Weather emergency preparedness
Before any potential emergency weather, related or not, it is a good idea to…
Have good updated photos of your pets face and body, showing distinguishable markings incase your pet gets lost you can share clear, identifying photos of your dog. You don’t need to update often for adult dogs, but keep your puppies photos as current as possible as they change as they grow.
Make sure if your pet is chipped the information is up to date.
Make sure id tags have current phone numbers as well.
Have your pets emergency kit pre-packed and ready!
What should you have in your dogs emergency bag?
Pets food, water and extra medication. Try and have at least a weeks worth.
Pet first aid kit with dog appropriate meds, vet wrap, quick stop…
Vaccine records are good to have on hand and easy to pack a piece of paper.
Bright colored collar or harness with leash and identifying tags, phone number. Having this already in your kit will eliminate the chance of you having to try and find it in an emergency
Have a muzzle. If your dog is scared enough or injured they may try to protect themselves from you or others trying to help. A basket muzzle is good if your dog needs to wear one for a longer period for safety measure, a mesh muzzle is good if only needed in emergency short term.
Consider having boots for your dog incase there is bad enough weather that could produce broken glass…
Be prepared…
If we know bad weather is coming, make sure you are ready before you need to be.
Set up a crate in your shelter area if space allows.
Put your dogs bright colored collar or harness with leash on. It is much easier to get control of a scared animal when there is a leash already attached!
Its a good idea to do practice runs as well. Make sure you can get your pet to safety and in the crate in a timely manner.
If seeking shelter is required…
Put your pet in their crate, even the most well behaved pet can act totally different when scared, safety first. You don’t want to be chasing your pet around trying to catch them if they are scared.
Have their leash on, even if crated, so you can quickly get control of them if you need to move.
If your dog has the tendancy to be reactive, snarky or potential to become so if stressed, have your muzzle ready and spend time conditioning them to it prior to ever needing it.