Pet safety and nic juice.

[Briar]

I don’t know about anyone else, but pet safety with e-cigs has been much on my mind. I have a dog (a German Shepherd named Myst) whom I adore. As are most dogs, Myst is a food fanatic, and while moderately well-trained, she loses all dignity where food is involved. And she is fast. She’ll snatch up whatever smells good to her in a millisecond flat and swallow it before I can so much as blink.

This wasn’t a concern with analogs – they smell nasty to her. E-juice, however, smells (and even tastes, to some extent) sweet. It’s the same problem as antifreeze – smells sweet, is attractive to dogs (and possibly cats and other pets as well), and is absolutely deadly to them.

So. I thought it would be useful to make a list for myself – a reminder of safety precautions to take when handling the juice, especially.

I thought it might be useful for other newbies, so I’m posting it. If anyone can think of anything else, please add your ideas. If this strikes you as paranoid, it is. But I do subscribe to the “better safe then sorry” in a big way, since I’m a walking example of Murphy’s Law in action.

Here we go:

• The obvious one: Keep all supplies in a single location completely inaccessible by dog (or any other non-adult critter).
• buy only dropper-lid bottles. Those glass bottles with a pipette in a screw-on lid are nice and more convenient in some ways, but the lid has to be taken off to use the liquid and at that point the entire bottle may be spilled accidentally (sorry, Johnson Creek). The ones with a dropper-lid, if overturned, will only spill a small amount, and that slowly – the lid does not have to come off to access the liquid.
• Remove the dog (pet) from the room before doing anything. Even better, crate the dog, or let the dog out into the yard. The more doors/locks between the poison and the critter, the better. Pay no attention to the pitiful whining. Said dog will survive a few minutes in isolation – but might not survive imbibing the ever-so-sweet-smelling nic juice.
• Avoid having any extraneous stuff on and near the work-space to minimize accidental transfer of the liquid.
• Work in and over a non-porous container large enough to contain any spills, and easily washable afterwards.
• Have a pile of torn off paper-towel/napkins at hand.
• Wipe up condensation on the carts before handling them further – again, to minimize transfer on other surfaces, especially on the outside of the PV.
• It is best, if possible, to keep one hand “clean”, and only touch the “juicy” surfaces with the other. It might be better to work in disposable gloves. I find, however, that gloves make me clumsy.
• Dispose of soiled/juicy stuff with paranoia in mind. Put them in a sealable baggie, for instance. Double-bag. Do not put them in the regular garbage pail/container in your kitchen/bathroom/whatever. Dogs (and other critters) are persistent and inventive. My dog is very good at taking apart garbage cans, no matter how sturdy they are. So – double bag the stuff and stick it someplace the dog can’t get to until it’s ready to be thrown out for garbage pickup. Don’t just put it out on the curb ahead of time, either. Other prowling critters can get into it and be poisoned. I am not particularly fond of skunks, but I don’t want them dead from nic, either.
• Wash your equipment and your hands before letting the dog/critter into the room/house, or out of the crate.
• Here is another silly little thing that might be useful. I found that it's quite easy to get into the habit of only touching your e-cig with one hand, leaving the other "clean and safe" to pet an attention-seeking critter. We pet people mostly have life-long habits of touching our fur-kids matter-of-factly in the course of our lives. E-cig becomes a constant companion as well. But, since we do have two hands, creating a habit of "dedicated hands" is not so hard. This might be a bit over the top, but, again, better safe than sorry.
• Finally, for myself, I decided to never vape in the car, at least when the dog is with me. Too many distractions, too easy to accidentally drop stuff, and much too easy for the dog to snatch it up. If I need nic that badly, I can chew gum in the car, but that's just me, maybe. I think smoking in the car is not such a hot idea either. I almost ran off the road once while trying to light a cig, and my Mom once started a fire in her back seat, because hot ash blew off the cig and onto a pile of paper. 8-o She had a hellova time trying to 'xplain it to my Dad, let me tell ya...
• Make this a ritual that never, ever changes, for any reason. This may seem like a lot of trouble at first, but it really doesn’t take all that much time, and it’s worth it to prevent any accidents.

OK, that’s all I can think of. If any folks have other tips/thoughts, please let me know.

Cheers,
Briar.