Whilst being incredibly cute and fun, dogs can also be incredibly destructive and can change any environment immensely, particularly in their younger years. They chew furniture and walls, urinate on the floors, go where they are not allowed, destroy your children’s toys, and trample mud into your nice white carpets. The best way to minimise the effects of this behaviour is to pet proof your house.
The first thing you should do is note what areas you want to keep pristine. Consider putting up baby gates to prevent your dog from entering rooms that you want to keep in good condition. There is nothing worse than having dog hairs all over your fancy bed sheets, especially if the dog is moulting excessively. If you have a bigger dog, this may not be sufficient, so you may be better off putting locks on the doors to the rooms you do not want them in – after all, how many times have we seen videos of dogs learning how to open doors…
Dogs have a habit of chewing walls. It is hard to know why exactly dogs feel the need to chew walls. Maybe it is anxiety. Maybe it is stress. Maybe it is just boredom. Whatever the cause, it is possible to buy sprays that you can spray onto your wall to deter your dog from chewing.
Speaking from personal experience, it is also important to make sure that if you have a guest room, you keep it pet free. It will surprise you how many of your friends and family members will not tell you they have a pet allergy until they come to visit only to find you have a dog roaming about. Allergy sufferers can mainly be triggered by two things – hair and dander. If they are allergic to the dander, then a dog with dandruff or dry flaky skin can be potentially very irritable to them – especially if the dog has been all over their bed!
Finally, it is important that you put anything of value in a place that they cannot reach. Dogs thunder around without regard for anything that they may hit along the way, and if they happen to go flying through the front room and accidentally knock over your favourite vase… you get the picture.
