Dog-Proofing Your Home

The best time to dog-proof your home is before your dog arrives to distract you. Puppies and dogs explore with their mouth---and sometimes, their stomach. Knives, shish-ka-bob skewers, balls, magnets, coins, needles, socks, and almost anything else that can fit down a throat has been surgically removed from dog stomachs and intestines. You may need to get down on your hands and knees and check out a dog's eye view to see what dangers beckon. Check all over your house for:

• uncovered electrical outlets, which can cause shocks when licked
• electrical wires, which can cause shocks when chewed. They can also topple lamps and appliances when pulled. Tape them together and out of reach. Do the same with long phone cords. Better, buy plastic conduit or flat strips of vinyl to cover them and hold them flat to the floor. 
• open stairways, decks, or balconies, which can cause falls
• unsecured doors, which can let your dog wander outside, or can slam shut on him in a breeze
• swinging doors, which can trap a puppy’s head and neck
• fireplace without a secure fire screen, which can invite a puppy to be burned
• precariously placed statues or vases, which can fall on a curious puppy
• hanging table cloths that if pulled, can bring dishes crashing down, possibly injuring the dog 
• children’s toys, which can entice a puppy and may have parts that can be chewed and swallowed
• coins, especially pennies, which are made mostly of zinc. When swallowed, the zinc dissolves in the dog's stomach, causing zinc toxicity.
• open closets, especially shoe closets, which can entice a puppy 
• craft or sewing kits. These may hold needles and threads that can be swallowed, causing severe injury and illness  

Some rooms have special dangers. Check the kitchen for :

• open cabinets holding cleaners and degreasers, which can invite poisoning
• accessible garbage pails holding enticing rancid food and splintering bones, which can invite poisoning, sickness or gut injury
• plastic wraps that can be swallowed, which can lodge in the intestines
• foods and beverages such as chocolate, sugarless candy and gum containing xylitol, onions, grapes, raisins, macadamia nuts and alcohol that have been known to cause sometimes fatal toxicity in dogs.

Check the bathrooms for:

• pills and medicines; it only takes a few to poison a puppy
• hair treatments, some of which can cause eye injuries
• drain cleaners, which can poison a puppy or cause eye injuries
• razors, which can be swallowed, cutting up the mouth, throat and gut
• diaper pails, which hold disposable diapers that can be eaten and can swell in stomach

Check the garage for:

• antifreeze, which is attractive, but very deadly, to dogs. Even one swallow can cause fatal kidney failure.
• fuels, cleaners, paints, herbicides, insecticides, and fertilizers, all of which can be toxic
• batteries, which can be toxic
• nails and screws, which can be swallowed and cause gut injuries
• rodent bait, which is enticing to eat, but fatal to dogs as well as rodents

Check the yard for:

• weak fence, which can allow your puppy to escape and be harmed
• puddles of antifreeze in the driveway
• rotted limbs that can fall on your puppy
• unfenced pool, which can drown a dog; always have a way for a dog to climb out, and teach him to find and use it
• cocoa mulch; it contains theobromine, which is poisonous to dogs
• fruit and nut trees; some nuts and fruit parts are poisonous; they can also fall on a puppy’s head
• pointed sticks at eye level that can poke into a running puppy’s eye
• treated lawns and decks, which may have toxic chemicals that the puppy may lick off his paws
• poisonous plants
• insect hives that a digging or playing puppy could cause to attack

Dog proofing not only protects your dog from danger, but your house and belongings from your dog. It's your job to keep your valuables out of his reach---if you find a precious item chewed up, yell at yourself, not your puppy!