When you choose a home security system, you need to find an option that protects your family—your whole family.
Pets spend most of their time at home, often by themselves. To keep them safe, you need security solutions that protect them from both security and environmental threats.
You also need to make sure that your pets won’t cause false alarms when your system is armed.
Use the tips included below to find a security system that will protect your pets and your home at all times.
8 things to look for when choosing a pet-friendly home security system
1. Motion sensor settings
When security providers first started including motion detectors in their security systems, pets often set off false alarms. Any time a dog walked into the room or a cat jumped up on a shelf, it would trigger the motion sensor.
Thankfully, these devices now include sensitivity settings. You can lower the sensitivity so it doesn’t react to your pets. High-tech devices can even ignore pets under a specified weight. If you have a 60-pound dog, for example, you can set your detector to ignore anything under 85 pounds. You can still detect intruders without getting an alert when your dog is moving near the sensor.
If you want to keep an eye on your pet, your system can also alert you to movement without triggering the alarm. With this setting, you can monitor your pets without having an indoor camera in the room. This is a great way to make sure your pets haven’t gotten loose while you’re out.
2. Glass break sensors
Motion detectors aren’t your only option. For homes with large animals or if you prefer an extra layer of protection, a glass break sensor is another excellent safety measure.
The sound of breaking glass has a unique frequency. If a burglar tries to break a window or sliding glass door to get in without triggering your door/window sensors, the sound of the breaking glass will trigger the sensor. It will send an alert to your system so you can get help quickly.
These devices strengthen your security without creating pet-related complications. You can keep your home protected without worrying about any false alarms.
3. Smart safety alarms
Burglars aren’t the only things that can hurt your pets when they’re home alone. If your home catches fire or has a carbon monoxide leak, you may not know about it until it’s too late to save your pets.
Smart safety alarms connect directly to your home security system. As soon as they detect a threat, they will send an alert to your phone and the professional monitoring team, if you have this service. You can then act quickly to get emergency services to your home and get your family to safety.
These devices are especially important for homes with pets. If your cat or dog causes a disaster that threatens their safety, you need to know ASAP. With smart smoke and CO detectors, you can always have peace of mind about your pets’ well-being.
4. Indoor security cameras
When you’re gone, you can’t know what is happening inside your house. If your pets get up to mischief or someone breaks in, it’s important to have eyes on the inside.
Indoor security cameras allow you to check in on your pets in real-time. With just a few taps, you can see how your pets are doing while you’re at work, school, or even waiting in the car.
This ability is even more important if you have elderly, sick, or young pets. Easily keep an eye on them to make sure they are doing well and aren’t misbehaving. Plus, you can show your furry friends off to friends whenever you’re out.
5. Two-way communication
Video isn’t the only way to check in on your pets from afar. Most indoor cameras also allow you to talk to them through a two-way communication feature.
Using your mobile app, you can speak to any pets near the camera. Coax them near for a better shot or use this feature to scold them for misbehavior. Though they can’t speak back to you, their barks and meows will come through loud and clear.
6. Intelligent analytics
Your outdoor cameras will send you an alert whenever they detect movement in your yard. If your dog has access to the yard when you’re out, however, you may face an overwhelming number of notifications.
Prevent this problem with a camera that offers intelligent analytics. You can turn off notifications for movement caused by animals to limit your alerts. With this option, you can still guard your property without the annoyance of repeated false alarms.
7. Professional monitoring
During a break-in, fire, or carbon monoxide leak, time is of the essence. If you fail to see the alert from your security system, however, you won’t know that your pet is in danger.
Professional monitoring ensures that help will always be sent immediately, even when you’re unable to contact first responders. The monitoring team will stay ready to react as soon as an alert comes through. Whenever your pets or family are in danger, you can rest assured that they will be rescued as quickly as possible.
8. Smart door locks
Pet sitters and dog walkers make your life easier, but they can also create vulnerabilities in your security. They may lose the keys you give them or, worse, abuse their access to your home.
A smart door lock eliminates these vulnerabilities. You can create specific codes for each person that needs to access your home. Some smart locks even allow you to create temporary codes or codes that can only be used on specific days and times.
Every time that code is used to open the door, it will be logged into your system. You can see who entered the house and when, making sure your pets and family are secure.
For more security tips and safety information, visit our blog.
