Nothing is more fun than bringing home a puppy, but your home could host potential dangers and attractions for a new puppy, regardless of how small or large your puppy is.
Even small breeds can get into trash, electrical cables, and open cabinets in your home. Everything in your home can be a huge chew toy for a new puppy.
If you’re worried about whether you’ve checked your home thoroughly for your new furbaby, we’re here to help you protect your puppy from indoor and outdoor dangers with a few easy-to -follow dog proofing steps. You can find more tips on how to take care of you puppies on globalpets.info.
Here’s the takeaway:
Puppy-Proofing Inside Your Home
Before bringing your new furbaby home, you must prepare your home and garden to keep your puppy safe and protected from usual puppy behaviors like excessive chewing.
Every room in your home needs puppy-proofing because there are plenty of hazards in each room. Even if you think your home is safe, there may be pillows, shoes, video games, and computer cables lying around.
Until your puppy is fully trained, he should not have access to any of your belongings to chew on. This will establish bad habits and risk the well-being of your puppy.
How to Dog-Proof a Room
You’ll need to examine each room carefully and remove items your dog could chew, hazardous items like small toys, and any items that could endanger his life.
The best way to do this is to get down to your puppy’s eye level by kneeling or lying on the ground to check out any potentially dangerous items your puppy could get into.
Step 1: Lock Up the Trash Cans
- Consider getting child-proof latches to help keep your puppy away from anything toxic like grapes, chocolate, onions, garlic, raisins, and spoiled food in trash cans.
High-fat foods and leftovers can result in pancreatitis. Look out for open cans with razor-sharp edges and plastic canisters that also pose a serious risk to curious puppies.
Step 2: Cover Electrical Wires and Outlets
- Keep electrical cords wrapped up. Electrical cables are chewing hazards and should be kept out of the way. You can hide them through cord concealers.
Wires are dangerous and far too tempting for puppies to ignore and can cause mouth burns and electrical shocks.
Step 3: Secure Heavy Furniture
- Secure all furniture, even heavy furniture. Your new puppy can knock over bookshelves, lamps, and decorations. You can purchase straps and brackets to prevent your furniture from tipping over.
Step 4: Keep Decorative Items Off Low Couches and Tables
- Candles, books, and most display items like decorative pillows and throws are chewing hazards, and your puppy can get into them really quickly if left unsupervised.
Step 5: Dog Proofing Your Bathroom
- Avoid leaving cleaning supplies in low cabinets. Puppies get into everything, so when storing medicines and cleaning supplies, always keep them far away from your puppy. Keep toilet lids down. This prevents drowning or drinking of toilet cleaning chemicals.
Step 6: Evaluate Kitchen Safety
- Ensure that potentially dangerous kitchen items are stored away. Keep everyday kitchen products like aluminum foil and plastic wrap safely out of your pup’s reach.
Recycling products may seem safe, but if your puppy gets into them, they could result in a bowel obstruction and a costly veterinary bill.
Step 7: Puppy Proof Your Backyard
- Even if you feel that your puppy will be supervised in your garage or garden, it’s always best to look out for toxic plants that your puppy could get his little teeth into, as well as poisonous chemicals and pesticides.
Your puppy could also escape through broken fencing, so pet-proofing your backyard is key to puppy safety.
Step 8: Put in a Pool Fence
- Think pool safety if you’re bringing home a new four-legged best friend. Your dog could fall in when you’re not watching. Teach your dog to swim with a little swim training.
Step 9: Secure Your Fencing
- Puppies can squeeze through small spaces and tunnel through even a small hole of 3 inches. Wood slats need to be examined regularly.
Look under fences for gaps and check whether you’ll need a higher fence when your puppy is grown.
Step 10: Remove Poisonous Plants
- Look around your garden and inspect the plants. If any plants are poisonous to dogs, remove them and transplant them to an area that your puppy cannot access.
Step 11: Store Away Gardening Tools
- Keep hoses, sprinklers, and gardening tools stored away. Use a shelf to store them. Check for nails, jagged metal edges, barbed wire, and bits of plastic. Clean them up and away from your puppy.
Step 12: Clean Up The Garage
- Don’t take a chance! Even if you feel your puppy will never get into the garage. Oil spills, car drippings, swimming pool supplies, antifreeze, rat traps, and pesticides pose serious potential health hazards.
Never use poison anywhere on your property when you have pets. Dogs should never be in the garage, even if you think it’s completely safe.
Overall Checklist Tips for Dog-Proofing Your Home
- Secure all windows in your home to prevent your puppy from jumping out, especially if you’re living in an apartment.
- Tie up window treatments to prevent your puppy from getting tangled up or strangling himself in the curtain or blind cords.
- Remove low-hanging curtains to prevent your puppy from potentially pulling them off the wall.
- Check indoor plants and make sure they’re not poisonous. Indoor plants can be tempting for dogs. Don’t use fertilizer or weed killer in either outdoor or indoor plants weeks before bringing your new puppy home.
- Clean up the decaying matter in your garden. Compost is filled with dangerous bacteria that can make a puppy sick.
- Other dangerous materials for puppies include batteries, rubbing alcohol, petroleum products, and household cleaners.
- Always use baby gates to puppy-proof your home to block off areas like the stairs and areas with fragile ornaments. This will help keep your puppy safe.
- Use child-proof locks on all lower-level kitchen cabinets and pantry doors.
Final Thoughts
Once your home is adequately puppy-proofed, the kitchen and living room can be an excellent place for your puppy to hang out. Kitchens with tile floors are easy to clean, allowing for quick outdoor accessibility during potty training. That said, keep all food out of reach, even if they’re safe to eat.
In addition to puppy-proofing your home, invest in pet insurance and buy all the necessary gear, like good crates, collars, leashes, puppy toys, and pet food, before your puppy arrives. Schedule a time for your first veterinarian visit and speak to all family members about responsibilities and expectations.
Finally, remember that your new puppy will take a while to get used to his new home. Arrange to take some time off work to help start positive puppy training and ease your new puppy into your lifestyle. As usual, invest in lots of puppy chew toys to keep your new best friend busy and out of trouble.
