Puppy Proofing Your Home

Every room can look harmless. That is until you let a puppy loose and they find something right away that they shouldn't have. 

1) Cords and Electrical - First do not leave a puppy unattended in a room where things are plugged into sockets. Cords are very attractive and look to them like great things to chew on. 

2) Furniture - Puppy nees to learn the word, NO! If he starts to chew on table legs or chairs say no and squirt some lemon or Grannicks bitter apple on the wood. Puppy should learn in about three corrections. If not your correction nees to be bit stronger. Try a shake by the scruff of the neck and a strong, NO!. You can also distract the puppy with a favorite toy.

3) Tablecloths - Not a good idea if puppy is in the room. They can easily jump up and grab the cloth bringing all manner of the things crashing down. Just take it off until puppy is older.

4) Newspapers and magazines lying on the floor, or where puppy can reach them. Remember that puppies and dogs in general operate more on smell than sight. Their sense of smell is thousands of times more acute than ours. So, personal items with your smell on them are great targets for chewing. If the puppy is paper trained they will locate any similar material and use it to eliminate. Pick all books, magazines, newspapers, clothing and shoes.

5) Toys - On the postive side make sure that you furnish natural bones, and toys for the puppy to play with. Just like children they get bored with the same toys. Keep a bin of toys and rotate them daily to keep puppy interested.

If you carefully observe your puppy the first time they use a room you will quickly see what items need to be removed and raised up so puppy does not have access to them. If you provide a safe environment with plenty of toys everyone will be able to enjoy the puppy and the room(s) that you have puppy proofed.