Julia9102

I adopted a dog 3 years ago and before you knew it, I adopted a second one because "the first one was probably lonely during the day". 

Just from that, you would know I am crazy about my pets and I have did a lot of reading to try to make the house more comfortable to them, all the more when I am away all day.

Where I live, it gets really cold in Winter and can get quite hot in Summer so the first thing I did was making sure had thick beds where we had cold floors like the tiles in the bathroom and kitchen and thinner ones where we had carpet in the living room and bedroom. 

I bought a ton of toys meant to distract them and stimulate their curiosity while I was away, like the kong toys, sniffing mats and so on. 

One of my dogs decided to dig was his thing and after talking to a dog trainer - who was definitely on the dog side! - got to have his own allowed digging area in the garden. basically I took the grass out and replaced it with sand so he could just dig all day and I wouldn't get upset. It ended up working well, as he never dug anywhere else.  Mind you, I have a big garden so this isn't a luxury everyone could afford.

When the time for renovations I replaced some of the carpets with some vinyl planks so I wouldn't freak out whenever we would come back from a long walk. Keeping a beige carpet clean in a house where dogs like to dig and won't brush off the mud of their paws before coming in is simply a lost cause. I replace the pebbles on my driveway and entrance with exposed aggregate so it was nicer on the paws (and feet).

Shutters helped keeping the sun heat away from the main room so it was still fresh and I wouldn't have to program my aircon unit to blast cold air all day long when we were away. It also kept the heat during winter. 

When it comes to my car, because we are often going camping, I bought the latest trendy 4x4 accessories: no it's not a bull bar, it is... dog seatbelts! It still allows them to move around and enjoy the air from the window and allows me not to freak out whenever they put their head out a little bit too much for my taste!

These are only a few of the things I did for my dogs and I sure hope I was as committed to their happiness as I was to my chores or fitness schedule! We are crazy about them though and it is all worth it!