Dog-Proofing Your Home

Here are some tips on how to dog-proof your house before bringing your medium dog home to stay:

  1. Inspect each room in your house carefully and ensure that the following items are kept well away from the reach of your dog:

    • Anything that is sharp.

    • Anything that could cause choking, including any metal or plastic toys, chicken or fish bones. (Note: bones should not be given to dogs for any reason as they are a choking hazard!)

    • Anything that could be poisonous if eaten, including batteries, coins, mothballs, fertilizer, insecticide, cleaning liquids etc.

    • Any kind of human medications, for example, pain killers or cold medications, as these could be poisonous to your dog.

    • Anything that could cause intestinal blockage like string, dental floss, rubber bands or plastic bags.

    • Any moldy or spoiled food.

    • Any household plant that is poisonous to pets. For a list of the more common toxic household plants, check out this site.


  2. Check that all electrical cords or outlets are properly covered to prevent electrocution.

  3. Ensure that all cabinets that store the above items are securely latched to prevent your dog from getting to it.

  4. Check that all trash cans have secure lids.

  5. If you have both a dog and a cat, keep their food dishes away from each other as cat food is not suitable for dogs and vice-versa.

  6. As dogs often like to dig and climb, ensure that your fences are deep and tall enough to prevent your dog from digging or climbing out.

  7. Ensure that lamps or fragile items like porcelain vases are either kept far out of reach or are placed in such a way that they cannot be toppled over by a frisky dog.

  8. Socks and shoes are favorite chewing toys, keep these items inside safely secured in a shoe cabinet at all times.

  9. If your dog is not housebroken yet, remove all rugs, floor cushions and carpets temporarily until he is properly housetrained.

It takes some adjustment but it is usually just a matter of getting used to it. Once your home is dog proofed, you can feel secure in knowing that you have done your best to keep your pet safe from harm in the house. Btw, a great site on how to keep your dog safe in the house is the ASPA Animal Poison Control Center, do check it out.

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