Category: Helpful Hints

If you haven’t tried it already, now is a great time to introduce crate familiarisation into your pet’s routine. Getting your pet used to spending time in a crate is highly beneficial for a variety of reasons, including helping you to transport your pet when moving house or going on trips, encouraging ‘down time’ for anxious pets, teaching your pet positive training techniques and creating a safe and secure environment for your pet when they are left alone for a period of time.

As a crate is a small, well-defined space, your pet will naturally feel at ease and with the right training and support he or she can learn to associate the crate with positive experiences making moves or trips much easier for you and your animal. (If you don’t already have a crate at home, feel free to contact us to purchase one!)

If you are ready to get started familiarising your pet with a crate, there are a few important factors to consider. 

Choosing the right crate:

When choosing a crate for your pet, it’s important to select one that is the right size for your animal, so they can be as comfortable and relaxed as possible. As a general rule, choose a crate that is big enough so that your animal can stand up, turn around and lay flat on their side but not so big that they can walk around. If you are travelling or re-locating homes for a long distance, ensure your crate has space for food and water bowls when required.

Watch our helpful video on selecting the correct sized crate below.

Introducing the crate:

When introducing your animal to the crate it’s crucial to always remember to associate it with positive experiences, so placing treats and/or toys in the crate is a must. If your pet is fearful to begin with, place a trail of treats, starting at the door opening, a little further in and continuing all the way to the back. Remember to always be patient and encouraging!

Once you’ve started to introduce your pet to the crate, you can increase their time in there so they gradually get used to spending time within the confined space. Meals can be fed in the crate or even better, line the crate with their favourite familiar smelling blanket so they are comforted and remain at ease.

Watch our video on familiarising your pet with their travel crate below

Moving homes:

Whether you are travelling or moving interstate, overseas or a few suburbs away, using a crate is not only an extremely beneficial way to transport your pet to the new desired location, but can also make the transition to a new environment as relaxed as possible for your pets. By choosing the right sized crate for your pet and beginning the introduction to the crate well in advance, you can make the transition to a new home simple and straightforward, for both you and your pet!

For overseas travel, Jetpets can deliver the crate to your home prior to travel so that your pet can benefit from pet travel crate familiarisation.

Still not convinced to try crate familiarisation? Here’s a recap of some of the great benefits:

• Creates a secure and safe environment for your furry friend
• Can be used for training purposes
• Makes travel to new homes, holidays, outdoor trips or vet visits easy

Choosing the perfect name for your newly adopted pet is one of the many exciting aspects of welcoming a new animal into your life.

From names like Charlie to Cooper, Luna to Simba, picking the right name for your pet is an important decision as you want to choose one that best reflects your animal’s personality for years to come.

Over the past few years there has been a increase in the variety of popular pet names. There are human names, names that reflect your pet’s colour, personality or nature along with names of pop icons or movie characters. The options really are endless for what you can call your pet!

Need some inspiration on what to call your newly adopted furry friend? Here at Jetpets we’ve rounded up the top 10 pet names for dogs and cats so you can get some ideas for your new companion now!

The top 10 dog names are:

Male:

1. Max
2. Charlie
3. Buddy
4. Cooper
5. Jack
6. Rocky
7. Toby
8. Duke
9. Bear
10. Tucker

Female:

1. Bella
2. Lucy
3. Daisy
4. Molly
5. Lola
6. Sadie
7. Maggie
8. Sophie
9. Chloe
10. Bailey

The top 10 cat names are:

Male:

1. Oliver
2. Charlie
3. Max
4. Leo
5. Milo
6. Simba
7. Smokey
8. Jack
9. Tiger
10. Kitty

Female: 

1. Luna
2. Bella
3. Lucy
4. Kitty
5. Chloe
6. Callie
7. Nala
8. Lily
9. Gracie
10. Daisy

Have you recently adopted a new pet or have a pet with an original name? Share what they are called with us on Facebook.

Did you know…

The experience your pet has while flying is actually very similar to the one we have as humans (except in a travel crate our pets actually have much more leg room than us!). The air temperature is controlled and pressurised, and the lights are dimly light, making for a relaxing travel journey…

Have you often wondered what goes on behind the scenes at the airport?

