Warmer weather means summer BBQ tips for cookouts, pool parties and time spent outdoors with your dog. In planning for a summer barbecue, there are safety precautions to keep in mind for your dog.
There’s almost nothing better than a summer’s light breeze and a delicious hamburger. But where does your best furry dog friend fit into a summer barbeque get-together?
With food scraps, new humans, and hot cooking surfaces, summer barbeques can present safety hazards for your dog. They may even use the time to escape and peruse the neighborhood.
Here are our top tips for keeping your dog safe during a summer barbeque.
Keeping Track of Your Dog During Summer Barbecues
One of the most important things to consider during summer barbeques is the location of your furry best friend.
Barbecues are often hosted on lawns or in backyards. On some occasions, guests are also allowed to enter through an unlocked front door or back gate.
Unfortunately, depending on how much you’ve dog-proofed your yard, this can cause doggy escapes. Some are sneaky enough to rush out when guests arrive, while others find newfound energy when people are around and try to tunnel under fences.
To combat this threat, decide as a family where your dog will be located for each part of a barbeque. Allowing them outside in a fenced yard but with a designated supervisor can be ideal for the beginning of the day.
You’ll want to make sure someone is always keeping an eye on the dog as their top priority. This also means that someone will be in charge of keeping the dog far away from hot barbecue grills and utensils.
Some find that once food servings are about to be served, it’s easier to keep their dog inside in a comfortable crate or even free-roaming the house. This allows for peace of mind when it comes to your dog escaping when your hands and mouth are full.
No Human Food for Dog Friends
I know it can be extremely tempting. But nothing quickens an upset dog’s stomach like human food! Some human foods are technically dog-safe in smaller quantities, including bread and cheese.
However, these foods are only safe in moderation and with no added spices. They also don’t provide any true nutritional value to your furry friend.
So while you can keep a few select human foods around for doggy treat time, a summer barbecue complete with guests and a little bit of chaos is not the place to feed Fido.
If your dog is going to stick around in the food-eating area of a barbecue, make sure to either feed them when your barbeque food is ready or beforehand.
You can also make some homemade dog treats like our Peanut Butter and Pumpkin dog treats. This can help stave off any temptations of your furry friend to swipe human food.
It’s important to let any guests know they shouldn’t feed any food scraps to your dog. If your guests also have dogs but are less lax about this, consider telling a white lie.
Letting them know your dog cannot eat barbecue foods because of an allergy is a simple way to avoid an unnecessary debate on pet care.
You’ll also want to avoid an emergency trip to the vet because of accidentally poisoned dog. It may seem extra strict, but human food treats should be restricted to when you can give your full attention to your furry friend.
Ensure Your Pet’s Identification is Up-to-Date
We don’t want to imagine it’s possible. However, when limited supervision is available and many guests are visiting, sometimes our dogs make grand escapes.
It’s important to have as many safety protocols in place to ensure that your dog can be identified and brought back to you if it manages to sneak away.
Some of the most effective ways to do this include:
- Having a current face-front picture of your dog for reference if lost.
- Buying and make sure your dog wears a collar with your contact information on it.
- Ensuring your dog is micro-chipped and that the microchip is registered to your current address and contact information.
We’ve covered a few more of these identification safety tips in our blog post on 13 Ways To Keep Your Pets Safe On the 4th Of July.
Double Check Plants for Dog Safety
One thing that is often forgotten is that our pets are not completely equipped to handle the outdoors.
In particular, some plans can cause allergies or stronger allergic reactions for our pets.
Some plants that cause pet's discomfort due to pollen include:
- Oak trees and birch trees
- Ragweed
- Orchardgrass
Additionally, some other plants cause allergies in different ways, including through skin contact with a pet. The safest way to ensure that your yard is pet-safe is to create a log of all the plants in your yard or garden.
Do this by surveying your area section by section until each plant that seems large enough to produce pollen or that your pet can interact with is logged.
Next, review with a veterinarian or trusted source which plants may or may not be a problem for your pet.
While removing some larger plants may be difficult, it's vital to do for the safety and health of your pet. Don’t forget that not all plants have to go!
If plants case simpler, smaller allergies, they may be safe for a trial run with your pet outside.
It’s ideal to do this trial run and know what is safe or not safe with your pet before that summer barbecue runs around and your pet receives a little less undivided attendance.
Summer Barbecue Fun and Your Dog
Ultimately, a summer barbecue is all about creating connections with friends and family. Enjoying beautiful weather and delicious food is the best way to enjoy any day!
With a few careful preparation steps and rules at the start of the barbecue, your dog can also enjoy this summer get-together.
Ready to learn more about how to live all aspects of life with your dog by your side?
Read more on our blog today, including our guide on 4 Essentials to Road Trips with Dogs that will enable you to bring your furry friend almost everywhere.
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