# What needs puppy proofing?



## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

If you try to remember back to when you brought your first puppy home, what were some of the things that you needed to puppy proof?

I tend to keep an eye on the puppies and just see what draws their attention more than creating a checklist. However, if you needed to write up a list, what are some of the things that come to mind?

Electrical cords are the first thing that come to mind. What would be on your list?


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## mckennasedona (Feb 20, 2007)

House plants. We put all of our house plants up high.


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## klw (Sep 24, 2007)

*Puppy Proofing*

Cords on mini-blinds come to mind. Also, I am very careful with pens and pencils lying around, particularly on easy to reach surfaces like coffee tables.... I have had more than one pen dismantled and there are some little parts in those pens!

Kathy Wingerd


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## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

Wicker baskets, area rugs (esp. with fringes), magazines/books....anything leather!


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## Guest (Jan 14, 2008)

I couldn't leave any shoes or slippers on the floor..


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

You guys are really thinking of a large variety. Great list so far!


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## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

Well, I was going to add all the things Lincoln chewed on, but then it started to get unreasonably difficult.....any chair with low rungs, any wood table, wood molding, drywall, etc. :biggrin1:


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## Beamer (Jan 29, 2007)

Electrical wall plugs.. I put covers on mine when I noticed Beamer enjoyed licking at them?!?!

Ryan


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## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

Wow, could Beamer get his tongue into the socket holes? Scary!

Oh, I also was remembering their amazing scissor-bite antics....Lincoln used to be able to peel off the stickers on things with his teeth!

Add to the list: plastic hampers with those holes in them....it is like a game to them to see how many socks and pairs of underwear they can thread through the holes :biggrin1:


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## klw (Sep 24, 2007)

*Puppy Proofing*

I wound washcloths around the low rungs on my dining room chairs and secured with masking tape as 2 of my 3 love to chew on wood.....!

Kathy Wingerd


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## MopTop Havanese (Sep 25, 2006)

Area rugs, kitchen rugs, Hot wheels, Littlest Pet shops, toys with hard plastic, toys with soft plastic or basically anything with your kids scent on it~! ound:
One of my puppies got into my stack of books that I had on a lower shelf on the endtable...all the covers and corners got chewed~
You may want to limit their access to childrens beds (or any bed), mine liked to leave presents there for the kids....
But....lesson learned for me....once I put a gate up blocking off the hallway/bedrooms, then the dogs didn't have access to the kids things and most of the toy destroying stopped! 
Heidi has been great...I think the only thing she has destroyed so far was a pen that I left on the floor...(maybe I have learned by the 6th puppy, huh!)
Now Jester has left holes in the sheetrock, holes in the carpet, chewmarks on the barstools, the corners of the cabinets etc. His teething stage was TERRIBLE! :frusty:


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## Guest (Jan 14, 2008)

Kleenix boxes on low tables......toilet paper (how DO they get that??)...
Keep toilet lids CLOSED!


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## Cheryl (Mar 17, 2007)

Important papers where they can reach them. Brutus chewed up $100 gift certificate to our favorite restaurant that I received for my last birthday. I taped it back to gether. It looked so funny, but they accepted it.


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## Cheryl (Mar 17, 2007)

Oh, I almost forgot that Brutus chewed up my mouse chord at work last spring. Good thing our IT specialist really liked him.


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## mintchip (Apr 19, 2007)

Phone cords


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

You guys are great and it's nice to see we all have the same answers. Maybe we should just put everything in storage until they are old enough to be trusted with our posessions? :biggrin1:


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Dora didn't cause too much trouble except the crown molding on the floor which I didn't notice until it was shredded <sigh!> Oh and not puppy proofing but teaching yourself to shut the bathroom door! Start that weeks in advance to really get the training at Havanese speed!

Amanda


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## Sissygirl (Aug 8, 2007)

Some people have candy bowls on tables - which is fair game to havs!!!!

Trash cans in bathrooms - I had to teach Sis that was a no no.

She loves my panty hose.


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

Amanda, now you tell me about closing the bathroom door?!

Kodi was a really good puppy. Never had a chewing problem with him. But Shelby will chew power cords, pens, pencils, inner soles, slippers, her food bowl - just to name a few.


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## maryam187 (Jul 18, 2007)

Curtains, shoes, socks, coats, sweaters, anything that has strings on it, purses, fireplace (Pablo seemed to be attracted by the flames ), I would also say the kitchen, carpet (LOL, Pablo loved pulling pieces of it out and chewing that stuff like a gourmet dessert), your feet, legs, anything on tables that sticks out far enough to be reached by the 100's attempt of jumping for it, the little plastic knobs on some crate doors...sheesh, never ending list I guess.


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## Sissygirl (Aug 8, 2007)

Oh yeah,

When you have visitors - put their purses up high. Sissy just loves to see if they have any gum.

