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As summer fast approaches, many homeowners are looking for home improvement projects to take on to take advantage of the warmer weather. However, such projects don’t have to only benefit the human occupants of a home. Your beloved pets can also get a lot of benefit out of such projects as well. In fact, there are a number of great home improvement projects specifically designed for pet owners. Below are just a few home improvement ideas a family with a pet can take advantage of.
Create a Dog Friendly Lawn
In many areas of the country, growing a healthy amount of grass is not possible. You may also have soil that is prone to creating mud. With dogs and cats that spend part of their day outdoors, this can turn into a disaster when your pets track mud and dirt throughout your home. One solution is to transform part or all of your yard into a clean pet-friendly lawn through the use of pet turf. This safe non-toxic turf simulates the appearance of real grass. It is strong enough for your dogs and cats to play on and is designed in a way to allow for the safe drainage of both rainwater and animal urine. Better yet, your pets will never track mud and dirt into the house again.
Install a Doggy Shower
One of the responsibilities of owning a dog or cat is making sure they have a bath once in a while to keep their furry coats nice and clean. While this often involves dragging your pet outside towards the garden hose, you can make the process a lot easier and less stressful by installing a doggy shower inside your home. You won’t have to actually install a whole new shower either. Instead, install a second detachable shower head in an existing shower closer to ground level. That way, you’ll be able to soap-up your cat or dog and easily wash the pet off in a matter of minutes.
Make Your Floors More Pet Friendly
One part of a pet owner’s home that will likely see a lot of wear and tear is the flooring in different rooms. It’s not only pet messes and accidents that leave stains and smells that you have to worry about. Dogs and cats walk around on claws, and those claws can leave deep scratches. Over time, these scratch marks can absolutely ruin the appearance of many kinds of flooring. If you own dogs or cats, consider installing more pet friendly floors as a home improvement project. According to the American Kennel Club, some pet friendly options include poured concrete, luxury vinyl, tile and artificial wood laminate flooring.
Install a Fence
Another home improvement project that can benefit your pet is the installation of a new fence around your property. Adding a fence will give you the ability to confidently let your pet enjoy more of the outdoors without worrying about it running away. While “invisible fences” for pets are available, these involve the use of painful shock collars. A physical fence, however, will cause your pet no pain. The fence can also serve other useful purposes for your family. For one, it can more clearly mark your property lines. It can also add an extra layer of security for your family. This is especially the case if you have small children that play outdoors.
Install Pet Doors
Dogs and cats like to spend time both indoors and out. Along with a fence, you should also consider adding pet doors to one or more of the doors to your home. Doing so will allow them to enter and leave of their own volition. However, be careful about the pet doors you do install on something like a back porch door. If the square that is cut out is too large, it could actually be an entrance point for criminals into your home. Installing a pet door without the appropriate fencing around your home is also a risk. Pests like raccoons are indeed smart enough to use such doors. There are plenty of videos on YouTube that attest to this fact.
Conclusion
These are just some of the exciting pet-focused remodeling projects you can take on. If you want to make the lives of your pets more enjoyable, putting in some hard work to improve your home can pay off big. Many of the same projects can also benefit your human family members as well.
