Choosing a pet friendly home security system compatible with your dog or cat

PhoneWatch security engineers are well used to pet owners presenting with the concerns about their house alarm having a false alarm potentially being triggered by their pet. Alarm manufacturers including PhoneWatch remedy problem false alarms caused by pets through offerings designed to distinguish between humans and animals. These include:

Microwave motion sensor

These sophisticated devices can tell the difference between the heat given off by a burglar and the heat given off by your dog or cat. Humans and animals do not have the same body temperature and these devices can be set to react only to human heat. We find these alarms under the name “pet immune”, “tolerant to animals”, “immune to animals”.

Volume and Microwave Infrared sensor

Some devices combine the technologies of volumetric and microwave detectors to be even more effective in differentiating between humans and animals. They can as much be effective as a pet friendly burglar alarm.

Passive infrared Sensor

This is a more applicable solution for most people since it involves adapting your classic house alarm system to the presence of pets. You must place your motion sensor high enough so that the detection cone scans, not the ground, but above the ground, out of the passage area of ​​your animal. You will nevertheless need to adjust the height according to the size of your animal. 

But one has to be careful as this method has flaws, especially if your cat tends to regularly jump high on the furniture because it could enter the motion detection zone. It is therefore necessary to ensure that the sensors are not placed too close to somewhere accessible by your dog or cat.

Infrared volume sensor

Infrared detectors work in the same way as conventional motion detectors, except that they are able to differentiate between foreign objects that pass in front of its sensors. How? Quite simply by evaluating the subject's body mass using PIR infrared radiation.

When choosing your device, you will need to specify the weight of your pet. If you have a dog weighing less than 10 kilos, you can opt for a model that immunizes animals weighing up to 10 kilos. For a larger dog, some models are able to recognize the presence of animals up to 25 kilos. What about a very large dog? It is true that beyond a certain weight, around 40 kilos, even the most sophisticated house alarms will no longer be able to tell the difference between an animal and a human. In this specific case, it is advisable to leave aside the motion detectors and replace them with door opening detectors or glass breakage detectors, which are just as effective in preventing burglaries.

For those with more than one kind of pet, you will have to combine their weight in case your two animals are in the same area at the same time: for example for two dogs of 10 kilos, opt for an alarm which avoids the triggering of its sensors until at 20 kg. Similar, if you have 2 cats of 5 kilos, you will need a device with an immunity up to 10 kilos.

PhoneWatch solutions to make your house alarm compatible with pets

In addition to a quality 24/7 monitoring system and support for alerts in less than 15 seconds, PhoneWatch offer solutions to make house alarms and your pets (whether cats or dogs) coexist.

Adapted motion sensors

The PhoneWatch photo motion detectors can have its sensitivity levels adapted to present no risk of triggering house alarms unexpectedly. They are therefore an ideal solution for cats and small dogs. So the home security system can be armed even when pets are in your home.

Other PhoneWatch home security devices compatible with pets and animals

There are also other safety solutions if you have animals, especially large dogs:

• Window alarm sensors – these essential operate to respond to any contact or shock within its radius. If a window to your home is opened in an unusual way, the magnetic connection will be broken and you will be immediately notified by an alarm siren. This device also detects the sound of breaking glass and can therefore provide protection for your entire home with a single device.
• Door alarm sensors - these devices are placed on the door and similar to the window alarm sensor respond to any contact or shock within its radius. If the door is opened the alarm will also trigger if the house alarm is armed.

Note that for these two types of devices, PhoneWatch offers technical assistance as well as free replacement in the event of a breakdown.