Our animal ambassador Sahara is here to show you in the video below.

Summer is well on its way, and while we are excited for warmer weather, the holiday season, lazy days by the beach and more, it’s important to remember to keep our pets cool, especially in hot temperatures.

Not sure what you need to do?

Here are a few great tips and tricks to help you keep your pets cool, hydrated and healthy during the warmer weather.

DIY ice treats:

If you’re after a fun way to keep your animals cool and hydrated, ice treats are a great idea to motivate your animal to drink water and stay cool in hot weather.

They are easy to make. Simply;

1. Place your pet’s favourite treats in an ice-cream container.
2. Fill with water. You may even like to add a little gravy powder for additional flavour.
3. Freeze.
4. Once frozen, tip the ice treat out of the container for your dog to enjoy the whole day long!

Kiddie pools:

If you have larger dogs, clam shell kiddie pools are an easy way to keep them cool when it’s hot outside. These pools are fun for your dogs to splash around, keep cool and drink plenty of water at the same time.

Just remember that if your pets share your yard with children, ensure you have all the necessary precautions in place, including fencing, in order to keep children safe around water.

Keep them indoors:

Summer is sure to bring some seriously hot days, so to ensure your pets are safe and healthy throughout these rising temperatures, it’s a great idea to keep them inside if you can, with the air-con on.

Smaller pets like rabbits, guinea pigs and birds are especially sensitive to hot weather and should be moved inside at any sign of high temperatures. Make sure you drape their cages in wet towels and place them in a bathroom or laundry that has cool tiles. Always keep ice packs or frozen water bottles on hand for animals to lean against and to regulate their temperature. Of course plenty of water is a must as well!

Wet their feet: 

Another great thing to do on those scorching hot days is to wet your pet’s feet and spray a light misting of water on them. This will dampen them so that their body temperature becomes cooler. Feet are a great body part to focus on cooling as many animals control their temperature through their feet.

Exercise your pets in the morning or late evening:

Just like humans, your animals are susceptible to sunburn, dehydration and overheating. Make sure you walk your pets in the early morning or late evening when the temperature is at its coolest point. A good idea is to take your pets to your local beach, creek or river so they can paddle to cool down and get refreshed!

One of our favourite ways to motivate ourselves to exercise is to take our pets with us, but sometimes even that can get a little dull when walking the same path, or running around the same oval, day after day!

 This year, make a resolution to mix up your exercise routine with your animals so you both can have some fun bonding and reaping the health benefits of physical exercise.

Here are some great ideas:

Try somewhere new:

Perhaps one of the most simplest and easiest ways to have fun when you exercise with your pets is to try a new location. This could be taking your dogs to the beach, on a hike, or to a new park you’ve been dying to find the time to go to.

Let your dog guide you:

Instead of leading your animal, let your dog do all the steering and see where you end up. If you are in a secure location and your dog is highly responsive when called, let them off the leash and see where they wander. Otherwise, just hold the leash a little looser and let them wander at their free will. You may be surprised where you go!

Go running:

Most dogs love to run, so why not get fit and have them join in too. It doesn’t matter where you go, or if you choose a long distance run or some fast sprints across the oval. They will love to chase you and will push you to run harder and faster! If you do choose sprinting, make sure your pet follows you by giving them a treat and showing them the second treat to encourage them to chase you. We guarantee they will follow you!

Play a game:

We all know dogs love to chase the ball at the park, so why not chase it with them? Throw the ball at a large distance and try and sprint to beat them to the ball. Do that 10 times and you’ve added a great high intensity workout into your routine for both you and your pet.

Climb stairs:

This killer exercise is so great! Stair climbing gets your heart beating while working your legs and glutes. This exercise is also great for high-energy dog breeds who don’t get satisfied at the park. Why not choose stairs near a beach so you can work out, and then both of you can cool down in the ocean afterwards?

Go swimming:

As the hot weather is well and truly here, going swimming will exercise you and your pet and cool you down as well. You can play fetch in the water, or bring along a friend and play piggy in the middle with your dog who will love to chase the ball!

What kind of exercise do you do with your pets? Share your favourite activity with us on Facebook!