Puppies are mostly adorable, funny and entertaining! But anyone who’s ever had one knows they can get up to quite a lot of mischief too! They will chase, chew and eat anything they can get hold of, jump and fall all over the place and just generally create some puppy-chaos wherever they go! So of course, preparing your home for a puppy is a must.
As funny as it might be to watch at times, some of this mischief might result in destroyed items, big mess or even worse, can be dangerous for the puppy. That’s why one of the most important things to do before the arrival of your new furbaby, is puppy proofing your home.
To make it easier for the new puppy parents among us, we’ve put together a list of the most important things you should do before your puppy arrives.
The key takeaway is this: if it’s in reach of your puppy and you don’t want it destroyed, move it.
10 key tips for puppy proofing your home
- Hide food away: Keep all food safely out of reach from your puppy. Many human foods are harmful for dogs and can cause digestive issues or even worse, poisoning or blockages in the puppy’s digestive system. Keep the puppy’s own food also out of reach as overeating can cause tummy issues too.
- No access to trash: Trash bags will be something super tempting for your puppy, not least because of all the exciting smells coming out of them. Puppies have a sensitive digestive system and ingesting anything unusual might be dangerous for them. Also, who really wants to clean up the mess after the puppy has done their research through your trash bags?
- Hide wires and cords: Wires and power cords are another fascinating thing your puppy will most likely try and explore — by chewing them, of course. It’s best to try and block, cover or hide them somehow, to keep your puppy safe from potentially life threatening electric shocks. And to save money and hassle from not having to buy yet another iPhone charging cable.
- Place houseplants high: Many house plants can be toxic for puppies so it’s best to make sure your puppy doesn’t have access to them. This way you keep both your pup and also your favorite orchid or Peace Lily safe.
- Keep drugs, batteries and chemicals out of reach: Make sure your puppy can’t access things like medication, cosmetics, old batteries or any household chemicals like cleaning detergents or powders. This is one of the most important parts of puppy proofing your home, as most of these items will be dangerous if ingested or even chewed by your puppy.
- Keep your puppy away from heights: Like human babies, puppies will be eagerly exploring their new surroundings and all kinds of accidents can happen. Make sure your puppy cannot hurt himself by falling off from anywhere high. Keep him away from balconies, tabletops, steep staircases etc. Baby gates are a useful when puppy proofing as tool to block them from accessing areas they shouldn’t go.
- Hang your bags high: Puppies love exploring your bags, be it your handbag with your daily essentials or your gym bag with sweaty workout gear. Try not to leave your bags lying around so that your puppy can access them — it’s in both of your best interest!
- Look out for small spaces: puppies are wriggly creatures, so when puppy proofing your home, it’s important to keep an eye out for small spaces the puppy could crawl into and potentially get stuck in. For example: between couches, under beds and inside cupboards.
- Dedicate an area for the puppy to calm down: Again, much like human children puppies can get a little overly excited when there is too much stimulus around them. Make sure you dedicate a safe and quiet area where your puppy can calm down and relax after all the fun and games. Puppy pen or a large enough crate is a good example of something that could work.
- Keep your puppy entertained while you’re away: When leaving your puppy alone, it’s good to leave him some safe puppy toys and a delicious chew so that he can keep himself safely entertained on his own. Hiding some healthy treats around the house is a good idea too — your puppy will have fun trying to find them and won’t have time to miss you too much or come up with any mischief while you’re away.
- Keep emergency vet contact numbers close: Hopefully covering all the above points will keep your puppy safe. But in case of an accident, it’s good to have the emergency vet contact number handy. Save it on your phone and maybe leave it on your fridge door in case anyone else in your household might need it.
Puppy proofing home checklist
We hope you found this checklist useful for preparing your home for your new family member!
If you’d like to know more on how we can help get your pup off to the best possible start in life, check out OneMind Dogs Puppy Training and sign up for a free trial to learn what it’s all about!
