Category: Safety

Well, it is only a few days now until I shall be bringing Hodi home with me. I’ve been thinking about how to do this safely for both him and me.

It is a legal requirement in the UK that dogs be secured in a vehicle so that they are not able to jump or otherwise move around and interfere with the driver, but beyond this I want him to be safe while I am driving and not at risk of being hurt.

He is only a small, although growing puppy, at the moment so I needed something which would work for his current size and will look for a long-term solution as he grows larger.

I didn’t want to shut him away in the boot of the car as I’ll have just separated him from his dam (female parent) and siblings, so don’t think it appropriate to shut him away for an hour by himself. Having decided this, I took at a look at the options for transporting a small dog; cheapest option would be to use a cardboard box (with the top cutaway and a blanket for padding, but thought this might not be the best option.

I did a little exploring and found a number of “transport boxes” on Amazon, most of which are intended for cats, but should work just as well for a small puppy.

Continue reading “Bringing Hodi Home Safely”

I’ve been thinking forward to when the puppy is old enough to take for walks.

I live in rural Northumberland so much of our walks in the morning and late afternoon/evening will be along unlit roads. When I walk by myself, I either wear a jacket with fluorescent stripes or a vest over my coat with the same; I also use a head lamp and sometimes ankle straps with lights to make sure that I can be seen.

As Hodi is a, mainly, black dog he is going to be impossible for drivers to see when we’re out walking in bad light.

To that end I’ve been looking into what I can do to make him more visible; you can get jackets with fluorescent stripes on them, but I also found some collars with LEDs:

Continue reading “Walking a Dog Safely in the Dark”