Keep Your Dogs Safe!!!!

Cristina Kennedy
3 min readSep 11, 2020

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Meet Jumbo (the big dog) and Lima (the little puppy)

Usually I would write something related to my blog post which is immigration in France. Although, I believe this is still a very important topic, I wanted to write about something that has been worrying me lately. As I lay here in bed with my dogs thinking about the craziness in the world I decided to change things up this one time and write about dogs. My beagle and basset hound are probably my most valuable possession, and though they annoy me from time to time and make me go insane with their hyperness, I still care deeply for them.

These fires had me thinking of the wildlife that lives in the mountains, and how their homes are being ravaged by the fires. They do not have the option to just stay inside in a comfy house or apartment. They are forced to breathe in the smoke. A lot of animals will die as a result of the fires, which is horrible and sad to think of. This brings me to the point of this blog: keep your dogs fucking safe people! These fires affect our dogs too!

When I would go on my nightly walks with my dogs I would see people who’d leave their dogs out all day and all night. I noticed that some people around my neighborhood have dogs just to have them and not to take care of them or love them the way they deserved to be loved. Now, I understand that some people are not okay with having their dogs inside the house and much more letting them sleep on their bed (I love when my dogs sleep with me in my bed!). However, during these times when ash is falling onto our cars and our skies are grey and orange it is important to keep your dogs safe.

Truth of the matter, dogs live heavily through their nose. They smell things all the time and when there’s fires guess what. They smell that too. They breathe in those toxins that are in the air. I understand that dogs need their exercise, and have to go use the restroom a few times per day which is okay. However, be mindful and be careful when dogs breathe in toxins it can be hurtful for them especially if you are close to a fire. This is why it is important to not keep your dogs out all day and night!

Here are three simple solutions that will allow you to keep your dog safe and not have to breathe in all those toxins:

  1. If your dogs are crazy like mine and feel the need to be running around all the time, play with them, engage them! They’ll get tired.
  2. If you have to walk your dog, keep it short because the more active they are outdoors the more oxygen they’ll need and the more toxins they’ll breathe
  3. Turn on the AC and shut the windows. It’s hot anyway and it’ll keep your dog feeling fresh.

Now, I know these solutions may not be easy for everyone to follow because we all live in different circumstances. However, all I ask is be mindful of your dog when they go outside. If you do not want to breath nasty toxins that can mess with your health, neither would they.

The “demons” during a nap on my bed of course.

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