How To Puppy Proof Your House

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We miss Derby and were watching some of his first videos and thinking about our first few days together a little over a year ago.  It reminded us of some of the things we had to do in preparation of a new puppy.  In particular I’m talking about how to puppy proof your house.

It’s very important to puppy proof all parts of your house not just the inside, but also your yard and garden.  I live in a condo with a small patio and I don’t let my puppies onto the patio unsupervised or without leash.  So, today we’re not going to talk about puppy proofing your yard or garden, but just the inside of your house.  However, we did want to point out that there are definitely many potential dangers for a puppy in the backyard.

Puppy Proof Your House

I’ve don’t have any children, but I think that puppy proofing your house is probably very similar to preparing your house for a toddler.  Remember that everything in your house is new and exciting to your puppy and he will most likely investigate and get into everything using the equivalent of a toddlers hands…his mouth.

• Make sure all wires and cables are kept out of reach.  Puppies can and will chew and gnaw on most things they can get their mouth around.
• Some very curious puppies may try to get into cabinets by nudging them open with their noses.  You might consider putting locks on all the cabinets to keep your puppy from getting into things he shouldn’t.
• You might consider buying puppy pen (XPen) or A Baby Gate to contain your puppy in certain to play rather than allowing him to roam the entire house.
• Keep items like remote controls and cell phones out of the reach of your puppy.  If you’re like me then you’ll learn the hard way.  Linus chewed through two remote controls and one cell phone before we wised up.  He was a real gadget geek.
• Keep all poisonous household items out of reach or locked away.  Household cleaners, insect poisons, antifreeze just to name a few.
• Check your indoor and outdoor plants and make sure they’re not poisonous to your new puppy.  Check out this list of plants poisonous to dogs.
• Close toilet bowl covers.  It’s a good idea not to let your puppy get in the habit of playing with toilet bowl water.  You may add chemicals that can be harmful and even if you don’t if you and your puppy visit friends they may add chemicals to the toilet.
• Keep trash cans out of reach – small waste basket can often times contain harmful items to your puppy.  Keep them out of reach.
• Cover unused electrical outlets.

One final test is get down on your hands and knees and take your puppy’s point of view.  Do you see any potential dangers?  Hanging nails, dangling electrical cords, etc.

One thing I learned after raising several puppies is to keep a constant eye on your puppy.  If he’s roaming the house then you should be roaming right along side him.  I kept a constant eye on both Stetson and Derby and neither of them got into much trouble.  Of course the occasional potty accident, but not half eaten remotes or cell phones.

Have you raised a puppy?  Do you have any hints on ?

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Check out more of our favorites on our New Puppy Checklist.