Cat ladies, dog lovers and bird … people all have a few things in common, they all love their animals and they all need a place to put them. If you are on this blog you can probably assume there is one place that may just be perfect for those animals, and it has to do with your garage door. If you guessed that far then you will probably have come to your own conclusion that your garage might just be a great place for your pets to call home for a number of different reasons. Now some of us will like our dog to sleep at the end of the bed or our bird to live in our room, but for others you want them to have a bit of their own space. The garage makes a perfect spot for this for a number of reasons that we will go through, and the great part about it is that you can actually still use your garage as a place to store your cars if you only have one or two pets that don’t need all of your garage’s space. If you don’t believe it yet just take a look at the great reasons we’ve thought of already. Of course these are all situational and you should know that keeping your pets in your garage all the time or during extreme temperatures can be very dangerous for their health, so make sure to be careful if you choose to set your pets up in the garage to make sure you do so safely.
The first reason to have you pets live in your garage is for training purposes. If you have just gotten a dog or cat you will most likely need to train them. Training means loud noises and accidents for most pets and so the garage is the perfect place for these things to happen. Your garage is most likely relatively insulated from the rest of your home and your garage door can also help keep out distracting noises and keep in noise from barking, commands, etc. The garage floor is also usually made from some sort of concrete which means that clean ups will be much easier than in the rest of your house. While your new pet is still learning to follow certain rules and communicate with you effectively it may have its fair share of missteps which makes the garage perfect for those first formative days, weeks or months. Training your dog or cat to also sleep in the same spot, like in a kennel or bed, outside of your room may be hard for them at first and quite loud. This makes the garage the perfect spot for them because you hopefully won’t be able to hear any howling or crying from your bedroom during the night.
Another reason that your garage might just be the perfect spot to keep your pets is because of the temperature. As was mentioned earlier keeping your pets in the right type of cooled or heated environment is very important to their safety. The garage and a garage door allow you to cope with a lot of different temperatures all while allowing your pet to remain outside, where they probably already want to be. Opening up your garage door allows them to roam free and get a nice breeze if the weather allows for it while still providing some shade, and you also have the option of closing the garage door for those more extreme temperatures. During the colder months you will be thankful that your garage door is well insulated and so keeps your pets at a safe temperature even in the evenings. This however is where you need to use common sense, fur and feathers may keep your pets warmer than you would be without clothing, but it still does not mean they are invincible. Make sure that your garage is a livable temperature year round or bring your pet inside for the hottest days of the summer and the coldest days of the winter if need be.
One last reason that your garage might just make the perfect home for your pet is because of smells. Your pets smell, and while we can groom them and make sure that they don’t smell too bad making sure that your home doesn’t absorb too much of their scent can seem like a full time job. The garage gives you a place to put their litter box or cage (the two smelliest things pet related) and keep them away from he rest of your home. Garages are somewhat separate from the rest of your home so this means that smells from your pets and their equipment can be more or less contained by your garage. This means you can spend less time cleaning out their letterbox or cage and more time enjoying your pet instead of being embarrassed by their odor overtime that somebody visits your home. Your garage may not end up being the best smelling place in your house, but other than storing your cars there you won’t really need to be in the room too often anyway. On top of that you will also be able to easily air out the room during the more temperate months, this makes the smell much easier to deal with than if it were to be in another part of your home. Additionally in the colder months you won’t be able to smell things as much anyway so the need to air it out will lessen.
If you are convinced that your garage might make a great bedroom or hangout room for your pet then get to doing a bit of researching to make sure your region is safe temperature wise and move them in! Also make sure to remove anything that could be harmful for your pets to get into that may be stored in your garage. Things like paint, fertilizer, etc can be harmful for your pet and as they will often be left alone in your garage it is best to keep these things elsewhere if you keep a pet in your garage. Also it is important to make sure that you and your pet know how poorly they mix with your car. Pulling in and out of your garage can be tough so be careful that you know where your pets are at all times when using your car.