When she was about 3 months old, a neice came to visit and took her flip flops off under the table. Sissy chewed the corner off of them.ound:


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## maryam187 (Jul 18, 2007)

Just remembered: plastic bags are a big hit too.


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## mintchip (Apr 19, 2007)

Sissygirl said:


> Oh yeah,
> 
> When you have visitors - put their purses up high. Sissy just loves to see if they have any gum.
> 
> When she was about 3 months old, a neice came to visit and took her flip flops off under the table. Sissy chewed the corner off of them.ound:


Shoe laces are very popular (for some reason?)


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## Diana (Oct 23, 2007)

Ok, Teddy loves *everything* mentioned. He also loves pant legs and undergarments which he has taken out of our hamper! Quite embarrasing when we have visitors! He also loves my daughters' dolls hair!


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## Tritia (Nov 17, 2007)

gracie said:


> Ok, Teddy loves *everything* mentioned. He also loves pant legs and *undergarments *which he has taken out of our hamper! Quite embarrasing when we have visitors! He also loves my daughters' dolls hair!


When we were at the vet the other day, he said the most comment obstruction he's removed from a dogs...underwear and socks.

K, I'm assuming these are big dogs, cause my dogs could no sooner get my underwear down their throats, then I could model for Victoria's Secret, lol.
He said the most embarassing thing he removed, was the condom from his niece's yorkie last yr ound:

as far as things our puppies have chewed? that'd be children, and table legs.


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## juliav (Nov 21, 2006)

Twist ties are something to watch out for. A friend lost a pug some years back because it ate the twisty tie. Also make sure your puppy can't reach your remote controls, cordless and cell phones.


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

The little clear plastic thingy's that attach the price tag to all their toys!! every-time you break one off the other half goes flying-- may be too small to cause a problem but DH was fanatical about them. 

Also this may be too specific but real life story with Jasper-- We had a few rug samples the store didn't want back so I threw one in baby Jasper's pen for him to lie on. Well there was a staple on the back of it - that Jas managed to chew and staple his jaw shut-- literally one side of the staple was on the upper jaw the other side on the lower jaw. Off to the vet we go-- he was 12 wks, and had to be put under. We were really lucky it got stuck there because it could have ripped his insides apart had he swallowed it. Boy did I feel like a bad Alpha.


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## dboudreau (Jan 12, 2007)

I think most things have been mentioned. I do check toys frequently to make sure there still safe to play with. No loose eyes, ears, nose, limbs or wholes to pull out stuffing.


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## boo2352 (Dec 18, 2006)

We put baby locks on all the kitchen cabinets and wrapped electrical cords in cord organizers. MacGyver doesn't go after much except socks in the laundry basket and, of course, toilet paper. We did have a friend who lost a cat from swallowing a ribbon, and I had a cat that ate (and fortunately passed) a balloon.


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## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

Missy said:


> Jas managed to chew and staple his jaw shut-- literally one side of the staple was on the upper jaw the other side on the lower jaw.


Oh my, Missy. That must have been upsetting. I would have never thought in a million years that it could even be possible to do such a thing!

My friend's Hav puppy swallowed a long string from an area rug which got wrapped around the base of his tongue (so far back it was not visible) and had to be put under to have it removed. He was vomiting for a week until they figured out what was wrong. Yikes!


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

We used to keep food items in low open cabinet and had to change it over to canned goods and make sure any yummies that could be gotton into went up high. You guys are good!

What have you done with your electrical cords? I have some of mine behind boards to protect from the parrots but them some are still out in the open? What should I do?


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

good buddy said:


> We used to keep food items in low open cabinet and had to change it over to canned goods and make sure any yummies that could be gotton into went up high. You guys are good!


Someone said EVERYTHING-- and I think that about sums it up. But changing the cabinets around reminded me of the cat I once had (terribly allergic but I loved him and it took me to get to full blown asthma to give him up)

Anyway Ziggy was a puppycat- he came running to greet you- played and cuddled-- but he also loved rigatoni. I had kept all my pasta in a rolling cart- and I would come home to see the door open and the box of rigatoni pulled out and a few tubes on the floor that he loved to swat and chase. So I re-arranged the cabinets and put heavy bottles and cans down low and put the pasta on the top shelf above the sink. I came into the kitchen one day to see Ziggy standing with his back legs on the back of the sink - the cabinet doors wide open and his front paws on the lowest shelf-- well I stopped still, I wanted to see what he would do. He heard me, looked back at me, paws still in position, looked me straight in the eyes and went "MWeowww" and then proceeded to pull himself up to the bottom shelf so he could reach up to the top shelf-- and what does he pull out with his paw? not the shells, not the elbows, but the rigatoni!!!! Smart kitty.


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## maryam187 (Jul 18, 2007)

Awww, Missy, how super smart your Ziggy was, too cute.


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