How To Puppy Proof Your House?

Got a new furbaby in your home? If so, you should know that a puppy not only requires concentrating and reinforcement, but also puppy proofing your home.

By nature, puppies are extremely energetic and curious creatures, so they may injure themselves or cause damage to your home. Considering that your home will be the place where your pooch spends the majority of his life, it’s important that you take precautions to create a safe environment for the animal.

In this article, we will take a look at a number of steps so you know how to the puppy proof your home.

Tips for Puppy-Proofing Inside Your Home

Your homes interior presents a number of challenges to create a safe environment for your puppy. Let’s take a look at what you can do to probably proof the interior of your home:

• Keep all human food out of easy reach for your puppy. Human foods are generally not good for puppies, leading to health risks and even death. Some of the most common bad foods for puppies include sugar-free gum, chocolate, raisins, cereals, and other foods.
• Put cleaning supplies out of reach in cabinets away from the floor or in lot areas that are child proofed.
• Electrical cords or a favorite item for puppies to chew on, but can lead to shark and burns to their mouth. To avoid this, unplug any unused electrical cords, move them out of reach, and string them in cord concealers.
• Hide any medications that you have out of reach and preferably in a locked cabinet. As a best practice, remove any pill bottles or dispensers from bathroom counters, night tables, and windowsills - all of which can be snatched by your puppy’s jumps and climbing.
• Make it a habit to keep your toilets closed so your puppy won’t drink out of the toilet (yuck!) or potentially fall in and drown.
• Doors and windows should be closed at all times so your puppy wont escape or fall outside. Be sure to also secure the cords that raise blinds to avoid a choking hazard when it could so potentially get caught around the puppy’s neck.
• Remove anything with it has a potential to be a choking hazard, such as paper clips, coins, jewelry, and any other smaller items.
• Store all sharp objects out of your puppy’s reach. This includes scissors, shaving razors knives, scissors, tools and anything else that can fall or be chewed on (like a plastic handle).
• Trashcans are a common target for puppies, so secure then with latches or bungee cords to avoid your dog from eating things that can upset their stomach or cause an injury.
• Avoiding having poisonous houseplants around the house so your pup won’t be tempted to eat them.

Tips for Puppy-Proofing Your Home’s Outdoors

Now that you have your interior squared away, it’s time to address your home’s exterior and the surrounding property:

• If possible, fence your yard. Fencing should be high enough to not jump over and have no holes that the puppy can crawl under. Consider placing logs and other structures around the fence to discourage digging.
• Remove any toxic plants in your yard or fence them in adequately to prevent your pup from eating them. This includes also pruning any protruding branches or cleaning up any fallen berries/fruit.
• Pools are a significant hazard to young dogs, so make sure that your pool has a fence and any doors are regularly locked.
• Create a puppy area so your dog has its own area to relieve itself. This helps for cleanup, too,so you’ll thank yourself in advance when stepping through your yard.
• Ticks and other bugs live in high-grass, so regularly trim your yard to destroy their habitat and avoid bringing these pests into your home.
• If your front and or backyard has been recently treated with fertilizers or pesticides, make sure your puppy doesn’t go to these areas when it is let outside until it is safe to do so.
• Excessive heat can be dangerous for your puppy, so make sure that your yard has shady areas and plenty of cool water available when it is outside.
• Regularly clean up dog waste in your yard so your puppy won’t try to eat their own feces.
• For young puppies, you should regularly supervise them and avoid leaving them outside for prolonged periods of time. This helps ward off predators, prevent heatstroke, and other hazards. As they get older and you can trust them, consider using a camera to keep an eye on them when you’re not available to watch them.