Bringing home an additional family member in the form of a puppy can be a fun experience, especially when you think about all the memories that you’re likely to enjoy with them. That said, it’s important to ensure that your home is safe for your new puppy before you bring them. When you do this, you’ll have taken care of a number of potential issues and it will consequently be easy for you to get started on the fun and games. Here are a few of the ways you can improve your home’s security before bringing home your new puppy.
Keep Sensitive and Harmful Items Out of Reach
Puppies can be energetic little bundles of playfulness, and this means that they’re likely to keep playing even after you’ve taken them on a walk and played with them a bit. That said, you don’t want to allow them to harm themselves or destroy your property. This calls for you to lock away harmful things like sharp objects, toxic cleaning solutions, and even glassware.
Securing the house in this case may be as easy as keeping these items in a cabinet or other enclosure and then locking it up. In case you have issues with locks around the house, you can get them fixed fast and easily by calling a locksmith. It should not be hard to find one, especially if you live in one of the 15 states in the U.S. that require licensing for locksmiths.
Secure Trash Cans
Something else that you’re going to want to do before you bring your new puppy home is to secure trashcans. This is because the smells in regular household garbage may be appalling to you, but they’re going to rouse the curiosity in your puppy. Secure the trash cans by installing latches so that your puppy can’t go dumpster-diving and end up with a stomach upset, or worse. This is true regardless of what your puppy’s breed is, especially if they’re larger pups that can easily reach the top of trash cans. This includes an F1- German Shepherd X Poodle, which is roughly 50% German Shepherd and 50% poodle.
Set Up an Area for Rest and Play
You should also make sure that your puppy has an area in the house that’s essentially their own. This area could consist of a bed and toys that are safe for your puppy. It should also be free of things like electrical cords and wires as well as dangerous items that you wouldn’t like your puppy to play with. When they have their own area to hand out in the house, they may find it easier to acclimate to their new environment. This is something that a good number of the more than 63 million American households that owned at least one dog are going to tell you worked out for them.
Seal Possible Escape Routes
Last but not least, keep in mind that if you give your puppy half a chance, they’re most probably going to try and make a run for it. This is not necessary because they don’t want to be in your home. It may be a mix of excitement and the confusion of finding themselves in an area with which they’re not familiar. That said, install or repair locks and deadbolts around the house and get pet gates for stairs and other spaces you don’t want them to get past.
These are a few suggestions about what you should do before you bring home your new puppy. They’re going to help you prevent a number of issues from the start. After that’s done, you can go on to enjoy making memories with what may become the happiest puppy in the world, at least as far as you’re concerned!