Dogs across the world are being impacted by dust. It causes the dog’s nose to become dry and itchy, leading them to scratch their noses excessively. Dust can also affect your dog’s respiratory tract and lungs in more severe cases. The air quality in your home is a significant factor in how well you maintain a healthy environment for your pet!
Dust, especially house dust, makes up a large percentage of the air we breathe in our home. Most homes are filled with a number of sources of dust that can cause health issues for our pets. Let’s explore 7 ways on how dust affects your dog and what we should be doing to keep them safe!
7 Ways on How can Dust Affect your Dog’s Health
1) Allergies in Dogs
Dust, especially house dust, can cause a lot of allergies. When your dog inhales dust particles, these allergens from the dust are transferred to their lungs when they exhale. There are three types of asthma in dogs: Atopic or allergic bronchitis – This occurs due to an allergy that causes inflammation in the airways of your dog.
Non-atopic Asthma – This occurs when there is no allergy that causes inflammation in the airways of your dog. It’s often linked to a defect in how the nervous system regulates breathing, causing an abnormal contraction or relaxation of the smooth muscles surrounding the bronchi (air passage).
Neuromuscular Airways Disease – Occurs due to damage in how nerves and muscles work together, resulting in constriction with difficulty to breathe, coughing, wheezing and chronic nasal discharge.
2) Causes cancer
Dust can cause not only allergies but also cancer. According to studies published by The National Cancer Institute: “Exposure to certain substances called carcinogens has been shown as a risk factor for canine malignant lymphoma”. They also state how “Carcinogens may cause cancer by damaging the DNA in cells. This damage can then become permanent and is passed along to daughter cells when the original cell divides.
3)Other Respiratory Problems in Dogs
Dust can aggravate your dog’s allergies, respiratory challenges, as well as many other health issues such as: Asthma ,Allergy, Dermatitis,Infection, Sleep Apnea, Sinusitis, Stress-related Breathing Problems.
4) Makes your Doggo harder to breath
Excessive dust makes it harder for dogs to breathe because their nasal passages get clogged! If you would like a few tips on how to minimize how much dust gets into your dog’s nose, here are some simple steps: Put away laundry daily so they won’t be tempted to sniff around it Sweep daily and vacuum weekly. Be sure to use a HEPA filter, and change the filters on your air conditioning unit every few months Clean vertical surfaces, such as walls and furniture, with microfiber cloths or mop covers Use self-adhesive velcro strips that will stick to sisal-style rope to place around furniture with heavy fabrics – this will help prevent dogs from scratching upholstery when they get itchy.
5)Inflammation of the Skin
Dust can aggravate allergies such as Atopic Dermatitis resulting in an inflammation of the skin due to an allergy that causes itching and redness along with hair loss. A simple test you can do is take a piece of tape, sticky side up, and attach it onto one of their favorite spots to sleep on. If they are allergic you will see how many fine hairs are on that tape.
6)Dust can contaminate pet’s food and water
The allergens from the dust can also be transferred into our pet’s food and water! This is especially true if your dog likes to drink from puddles, drink from bathtubs or play in the dirt. Remember every time they get wet it transfers all of those particles back onto their fur which then makes its way back into their lungs resulting in a coughing fit and/or vomiting! Keep them away from these surfaces so accidents don’t happen! Also, consider buying a water fountain for your dog or at least give them fresh, cool clean water! It will cut down how much bacteria they consume from their drinking bowl as well as how much dust they inhale from their bowl.
7) Dust makes your doggo sick
We have discussed how dust can cause allergies in both you and your dog!
According to the Foundation for Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (FAIAI), “Dogs gain access to allergens such as mold, pollen and pet dander in the home either directly or via contact with a human family member”. This means how we can be helping our dogs by preventing ourselves from getting sick too! Be sure to wash your hands after playing outside with them so you won’t also inhale these particles into your nose and mouth causing an allergy attack on yourself! Additionally, consider buying HEPA air filters for each room of your house. These filters will remove at least 99% of mites, pet dander, pollen and other allergens from the air. This will help you out as well!
Things You can Do to Reduce Dust in your House
There are several things we can do to cut down how much dust is in our home for our dogs and ourselves! Here are a few simple steps that I recommend:
How about some cleaning products that won’t hurt your dog (or you!) when used? First and foremost how about changing how often you clean your hardwood floors. Hardwood flooring has become easier than ever with many companies making magnetic mats/sweepers now-a-days so it is easy to sweep up after every meal rather than using an old rag or paper towel which many times ends up on the floor still dirty.
The first item I am going to mention here is Sweeping Magnet. Magnetic sweeper cleans hardwood, tile and laminate floors with its static-cling bristles that lift and sweep tiny dust particles into the patented dustpan.
Secondly, I want to talk about a product that many people already use in their homes .That is washing their floors with vinegar! Vinegar is naturally antibacterial; it sanitizes while holding dirt at bay. Not only does it kill germs, but they also claim that you can get natural anti-fungal properties from vinegar when used as a cleaner! It’s non abrasive and won’t strip away any of those layers of wax on your wood flooring either like many store-bought products can. Vinegar is also inexpensive – how about buying a gallon of apple cider vinegar and making your own all natural cleaning solution? I use this in my house now, how about you?
Third, how about getting a vacuum cleaner that actually filters the air as you clean! That way you aren’t only vacuuming up tiny particles, but filtering them from the air. Several companies have created these types of machines such as Dyson and Kenmore.
Another must have for all dog owners is an Air Purifying Bag – how about placing it in your closet where your dog sleeps at night or where they play when you aren’t home? It will purify the air while filling closets and storage areas with negative ions (to reduce dust sticking to surfaces). All dogs love this little gem when I recommend it to my clients because you can see how much cleaner their room/closet gets after several weeks of use!
The last item I am going to recommend,is walking with your dog outside every day. This is not an option in the winter months, but how about when it’s warmer and you can safely take them out at least once a day for fresh air? Dogs love to sniff around outdoors – how about getting them a harness that matches your outfit as well so they won’t wander off while you are trying to get exercise too? If you have other pets, try putting their kennel outside overnight so they can enjoy some fresh air as well!
Figure out how much dust is in your home by how often you vacuum. How often should one vacuum their hardwood floors? Normally how often will depend on how many animals live in your house. Dog owners normally vacuum twice a week while cat owners normally only need to vacuum once a week.
Many people have asked this question,”How long does it take for you to vacuum your floors?” Vacuuming should take at least 10 minutes so how long does it take you? If it’s more than 20 minutes then how about investing in an HEPA air filter or making one with the above options recommended – how confident are you that all of those mites, pet dander and dust are getting filtered out by your vacuum cleaner?
Final Thoughts
If you’re going to be renovating your home, please make sure that your pet is placed in a separate room. You don’t want to have him around the house during construction because it’s not safe for them! The dust from new furniture and paint can cause allergies and respiratory problems. Even if they seem fine at first, after months of exposure these symptoms will likely worsen until eventually he has chronic lung disease or asthma attacks. Speak with your vet about how best to care for them while renovations are being done on their space as well as what steps you should take when returning them home once work is complete. Thanks again for reading our blog post today!
