How to Prepare Your Home For a New Puppy

Here at Comfortable Dwelling, we’re firm believers that a house isn’t a home unless you have a dog (or two or three). We love our pups just as much as any family member!

If you’re planning on welcoming a new puppy to your family, you need to puppy proof your home to make it a safe environment, just as you would with a newborn.

Preparing your home in advance of the new pup’s arrival will make the transition on both you, and the little guy or gal, much easier – think more “awwww 🙂” and less “ahhh!”

Here are a few helpful tips to get puppy proof the areas where the youngster will spend most of his or her time:

• Before arrival, do a thorough deep clean of the house. Clean under furniture and commonly overlooked areas. Puppy’s will swallow anything and everything, so best to start out with a clean slate
• Keep everything off the floor, including purses, grocery bags, backpacks, gym bags, or any items that you wouldn’t otherwise pay much attention to leaving on the floor. Puppy’s will get into EVERYTHING!
• Keep dangerous items out of reach, such as storing household chemicals in cupboards or on high shelves
• Elevate loose electrical cords. Tape cords to the floor or baseboard if need be. Keep them out of sight as much as possible.
• Tape down the edges of carpets. Puppy’s love to chew!
• Remove plants, loose items, or breakables where possible. Those waggy tails can turn into wrecking balls!
• Remind yourself to not set human food down on low surfaces (like coffee tables). The last thing you want is to have to pry a chicken bone from your puppy’s mouth.
• Just like babies, puppy’s will put anything in their mouth, and everyday items like chocolate, cigarette butts, grapes, and insect traps are toxic to dogs, so keep them out of puppy’s reach
• Install baby gates to keep the youngster out of rooms they shouldn’t be in. This will help prevent unwanted “accidents” in rooms with expensive flooring or upholstery. Also put up gates at the base of stairwells until they’re ready to learn stairs.
• Speaking of accidents, invest in a good bottle of stain remover and/or carpet cleaner. Puppy’s will tend to keep relieving themselves in the same spot on the carpet if they can smell it, so best to make a small investment to keep the stains and odours to a minimum.

Once you’ve gone through your home and puppy proofed as much as possible, it’s good practice to lie on the floor for a puppy’s view and see if there’s anything you may have missed.

Hope this helps!