Puppy proof your home

Preparing your home for a new puppy is essential to ensure a safe environment for both your furry friend and your possessions. There are a lot of potential hazards in a home that can cause harm to your eager puppy. Puppies are very curious and explore their surroundings by biting, eating and licking things. From the living room to the garage, here’s a comprehensive checklist to make your house puppy-ready.

Why puppy-proof your home?

Puppies, with their boundless curiosity, often explore their surroundings by nibbling and tasting. To protect your puppy and your home, consider these essential puppy-proofing measures.

General puppy-proofing tips:

• Secure Household Items: Remove potential choking hazards like children’s toys, socks, and decorative items.
• Food Safety: Keep items like coffee cups, plates with food, and wine glasses out of reach. Remember, certain foods can be harmful to dogs.
• Electrical Safety: Protect and hide electrical cables from teething puppies.
• Stair Safety: Use a robust stair gate to prevent puppy access. Ensure the gate is puppy-proofed and unable to be climbed over.
• Furniture Care: Protect sentimental or valuable furniture. Puppies often fancy rugs, table legs, and curtains as chew toys.
• Slip Prevention: Position carpets and non-slip mats in areas prone to puppy slips.
• Window Safety: Ensure windows are secure to prevent accidental falls.
• Children’s Toys: Supervise puppies around children’s toys. Sharp puppy teeth can bite and swallow toys like Legos.

Make the kitchen safe for the puppy

• Recycling Safety: Store the recycling station inside a closed cabinet.
• Declutter: Keep the floor and low shelves free from small objects.
• Chemical Safety: Store cleaning agents and chemicals safely out of puppy’s reach.
• Food Storage: Ensure all food items are stored away from puppy reach.
• Cabinet Safety: Consider child locks for easily accessible cabinets. Especially if these are cabinets leading to the rubbish bin/recycling station or cleaning products.

Make the bathroom safe for puppy

• Toilet Precautions: Always close the toilet seat and place the toilet brush out of reach.
• Store Harmful Items: Keep medicines, cleaning agents, and personal care items stored safely. This includes toothpaste, as they often contain ingredients that are toxic to dogs.
• Towel Care: Avoid leaving towels or clothes on the floor.
• Shower Precautions: Store bath products safely and keep the shower door closed.
• Laundry: Do not leave towels, cloths and dirty clothes on the floor (especially small pieces of clothing like socks and panties that can get stuck if the puppy eats them). Put a lid on the laundry basket.

Puppy proof the bedroom

• Clothing Safety: Store all clothing items, especially socks and underwear, safely in drawers. Small items can be a choking hazzard.
• Protect Valuables: Keep decorative items and jewelry out of puppy’s reach.
• Electrical Safety: Hide and protect charging cables from curious puppies.

Should the puppy go in the garage?

Garages tend to be a storage space for tools, paint, and toxic substances and not suitable for puppies. However, if you are unable to keep the puppy out of the garage then:

• Protect from Heavy Objects: Ensure nothing can accidentally fall and hurt your puppy.
• Store Harmful Chemicals: Keep substances like paint, petrol, and herbicides safely stored.
• Tool Safety: Store all tools securely out of reach in a closed toolbox or on high shelves.

Puppy-proofing your home is an essential step in welcoming your new companion. Regular supervision combined with short walks, playtime and training will not only ensure safety but also help channel your puppy’s energy positively. No matter how well you puppy proof your home, your curious little one is bound to find something inappropriate to sink their teeth in. So be patient and prepare for some damage.

VETERINARIAN; Take the puppy to the vet immediately should it swallow anything, or ingest anything that is dangerous to their health and safety.