Even something as simple as a toilet bowl can be dangerous for a pet. If given access, pets will often drink from the toilet bowl. If you are using any type of automatic toilet bowl cleaners, these could be poisonous to your pet.

So how can you keep your pet safe while you’re gone? Well, it may be easier than you think. Proper use of a pet gate or baby gate can create a safe place for your pet while you’re away. Instead of protecting pets from your entire home, you can focus on a specific area that is protected by a pet door or doors.

However, all doors are not created equal.. Just look on YouTube and you can find videos of dogs that have successfully outgrown a pet gate. In some cases, they just figured out how to operate the latch. In other cases, they forced their way through the flimsy bars on the doors.

When shopping for a pet gate, make sure you’re buying quality. A poor quality pet door can be just as dangerous as not having a door at all. There are documented cases of pets getting hurt by getting caught in doors, or worse, there was a case of a pup getting hung up in the V-gap at the top of an accordion door.

Qualities to look for in a pet door:

• solid steel or aluminum construction
• wooden doors must be sturdy (avoid wobbly doors or thin slats)
• make sure vertical bars are no more than 2.5 inches apart
• door latch should be a minimum of a two-step operation (several door companies have proprietary designs that are simple for an adult to operate with one hand, but virtually impossible for an animal or small child to figure out)
• The door should have a swing gate so that it is not a constant nuisance for adults to pass through.
• Try to find doors that do not have plastic parts (which can break easily)

Most quality doors will cost between $80 and $150, depending on the options included. If you’re spending less, well all I can say is you’re getting what you pay for.

Most pet owners will isolate their pet in the kitchen or basement when they are not home. In either case, do everything possible to protect that area from pets and use a quality pet gate to ensure your pet’s safety.

A pet gate is more than a barrier, it’s a means to protect the ones we love. Let’s not be stingy when a loved one is at stake.