How to make your home bulldog friendly
It’s deadline time. You have purchased your wonderful new English Bulldog puppy and are ready to take him home. However, before you take the final step into ownership, you need to make sure your home environment is safe for your new dog. By following the safety guidelines below and exercising a little common sense, you can easily puppy-proof your home.
The first step in puppy-proofing your home is to view your rooms at a dog’s eye level. Look around you from your point of view to see the potential trouble you could get into in each room. Be sure to clear all electrical cords and block outlets for safety. Remember, your pup explores with his mouth. If he doesn’t want his furniture chewed on, be sure to treat it with a non-bite spray – bitter apple is a very effective flavor. These sprays are inexpensive and available through your veterinarian or your local pet store.
Make sure to remove any hazards that your pup might chew on. A good guideline is to put away anything that is not appropriate for your puppy to chew on. As noted above, babies will chew on anything and swallowing foreign materials (like pantyhose) can be deadly. Ensuring that only the appropriate items to chew on are available has benefits other than safety. Doing this also helps your dog learn what his toys are. It encourages good behavior by making bad behavior impossible.
After you’ve taken care of the obvious, use the list below to puppy-proof your home:
Clean your tables.
Even though they look small and small, English Bulldog puppies will stand up on their hind legs to explore the cafe and side tables. Anything they can reach, they can chew. Also, if you have breakable items on higher tables, you may want to put them away until your pup is a bit older. Fast-running pups can easily knock over a high table and break breakable glassware.
Keep your bathroom door closed.
This will prevent your pup from hanging toilet paper all over the house. Make sure all bathroom cleaners are stored safely and out of reach. You can use child locks on cabinets if they are loose or for added security. Also, keep the toilet lid down (especially if you use toilet bowl sanitizers) even if the door is closed. You really don’t want your dog to know what’s in the toilet. Always keeping the lid down prevents your dog from regarding your toilet as his own private drinking fountain.
In the kitchen, make sure your cabinet doors are closed.
Again, use cabinet locks if you suspect your dog can get into them. It is best to use a trash can with a secure lid. Carefully discard chicken, pork, and turkey bones especially. You may want to take them to the dumpster right away. These bones can splinter if chewed on and could cause your new pup serious distress. If you can remove the garbage regularly, you will minimize the delicious smells. It’s best if your pup thinks there’s never anything interesting in your trash can.
Miscellaneous items that can be potentially dangerous to your pup.
Other things to look out for around the house include: Christmas tree decorations, lighted candles (which can be knocked over or examined too closely), medicine bottles, antifreeze, car oil, pesticides, and rodent poisons. Make sure all of these items are always out of your pup’s reach.