We all know the old adage about cats and dogs, but does it apply to fish? That’s a tricky question. But the answer is in most cases, yes.
Dogs are social animals and have long been known to co-habitate with other pets in the home (even cats). In fact, their domestication was centered around tending to livestock and being in the presences of other animals. Still, to avoid a catastrophe, you’ll want to take a few precautions.
Start Slowly
When your dog encounters a fish tank for the first time, you’ll want to have them on a leash. Slowly introduce them to the new item in the room and monitor their reaction. Are they showing signs of aggression toward the tank? Are they overly interested? If so, it might take some time before you feel comfortable leaving your dog unattended in a room with your aquarium. The good news is that fish don’t make noise and usually don’t seem to them to be something to play with.
Place Your Tank Out of Reach
This is by far the most important rule for having an aquarium and dog in the same home. Dogs can be mischievous, especially puppies. And for the more active ones, a disaster potentially awaits. While your dog may not be interested in the fish, their running around and jumping up on things may lead to falling into the tank or knocking it over. This would be an expensive and sad end to some aquatic life. So it’s best to keep the tank high off the ground and away from items that your dog can climb on.
Monitor Your Dog
At first, you’ll want to stay in the room with your dog while they gets used to the new addition. But after awhile you’ll need to see how your canine handles thing alone. You can pick up a cheap Wyze Cam for around $20 that will let you monitor your dog remotely.
Overall, the concern of your dog and fish living in harmony is overrated. There are very few instances I’ve seen of this becoming an issue (cats are another story). If anything, you might find that the aquarium provides a nice form of entertainment like with this pup.
Go Get Started
So if you want something unique in your home or need an alternative to the TV to entertain your dog, now is a great time to get started on adding a fish tank. There are tons of guides online to setting up aquariums and maintaining them properly. The aquariums sub on Reddit is a treasure trove of information. Especially if you’re looking to see some impressive set ups.
