Tips for Pet Proofing Your Home

Getting a new pet for your home can be an exciting experience. Nothing beats the companionship of a great dog or kitten. Having a new pet brought into the home is a lot like having a new child brought into the home. Your home will need to be pet proofed. Pet proofing will prevent the animals from destroying your home as well as getting injured. Pet proofing and preparing your home for the new arrival will take some planning, so you might want to go through your home first and use these tips to help you develop a plan so that every base is covered.

One of the most important things you need to do in order to make sure that your home is pet proofed is making sure the animals do not have access to plugins or electrical wiring from lamps and other appliances. Animals, especially puppies and kittens, love to scratch and chew on just about anything in sight, including electrical wiring. This can cause the animal to get electrocuted and sustain serious injuries. There are all kinds of things you can do to prevent this from happening. Make sure that all wires are up off the ground where the animal cannot reach them. Use outlet covers to keep your pets from scratching and biting at the plugins.

Another important thing to do when pet proofing your home is making sure that your pets do not have any access to dangerous small spaces. One of the most hazardous areas of the home is the area where you keep your washer and dryer. Many pets have been seriously injured or worse due to climbing into a washer or dryer that was left open. Make sure that both the washer and dryer are closed after each use to prevent your pets from sneaking inside them. It is also recommended that you never leave the toilet seat up in any of the bathrooms in the home as well. If the animal is a really young puppy, they may fall in and be unable to get back out.

Your children’s rooms are another dangerous area of the home. Children have tons of toys that might have very small parts. These small parts can become lodged in the animal’s throat and lead to them choking. You should limit the access the animal has to the rooms and never allow the animal to be there alone. Try to keep the doors closed to those rooms or use some type of child safety gate to prevent them from gaining access to your kids’ rooms.

You also want to make sure you have plenty of supplies to help you train the animal to use the bathroom outdoors as well. There are a lot of different supplies you can use here, including the traditional newspaper. Place plenty of newspaper on the floor in the various areas of the home where you plan to keep the animal so that if it has any accidents it will not stain your carpet or floor. You can also get special pads that are designed to look like grass to encourage the animal to go outside.