Preparing Your Home for a New Dog

Getting a new dog is an exciting time, whether you’re bringing home a puppy or rescuing an older dog. If you’re waiting for your new dog to be ready and preparing your home for their arrival, you can start doing a few things to get ready. Dogs are a bit like small children, in that they can try to get into everything. They will also happily put almost anything in their mouths to chew on it and see if it’s edible. So getting your home ready for a dog is akin to babyproofing, except that your new arrival has a bit more fur.

Reinforce Key Areas

Even small dogs can do some damage. From chewing furniture to scratching the floor with their nails, it’s difficult to avoid dog-related damage to your home completely. However, making sure that everything is strong and reinforced will help you to protect key areas. If you use durable pieces of furniture in the main rooms in your home, you can avoid doggy disasters. If you’re planning on letting your pooch onto any of the furniture, it should be able to take their weight, and you should be able to clean it easily too.

Remove Any Hazards

Just like a baby or toddler, your dog can get into all kinds of trouble around your home. By removing various hazards, you can protect your dog from injury and illness. For example, you should thoroughly clean your home and make sure there’s nothing on the floor that your dog might be tempted to try and eat. Tidy away any cables and protect electrical items so that they can’t be chewed and your dog can’t get tangled up in anything. You should also securely store items like medication and cleaning supplies, which could be very dangerous to a curious dog.

Create a Space for Your Dog

Dogs need to have their own space to relax, just like you do. They should have somewhere to go if they’re stressed or scared too. Before bringing a dog home, you need to make sure there’s space for them. Set up a sleeping area and somewhere your dog can eat and drink in peace. If your dog will be alone during the day, you should think about how to set up a safe and relaxing place. Of course, your dog needs outdoor space too if you have it available. You should check your yard to make sure there are no hazards out there, either.

Get Ready to Introduce Other Pets

Do you already have pets in your home? If so, introducing them to your new dog might be one of the first steps you need to take. You can get ready for this before your dog comes home. It’s a good idea to start off with your pets in different rooms, so setting up separate living areas for them can be useful. As you slowly introduce them, you can do so through a barrier or a door propped open so they can see and smell each other without direct contact.

Get your home ready for your new dog, and he or she will have a relaxed welcome and a space to call their own when they arrive.

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