Dog Proof Your Home with a Dog Friendly Garden

Your new puppy won’t be ready to leave their mother until they are eight weeks old – or maybe even older in some tiny breeds – which might feel like an eternity to you! This is a great opportunity to start dog proofing your home and preparing for your new arrival, so that when you bring your puppy home, your house and garden will be a safe and welcoming environment.

Read our 13 top tips for puppy proofing your home below:

1. Remove temptation: Tidy up and make sure everyone in the family knows not to leave things lying around. Puppies don’t know what is valuable or important – and puppies explore everything in their world by first putting them in their mouth!
2. Stock up on chew toys: Puppies don’t just like to chew; they need to for their development. You need to give your puppy plenty of appropriate and enjoyable things to gnaw on to help prevent them from chewing soft furnishings, furniture, cables or indeed anything you might leave within puppy reach!
3. Hide trailing electrical cables: These can be very tempting for your puppy to chew on. If that’s not possible, you can buy a thick cable protector to go over the cables from most hardware shops. Unplug and move any unnecessary cables from puppy reach.
4. Remove or avoid household toxins: This might include toxic plants (Philodendron, Mistletoe, Poinsettia), strong chemical cleaners, plug in air fresheners, and environmental insecticides.
5. Use baby/stair gates: These can also be used in doorways to prevent your puppy having access to rooms where you don’t want them to be able to go. They can also be useful to keep your puppy slightly separate from family mealtimes to prevent begging. You can also use them to stop puppies tumbling down the stairs.
6. Buy an appropriately-sized play pen: This is a great way to have your puppy with you while keeping them keep them safe from potential hazards on those occasions when you can’t give them your full attention – or are doing something you don’t want your puppy joining in with!
7. Keep doors to appliances closed: The main ones you will want to keep an eye on are the oven, fridge, dishwasher, tumble-dryer and washing machine. Small puppies can crawl into the strangest places!
8. Fit child locks: Use these on floor-level kitchen cupboards, especially if there are cleaning materials inside. Consider moving any hazardous products to high cupboards ‘just in case’.
9. Keep floor-height and low level windows closed: Dogs – and especially puppies – don’t have the same sense of height and depth as humans, so when dog proofing your house, make sure that they can’t jump out of or accidentally fall from higher storey windows – or just escape.
10. Add non-skid matting or rugs to your floors: As your energetic puppy runs around the house, it’s all too easy for them to slide and fall, potentially causing injuries. Slippery floors can also be a bit scary for puppies and can easily put strain on growing bones and muscles. Identify places where they might find the flooring surface difficult to walk, run or play on – and put down some non-skid matting or rugs on any slippery or hardwood floors.
11. Remove anything with naked flames: Wood burners, candles, burning incense or oil burners are asking for trouble when around an inquisitive puppy – make sure you put them well out of reach, and put a guard around any fires or wood burners.
12. Close the toilet lid: Keep the toilet lid closed (and don’t use those cleaning products that clean every flush) – some dogs just can’t resist drinking from the bowl!
13. Don’t leave food unattended within puppy reach: Not only is it far too tempting for a pup to resist, but also many of our foods can be toxic to dogs, such as chocolate, grapes, onions and garlic.

Consider these dog friendly garden ideas below:

1. Choose a dog-proof fence: Dog-proof garden fencing has to be tall enough to contain an active, agile dog when they get to their full size. Some fairly small breeds can jump (or climb) a surprisingly high fence. A 2m fence will keep in all but the most enthusiastic escapologists – although if you have a Chihuahua, this might be overkill! 
2. Look for gaps: Look for any space where your puppy could squeeze through or under – and be aware that most can squeeze through very tiny holes. Check that fence panels or mesh are sunk well into the ground so that they can’t dig underneath it and are sturdy enough to contain a jumping pup – especially if of a larger or heavier breed.
3. Check your fence regularly: Terriers in particular, are notorious diggers so do frequent checks around the perimeter of your garden and make any repairs straight away. 
4. Create physical boundaries: Some dogs can’t resist digging in flower beds or pulling up plants and flowers so, if you’re a keen gardener, you may need to fence off your prize petunias! Or else fence off an area of garden especially for your dog – with plenty of things to keep them occupied.
5. Pools, ponds and hazards: Remove ladders, or anything your dog may feel the urge to step onto, and fence off swimming pools, hot tubs (if access is possible) and ponds so you can prevent access when not in use. Make sure swimming pools have a ramp so your puppy can climb out – just in case they fall in – and unless you can fence the pool totally with no risk of the puppy ever having access, keep it uncovered (as if a dog falls in and ends up under the cover, the results can be tragic).
6. Set up all-seasons areas: Make sure your puppy has shelter from the sun and also wet/windy weather. Some dogs love being outdoors in all weathers, so make sure it is safe and comfortable for them. Always supervise them and make sure they can come back inside if they get too hot or it gets too wet or cold.
7. Avoid poisons and toxins: Never use slug pellets, weed killer or rat poison in a dog-friendly garden as they’re extremely toxic. It might help your flowers to flourish, but cocoa chips (used as an alternative to bark in flower beds) are also poisonous to dogs.
8. Remove poisonous plants: While your dog-proof garden can include dog-friendly plants, it needs to avoid others to reduce the risk of poisoning and skin irritation. Common plants to avoid or remove from your garden that could cause irritation or poisoning include lilies, azaleas, daffodils, tomatoes, foxgloves, yew and hydrangeas. If your dog does eat part of a poisonous plant (or you are worried they might have done), go straight to the vet, taking the plant, or a clear photo of it, with you if possible.
9. Stick with your dog: Garden time should be social time with you and an opportunity to play and to build your relationship. Puppies will quickly get bored if they are left on their own – and leaving your puppy or dog alone in a garden with nothing to do is just asking for trouble!
10. Keep the garage secure: Make sure your dog can’t get into the garage, as many car products, such as anti-freeze, can be extremely harmful
11. Gates, gates, gates: If you have gates in your garden, remind everyone about the importance of closing them. You can attach self-closing devices but set them to a gentle close so there’s no danger of them snapping shut on your dog and check them frequently to check they are working properly.

This may sound like a daunting list, but most of it is common sense and should soon become second nature with a bit of practice. Make sure your garden and home is safe for your new dog will bring peace of mind – giving you more time to enjoy your pup! 

Next, discover useful advice to help you introduce puppies and children and get their relationship off to a great start. You can also read our guide on when puppies can go outside for when they’re ready to take that step.

Dog proofing FAQs