With drowning ranked as the second leading cause of unintentional death to children nationwide, you would think more homeowners would make pool safety a priority. Sadly, three-quarters of all pool- or spa-related fatalities involve children under the age of 5 according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. In California, drowning is the number one cause of accidental death for children ages 1 to 4 years old!
Never Heard the Splash
Many families of young drowning victims report that they never heard a splash when the child fell into the pool and slipped below the water’s surface. Oftentimes one parent mistakenly thinks the other parent is watching the child and in reality, no one is supervising! In California, a babysitter went inside to use the bathroom for a few minutes and while she was gone, the two toddlers in her charge opened a sliding door and found their way to the pool. One drowned and the other suffered permanent brain damage.
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If you are looking for a way to keep your dog safe while he enjoys the freedom to explore and romp in your yard, a wireless dog fence is an affordable and effective alternative to a professionally-installed Invisible Fence® and a do-it-yourself wired electric dog fence kit.
Here’s why:
Latest Technology
Wireless dog fences are the latest innovation in pet safety. Unlike the Invisible Fence® and other wired electric dog fences that use a buried wire to create a barrier around your yard, wireless systems use a base station that transmits a radio signal which forms an invisible circular boundary. The radio signal is picked up by a receiver collar worn by the dog. When the dog gets too close to the boundary, the collar emits a warning tone. If the dog crosses the boundary, he receives a static correction.
Most pets learn how the system works after just a couple of weeks of training. Eventually, many dogs learn to back off as soon as they hear the warning tone, so static corrections are no longer needed to keep them happy and safe within the boundary.
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If you’re looking for some original gift ideas, look no further. Here’s a list of clever and useful DIY gifts that are all priced at under $100!
Gifts Under $50
Washing Machine Shutoff Hoses by FloodSafe – This is a simple, non-mechanical solution to protect against the catastrophic water damage caused by broken, brittle washing machine hoses. When the FloodSafe washing machine connector hose detects an excess flow of water, the flow of water is automatically turned off. Needs no electricity, batteries or other power source. Every washing machine owner on your list will appreciate a set of FloodSafe hoses. On sale now for $21.99.
YardGard Alarm for Gates, Windows and Doors – If you’re looking for a unique gift for parents of young children, give them a YardGard Alarm so they can monitor unsupervised children or trespassers coming and going into their yard, pool area, house or potentially dangerous areas. The alarm alert sounds an extra loud 120 dB siren. Kit includes hardware for mounting on gates, doors and windows. Special holiday sale price is only $35.99.
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Last winter, my nephew’s red-eared slider turtle “Hoppy” nearly perished when the water heater in his turtle’s vivarium broke while the family was away on vacation and the water temperature in Hoppy’s tank fell below 75°F. Turtles, like other reptiles, require a warm environment to digest their food properly. If the water and surrounding air gets too cold, the turtle will stop eating and eventually die.
At some time or another, every pet owner is forced to leave their animal home alone. It’s an inevitable situation that can lead to worries about the pet’s safety. Even if a pet sitter is hired to stop by daily, equipment can fail and power outages can occur unexpectedly, causing air or water temperatures to get too hot or too cold for the pet. For some animals, like the desert scorpion, a spike in the humidity level can also be a problem.
After Hoppy’s brush with death, the family learned of a device called a “wireless temperature and humidity sensor”
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When I first heard about a product called a “location device” that helps you find people or things, I thought of my friend Sally who is constantly losing stuff – like her cell phone, her three-year-old and her elderly, diabetic cat. (Once, she even lost her grandpa, who lives with her and suffers from dementia!) Sally is a typical suburban soccer mom with four kids who is always on the go, and her life is pretty hectic. But after that time grandpa went missing for four hours, I knew Sally needed help managing her life and this location device sounded perfect.
What is a “Location Device?”
A location device is handheld guide that helps you locate possessions, pets and people. Location devices come with small, battery-powered homing tags that you can attach to whatever you don’t want to lose – such as a pet, a child or a set of keys – and a handset that alerts and directs you to whatever you are looking for. Some location devices are designed specifically for finding lost pets and others are used for locating lost children. And there are other systems, such as the Loc8tor Plus, that are more versatile and come with multiple tags that you can use on just about anything or anyone.
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The holidays are here again and everyone is looking for unique gift ideas. Here’s a list of gift suggestions that that are original, useful and affordable – and sure to bring a smile to those special people on your shopping list.
For Grandparents and Seniors
Amplified Alarm Clock with Wireless Vibrating Pad & Telephone Signaler – Do you know someone who is hard-of-hearing or hard to wake up, or both? This extra loud alarm clock wakes deep sleepers with a loud 90dB signal and/or vibration. The Amplicom TCL 200 Digital Alarm Clock can also signal incoming phone calls. Now offered for $73.00.
Wireless Motion Detector – No one wants to be surprised by strangers at the door. With this wireless passive infrared sensor, grandma can monitor an entrance, walkway or other covered location up to 600 feet away and be warned when a person or vehicle approaches. The Dakota Alert IRWR-3000 Wireless PIR is sold as a kit for $149.99. Extra sensors can be added.
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Tootsie was a great swimmer, but she almost drowned last week in the family’s swimming pool! The six-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever loved the water and was very adept at scrambling up the pool stairs. But what the Kaye family didn’t realize was that Tootsie used the poolside umbrella table as her point of reference to find the pool stairs…and the table had been moved.
Without this landmark, Tootsie couldn’t locate the stairs. One night while the family was inside eating dinner, Tootsie went for a dip but couldn’t find her way out of the pool. Luckily, a neighbor happened by and discovered the frantic dog swimming in circles and was able to pull her out of the water before it was too late.
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Violent summer thunderstorms can strike at any time, resulting in a power failure that can last for hours. But if you are at work or traveling, how will you know if your pet is stranded at home with no air conditioning and at risk of heat stroke? Pets are equally vulnerable in the wintertime when icy storms can cause a power failure, leaving them shivering in an unheated house for hours until you get home.
There are a number of strategies concerned pet owners can use to be alerted of power failures in their home. Here are a few suggestions:
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It takes only minutes for a child to drown, which is why most towns have swimming pool safety laws requiring homeowners to enclose pools and spas with a fence at least four feet high with a self-closing gate. And because the pool gate is often the weakest link in keeping youngsters out of the pool area, many municipalities also require a pool gate alarm as another layer of protection.
A pool gate alarm sounds a siren when the door or gate is opened. If a child manages to open the gate, the piercing siren of the pool gate alarm will alert nearby adults that someone has entered the pool area. The alarm will sound continuously or intermittently until the reset button is pushed or the battery expires. Most gate alarms have a time delay of about 6-7 seconds so an adult can pass through and silence the alarm within that time period by pressing the bypass button or entering the proper code. (There are models available with a 0 second delay.)
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Many dogs love to splash in the water on a hot summer day, but since not all dogs are natural swimmers, it’s up to you to keep your dog safe when she’s by the swimming pool, beach or lake. Depending upon your dog’s breed, age or health, a dip in the pool or leap off or a dock could be either a frolicking good time or a brush with death. In fact, over 5,000 dogs drown each year in backyard pools alone! To keep your dog safe this summer when she’s near the water, here are six “layers of protection” you can try: Read the rest of this entry »
