10 Tips for Puppy Proofing Your Home

The reality of the situation is this; puppies are going to make messes and chew on stuff. They are going to get into things they shouldn’t and explore areas they have no business in. This is what puppies do until they are taught right from wrong. While puppies can not rationalize as humans can, they can recognize what is acceptable and non-acceptable behavior from your responses. Puppies will be conditioned to stay off the furniture, chew on the correct objects and go to the bathroom in the same spot when consistently praised for doing so. It is up to you to shape your puppies behavior over time. Here are 10 tips for puppy proofing your home to set your dog up for success:

1. Put up your shoes. Puppies need to chew to ease teething pain as well as maintain their dental health over their lifetime. Proper chew toys are essential for any dog owner. Until your puppy has learned that shoes are not appropriate chew toys you should always keep them put away. While this might sound obvious, many people leave them lying about the house and are surprised and angry when their pup destroys their favorite pair of kicks. Thankfully, closets have doors that will keep your curious puppy at paws length from this seasons’ must have peep toe pumps.

2. Cover up your cords and wires. If you have excessive audio and visual equipment with speaker wires and cords strewn about, your puppy is likely to chew on them. Tuck those wires away whenever possible. Tie them up with inexpensive plastic zip ties or feed them through special tubes designed to house wires of this type. This will help you avoid the expense of replacing your expensive components.

3. Put up hazardous chemicals in your garage or basement. Puppies will get into things they are not supposed to if they are within his reach. Purchase a shelving unit from your local hardware store and put up those jugs of oil, antifreeze and gasoline as they can cause unnecessary illnesses and death in some cases.

4. Store medications in upper cabinets. Make sure that even the most harmless of medications are stored in upper cabinets out of your pups’ reach. Your puppy can chew through those plastic prescription bottles and ingest harmful quantities of medication in the process.

5. Tie up the cords of your blinds. When mini-blinds are open their cords dangle temptingly in front of your pup. He may just want to play, but these dangling strings can hang him up, literally. Your pup could become injured or strangled in blind cords so make sure to tie a knot in the string keeping the cords high out of his reach.

6. Lock up the cleaning products. If you keep cleaning products below the kitchen or bathroom sinks like most people then you should always put baby locks on your cabinets to keep nosey puppies from sniffing out your cleaning products. Bleach, ammonia, comet, drain cleaner and many others can be deadly to your pooch if ingested. Curious puppies can open cabinet doors when not locked properly.

7. Store dog food in airtight plastic containers. Do not leave a bag of dog food sitting out for your puppy to get into. Some dogs will eat until they become sick if given the opportunity. Solve this problem by storing dog food in large plastic containers. You can purchase a $5 plastic bin from a hardware store of opt for a fancier version from a pet superstore.

8. Keep toxic plants out of reach. Aloe Vera, Lilies, Baby’s Breath, Daffodils and many others can be toxic to your pet. While it depends on the size of the dog, puppies should not be around plants like this because their immune systems are still developing they are more susceptible to illness.

9. Put the chocolate away. Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is toxic to dogs. Dogs are drawn to chocolate as people are and will eat it wrappers and all in some cases. If you have candy dishes out on coffee tables or in bowls on the kitchen table or counters, put them away. When properly motivated by these open bowls he will find a way to get to the tempting treats.

10. Purchase covered trash containers for every room in your house. Puppies can be quite the little scavengers when tempted by items left in trash cans. Make sure that all trash cans in the house are covered to avoid unnecessary messes. Do not overlook the bathroom trash bins. Small bathroom trash cans with domed lids keep nosey puppies from dragging your used tissues and other sanitary items about your house. Covered trash cans will eliminate this messy and potentially embarrassing situation.

While some owners avoid indoor problems by keeping their pets outside with dog fences others stay are secured indoors with a dog crate, but remember both require consistency to be effective. If you use either of these methods, you should always look for ways to keep your valuables safely out of reach.