Puppy Proofing Your Home

For the first couple days when you first bring your new puppy
home, it probably won’t get into too many dangerous situations,
but once he feels a bit at home, brace yourself, the curiosity level
will start to overcome your sweet little puppy. Therefore, some
preparations around your home need to be taken to insure safety
for the pup and your belongings. Usually, a veterinary clinic can
provide a list of poisonous houseplants. Certain ones can be deadly
to your puppy. The movement of the leaves of the plant is very
motivating to your puppy, so it’s a best bet to move all plants out
of his reach, especially in the rooms where the pup would be
unsupervised.

Also, Place all breakable or valuable ornaments or treasures up out
of his reach. Removing the items eliminates the possibility of
frustration and destruction of these articles, however if you choose
to leave them within reach, you must be prepared to make the
appropriate corrections when the pup investigates. For correcting
the pup for handling inappropriate household articles, I have found
that sound and voice corrections work the best. When you see your
pup interested or involved with an off limits item, stomp your foot,
or clap your hands and use a very stern and growly “NO”
command.

The pup almost always will immediately stop the behavior and
look at you providing you do the correction properly. If he’s not
leaving the item, then you must go to him and remove him from it.
Urgent tones in your voice are usually enough to distract the pup
from his own curiosity interests. However, if you’re short on
training time or patience, perhaps the prevention method would be
best for the early stages of the pup’s home life.

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Soft clothing articles like sneakers, leather shoes, socks and other
assorted undergarments simulate soft animal like objects that are
irresistible to your puppy. To a puppy, these are play items that if
left laying around, are there for his or her enjoyment, so prepare
the family members to keep things off the floor as they are fair
game to the pup. Now remember we are talking about a puppy. As
the dog gets older and starts bonding, these items begin to replace
your presence when you are not home due to a stronger human
scent that accompanies these items.

Of course, there are many, many household items that need to be
removed from the puppy’s reach. Items such as pin cushions,
sewing needles, household cleaners, soaps, candy dishes, pens,
pencils, thumb tacks, paper clips, yarn, paint, modeling clay,
crayons and the list goes on and on. Puppy proof your home for
your new puppy in the same way as you would for a toddler aged
child. That would be the best guideline anyone could give you.

Decide where you would like the puppy’s bed to be. If you choose
the mat beside your bed, that’s fine. If the laundry room is your
choice, that’s OK too. The important thing is to have a plan before
the pup comes home. Gather a few old blankets or large towels
together so that you have a reserve stockpile to pull from. Don’t
choose your next to best linens (to honor the new arrival), as the
puppy will probably eat them or at least chew interesting patterns
in them. All puppies chew. It’s nature’s way of reducing painful
cutting and growing of baby teeth. They also chew to relieve stress
from built-up energies within themselves or from simple boredom.

Depending on the breed you choose, puppies will chew anything
from toilet paper to gyp rock to wallboard. Preventative measures
are the best method of correcting the problem, which leads us into
the next topic of toys.