hurray your mega menu works

A Pet Owner’s Guide to Home Security

Home security should be a priority for every homeowner and tenant. Designing, installing and purchasing your home security can be incredibly straightforward. So long as you have an efficient security system, CCTV, motion sensor lighting, and strong doors with tamper-proof locks, you’re covered, right? Well, for pet owners, unfortunately it’s unlikely to be as simple as that.

Pets will naturally find a way to interfere with traditional security systems. To make sure that your home is fully protected, you need to think about entry points and access points, and about the functionality of your security system. Cat flaps and dog flaps will almost always be targeted, and any pet activity can easily create false alarms on setups that aren’t pet-friendly. Let’s discuss how you can avoid all of these common mistakes and how Calder Security can help keep your home fully protected.

What Do Pet Owners Have to Think About?

First of all, you should be aware that pets themselves aren’t a recommended burglar deterrent. As we already discussed in a previous post, it’s a common myth that burglars are afraid of your dog.

Instead, you’re going to need to think about the weak points around your home and how you can protect them without relying on your dog barking. If you’ve left yourself vulnerable with a large dog flap, then a burglar will spot this opportunity immediately. The sensors you use and the configuration you select will all play a crucial role in keeping your home protected.

Pets and Alarm Sensors

Traditional sensors from a standard security system will detect most pet movements. You want to make sure that the alarm system you install has pet-immune sensors.

Many typical alarm sensors will detect movement and trigger the full house alarm. Do you really want them going off all the time? As well as annoying your neighbours, you could find yourself quickly racking up some significant fines. If police and fire prevention teams are regularly called out to your property for no reason, you’re likely to accrue some fines for wasting their time.

At Calder Security, we sell pet-immune alarm sensors. The technology can be configured with several different weight categories, so that even larger pets don’t set off false alarms.

The security systems that we sell can also be configured not to detect motion within certain rooms. That means that when your pet is sleeping, your home is still protected and less likely to set-off false alarms.

Pets and CCTV

You should also consider installing CCTV technology to further boost your home security. Some CCTV systems will record everything that happens and quickly fill up memory cards. Other systems begin recording once movement is detected. As you might imagine, that still records a lot of footage, since it accounts for every single pet movement.

Pet-friendly CCTV systems are able to distinguish between pet activity and human activity, saving you storage and battery life. They can also take screenshots and send alerts to your smartphone, or to your email. That way, you can immediately evaluate the threat which your CCTV system has detected, and confirm whether or not you need to sound the alarm. If your dog’s just eating the furniture again, then you probably won’t want to call the police out for that one!

Another benefit is that you can configure your CCTV system to keep a close eye on your pet’s activities when you’re not there. You get to see everything that the alarm sees, and while that may not necessarily add to the security, it can be good to see.

Alarm Systems with Door and Window Sensors

If you don’t like the sound of pet-friendly alarm sensors, then why not consider switching off those motion sensors and installing door and window sensors?

There’s an increase in cost, since you’ll need to install more sensors. But this means that there’s no need to worry about weight categories for motion sensors. Instead, they will only go off whenever doors and windows are smashed or broken.

Cat Flaps and Dog Flaps

Although their use is being reduced, many properties still have cat flaps to allow their pets easy access to the outdoors. However, that access could end up being easy for a burglar too.

If you’re thinking about installing a cat or dog flap, try and install it on a wall instead of a door. If you can’t avoid installing one on a door, then it’s essential that you never leave your keys inside the door. It’s also highly unlikely that insurance providers will cover you in the event of a burglar gaining access to your home through a cat flap. The best solution is to avoid installing cat and dog flaps altogether.

How Calder Security Can Help

At Calder Security, we sell many different types of pet-friendly security systems. They’ll keep you covered in the most secure way possible, and make sure that false alarms don’t become a significant issue.

The systems that we stock come with long-lasting batteries, and several systems have DIY wireless installation. They can also be configured to send email alerts and instant alerts to your smartphone, so that you’re always in the loop.

Whether you’re interested in pet-friendly security systems, or CCTV cameras, get in touch with our Calder Security team today. Keeping you, your home, and your pets safe is our priority as Yorkshire’s leading independent security company.