Ways to Make Your Home Safe for a Puppy

If you intend to adopt a puppy soon, then it is imperative that you begin preparing for your new housemate by ensuring that your home is safe. Puppies are curious, energetic, and tiny creatures much like babies. And, just as a home must be made 'baby proof', it is equally important that you thoroughly analyze your home and determine any potential dangers that might harm your puppy as well. To help you prepare, here is a list of the top six factors that you must take into consideration:

Furniture

Certain pieces of furniture can pose a definite threat to a puppy's safety. Do you, for instance, have a rocking chair? Suppose that your puppy is strolling through the living room as you or a friend rock back and forth. What would happen if your puppy accidentally rolled its tail underneath the chair as the chair rocked upwards? The chair would come crashing down on your puppy's tail, thereby delivering it an intense shock of pain. To make certain something like this does not occur, carefully examine all your furniture. If you discover a piece that might potentially harm your puppy, take steps to ensure that it does not happen. You could, for instance, perhaps put the rocking chair in a room that the puppy cannot access.

Floors

Puppies tend to move in an unsteady gait. If you have slippery floors (e.g. linoleum or hardwood), you may discover your puppy constantly losing control of its footing and crashing to the floor. You may therefore want to consider either limiting your puppy's movement to a non-slippery room, or furnishing your floors with several batches of carpeted rugs.

Stairs

During the first few months of a puppy's life, it may have excessive difficulty climbing up and down stairs. Despite the difficulty, it will still try it's best. As was mentioned previously, puppies are very curious little critters. In order to prevent your puppy from harming itself during its infancy, you might want to consider installing some fences, also known as baby gates, by the top and bottom of the stairs. This will prevent your puppy from trying to climb the stairs.

Electrical Cords

Puppies love chewing on anything that they can get their little paws on. Obviously, an electrical cord could be a very tempting toy for your puppy. To prevent your puppy from electrocuting itself, keep it away from electrical cords. Furthermore, if any of your cords have any patches or loose ends, make certain that you cover them with either plastic or rubber.

Small Objects

Puppies can easily choke on small objects like coins, dental floss, discarded nails, needles, paper clips, or even staples. Make certain that you pick up after yourself and put away dangerous items that your puppy might try to play with. Furthermore, if you have children, don't give your children's toys to your puppy. These toys are designed for children, not dogs. They could potentially hurt it.

Bathroom Supplies

The bathroom is by far the most dangerous room in your entire house. If you leave the toilet seat up, your puppy might fall into the toilet and drown. Or if some medication pills that you left on the countertop roll to the floor, your puppy may devour them and potentially die. Truthfully, almost everything in your bathroom is potentially dangerous to your puppy. My recommendation is that you keep the bathroom off-limits. In case you do let your puppy into the bathroom, then at least always keep the toilet seat down.